WEBVTT - #71 La Fortitudo 0:00:15.250 --> 0:00:26.970 Pushkin. Yeah. Hey, do you remember that commercial about how 0:00:27.010 --> 0:00:28.800 many lakes it takes to get to the center of a. 0:00:28.790 --> 0:00:29.930 Well, I'm going to get off the phone right now 0:00:29.970 --> 0:00:31.670 because I just got to the fish store and I 0:00:31.710 --> 0:00:32.650 have to go inside. 0:00:32.670 --> 0:00:34.130 Wait, why are you going to a fish store? 0:00:34.150 --> 0:00:34.750 Because I'm going to. 0:00:35.830 --> 0:00:37.479 Why do you think I'm going to a fish store? 0:00:37.659 --> 0:00:38.540 I have no idea. 0:00:38.550 --> 0:00:40.160 To buy a side of beef? 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:41.720 Like, what am I doing at a fish store? 0:00:41.879 --> 0:00:45.700 I was just making conversation. I'm buying some fish. What 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:47.140 kind of fish are you getting? Salmon. 0:00:47.459 --> 0:00:47.709 What? 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:48.670 Salmon. 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:48.990 What? 0:00:50.510 --> 0:00:50.870 Salmon. 0:00:51.209 --> 0:00:51.429 What? 0:00:52.569 --> 0:00:52.849 God. 0:00:53.190 --> 0:00:53.810 What? 0:00:54.230 --> 0:01:07.820 What? From Pushkin Industries, I'm Jonathan Goldstein, and this is Heavyweight. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:26.710 Today's episode, La Fortitudo. right after the break. Even I 0:01:26.710 --> 0:01:27.690 can see the beauty. 0:01:45.810 --> 0:01:48.630 There is just no better feeling and no better sound 0:01:49.450 --> 0:01:52.310 on this earth as far as I'm concerned. There is 0:01:52.350 --> 0:02:00.200 a crack that is so resonant, so absolutely gorgeous, and 0:02:00.660 --> 0:02:02.760 it's the most ethereal feeling. 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.480 Do you actually have a memory of the very first 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.519 time you hit a baseball? 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:12.630 I remember it perfectly. I'm 13 years old. It's towards 0:02:12.650 --> 0:02:15.980 the end of the game, two outs. And I got 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.300 the bat on the ball pretty good. I remember standing 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.700 on second base feeling like I belonged. 0:02:23.660 --> 0:02:26.840 From the time Dan started playing baseball, his life mission 0:02:26.920 --> 0:02:27.359 was set. 0:02:27.980 --> 0:02:30.120 I was going to become a major leaguer. I just 0:02:30.260 --> 0:02:31.320 had to make it happen. 0:02:32.460 --> 0:02:36.650 Dan attended baseball camps and watched VHS tutorials. He spent 0:02:36.730 --> 0:02:41.370 hours dissecting hitting manuals from cover to cover. The only problem? 0:02:42.130 --> 0:02:45.750 Despite all that instruction and study, I was lousy. 0:02:48.990 --> 0:02:51.960 As an underclassman, Dan played for the JV team. 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:53.420 I got cut from the JV. 0:02:53.980 --> 0:02:56.100 As a junior, he tried out for varsity. 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:57.080 They cut me. 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.359 And then, as a senior, he tried out again. 0:03:00.820 --> 0:03:01.419 They cut me. 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:04.440 Finally, Dan got the message. 0:03:06.090 --> 0:03:08.290 Nothing was going to happen, and the dream was done. 0:03:09.270 --> 0:03:12.630 Or so Dan thought. Because even though he'd given up 0:03:12.710 --> 0:03:21.830 on baseball... baseball hadn't given up on him. Baseball's return 0:03:21.890 --> 0:03:25.190 to Dan's life is a twisty tale. While he was 0:03:25.230 --> 0:03:28.620 away at college, Dan's parents fell on hard times and 0:03:28.630 --> 0:03:32.519 were forced to move in with his grandparents. After graduating, 0:03:32.740 --> 0:03:36.220 Dan moved into their tiny two-bedroom condo. And about a 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.260 year and a half later, his grandfather suffered a stroke 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:40.000 and died. 0:03:40.020 --> 0:03:42.900 About six weeks after he died, I told my parents 0:03:43.020 --> 0:03:44.960 I couldn't take it anymore. It was just too hard. 0:03:45.460 --> 0:03:48.380 I'm taking off. I'm going to go to Italy. 0:03:49.300 --> 0:03:51.920 In college, Dan had grown friendly with a boy named 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.190 Giovanni who came from Florence. The way he spoke of 0:03:55.250 --> 0:03:59.030 life there sounded romantic. So Dan bought a one-way ticket, 0:03:59.330 --> 0:04:01.650 moved in with him, and started looking for work. 0:04:02.250 --> 0:04:04.770 When I say seven days a week, I mean seven 0:04:04.790 --> 0:04:07.800 days a week I pounded the pavement of Florence, Italy, 0:04:08.060 --> 0:04:10.920 trying to find a job. I think I lost about 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.170 20 pounds just from walking. Like, every single day. 0:04:15.030 --> 0:04:18.490 This went on for three months, until one day, after 0:04:18.510 --> 0:04:22.210 yet another fruitless job interview, Dan saw a small flyer 0:04:22.310 --> 0:04:24.589 pinned to a bulletin board in the train station. 0:04:24.610 --> 0:04:28.150 And it said something about a baseball team in Bologna 0:04:28.210 --> 0:04:29.270 and the season is starting. 0:04:33.979 --> 0:04:40.460 The team was called La Fortitudo, meaning the courage, the strength. Dan, desperate, 0:04:40.820 --> 0:04:43.479 saw a chance to wet his childhood dream of joining 0:04:43.529 --> 0:04:47.069 a professional baseball team with his more recent dream of 0:04:47.109 --> 0:04:49.789 getting a job, literally any job. 0:04:50.849 --> 0:04:55.109 So I fabricated a resume about my baseball experience. 0:04:56.049 --> 0:04:59.109 All these years later, Dan still has the fake resume. 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.120 So let's see here. Um, I think I had some 0:05:05.140 --> 0:05:08.580 help with the Italian at this point. Um, prima base, 0:05:08.619 --> 0:05:13.599 which means first base, University of California, Davis, Division II, 0:05:14.390 --> 0:05:20.510 giocatore allenatore, which means player, coach, woodland Phillies. I said 0:05:20.529 --> 0:05:24.549 I won the California championship for semi-professional baseball. 0:05:24.969 --> 0:05:26.469 What does semi-professional mean? 0:05:27.770 --> 0:05:33.779 I don't think it means anything. I came up with 0:05:34.419 --> 0:05:38.330 Fake batting averages. I hit 401, 415, and 310. 0:05:38.330 --> 0:05:39.410 Wow, that's really good. 0:05:40.429 --> 0:05:41.679 But I didn't do that. I made it up. 0:05:44.669 --> 0:05:48.440 I mean, did this kind of lying come easy to you? 0:05:49.339 --> 0:05:53.120 Absolutely not. I was really quite the opposite, kind of 0:05:53.159 --> 0:05:56.489 a Boy Scout. But in that moment, I was so 0:05:56.549 --> 0:05:59.359 desperate not to go home. I was so desperate to 0:05:59.419 --> 0:06:03.210 make this work that I just didn't care. I said, well, 0:06:03.589 --> 0:06:05.610 I'm going to go for it because I'm out of 0:06:05.669 --> 0:06:07.150 money and I just cannot go home. 0:06:08.130 --> 0:06:11.289 Dan was called back to interview for a batting coach position. 0:06:11.929 --> 0:06:15.060 And perhaps simply because he was American, he was hired 0:06:15.119 --> 0:06:24.219 on the spot. And with that, baseball was back. But 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:28.710 almost immediately, panic set in. Dan remembers the first time 0:06:28.770 --> 0:06:31.349 he stepped onto the field to watch the team warm up. 0:06:32.150 --> 0:06:32.769 Oh, shit. 0:06:33.150 --> 0:06:37.529 Like, these guys are real. These guys can really play. 0:06:38.479 --> 0:06:41.619 What Dan hadn't known was that La Fortitudo was one 0:06:41.659 --> 0:06:44.760 of the best and oldest teams in the Italian Major League, 0:06:45.219 --> 0:06:49.119 essentially the New York Yankees of Italy. What could Dan, 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.799 a guy who got cut from junior varsity, possibly teach 0:06:52.859 --> 0:06:56.359 the Italian Yankees? Were you in constant fear of being 0:06:56.419 --> 0:06:58.639 found out Constant. 0:06:59.039 --> 0:06:59.479 Constant. 0:07:00.099 --> 0:07:02.480 So I was walking this fine line between being a 0:07:02.539 --> 0:07:04.800 coach and just fading into the background. 0:07:05.679 --> 0:07:08.180 And the fact that you couldn't speak Italian, that didn't 0:07:08.239 --> 0:07:09.029 enter into it? 0:07:10.070 --> 0:07:13.110 Well, it actually worked in my favor. Because if there 0:07:13.130 --> 0:07:16.730 were ever any probing questions that made me nervous... No, no. 0:07:16.810 --> 0:07:18.249 A speaker di Italiano. 0:07:19.050 --> 0:07:20.690 Right. Exactly. 0:07:21.369 --> 0:07:23.369 When I would help with the batting, it was just 0:07:23.390 --> 0:07:27.720 a lot of pantomiming. Dan felt like an imposter. A 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:32.310 real scaramouche. Until one day, mid-season, when he had a 0:07:32.350 --> 0:07:37.150 chance to step up. Lafortitudo was playing a team from 0:07:37.230 --> 0:07:40.270 Rimini called Ipirati, the Pirates. 0:07:41.150 --> 0:07:45.720 And on the mound walks an American pitcher named Dennis Rasmussen. 0:07:46.260 --> 0:07:47.819 And my jaw hits the floor. 0:07:48.679 --> 0:07:51.939 Rasmussen had been a major league baseball player who'd played 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:55.429 on the Padres, the Cubs, the Reds, the Royals. And 0:07:55.450 --> 0:07:58.830 for four years on the New York Yankees, Dan used 0:07:58.869 --> 0:08:02.800 to root for him. And now, here Rasmussen was, pitching 0:08:02.860 --> 0:08:05.280 against Lafortitudo, and pitching well. 0:08:06.179 --> 0:08:07.900 No one can hit him. I mean, no one can 0:08:07.940 --> 0:08:11.750 even hit a foul tip. They were winning like 4-0, 0:08:12.650 --> 0:08:16.710 and Dennis was a left-hander. And up comes our hitter 0:08:16.750 --> 0:08:19.369 who was supposed to face him, who was also a left-hander. 0:08:20.210 --> 0:08:23.410 From his many years spent studying and analyzing the game, 0:08:23.810 --> 0:08:27.630 Dan knew that when facing a left-handed pitcher, a right-handed 0:08:27.670 --> 0:08:29.200 batter had a better shot. 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:32.220 So I went up to the manager and I said, 0:08:32.380 --> 0:08:36.680 let's pinch hit. Let's put in a right-hander. And I 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.939 point to this player named Mamo, Mamo Morselli. 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.920 Mamo was someone the coaches didn't play much. In this 0:08:43.980 --> 0:08:48.240 particular moment, though, Mamo had one qualification that recommended him. 0:08:48.990 --> 0:08:52.450 When it came to pencils, salad forks, and baseball bats, 0:08:53.150 --> 0:08:54.840 Mamo favored his right hand. 0:08:55.350 --> 0:08:59.060 So we put in Mamo. He hits a double and 0:08:59.380 --> 0:09:06.819 drives in a run. I am the happiest I've ever 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:11.520 been because it's about as close as I could conceivably 0:09:11.580 --> 0:09:14.720 ever get to facing a major league pitcher and getting 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:15.040 a hit. 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:17.340 Was that your greatest success as a coach? 0:09:17.340 --> 0:09:19.240 100%. 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:23.020 100%. That's one of my greatest successes as anything. 0:09:24.660 --> 0:09:27.840 Dan is in his 50s. He's lived a life. He 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:31.590 knows what success feels like. And yet, nothing has come 0:09:31.620 --> 0:09:35.650 close to that day in 1996 when Mamo hit the double. 0:09:41.490 --> 0:09:43.850 In the movie version of this story, the one in 0:09:43.870 --> 0:09:46.929 which Dan is portrayed by a young Tom Hanks, He 0:09:46.970 --> 0:09:49.830 would redeem his having conned his way onto the Italian 0:09:49.890 --> 0:09:53.750 Yankees by leading them to the Italian World Series, where 0:09:53.770 --> 0:09:56.460 he'd be carried off the field and soaked in whatever 0:09:56.500 --> 0:10:00.720 the Italian version of Gatorade is. A bucket of scalding espresso, 0:10:00.780 --> 0:10:04.040 I'm imagining. But none of that is what happened. 0:10:04.620 --> 0:10:05.400 We lost. 0:10:05.680 --> 0:10:06.540 Regularly lost. 0:10:07.220 --> 0:10:11.170 So regularly, in fact, that that... season, La Fortitudo ended 0:10:11.230 --> 0:10:14.809 up in last place. And in Italy, last place meant 0:10:14.850 --> 0:10:18.390 getting relegated to the minor league. It's like if all 0:10:18.430 --> 0:10:22.270 the Yankees were simultaneously demoted to their farm team, the 0:10:22.290 --> 0:10:25.650 Scranton Wilkes Bar Rail Riders in Musick, Pennsylvania. 0:10:25.670 --> 0:10:31.230 I left them in last place. I was so ashamed 0:10:31.290 --> 0:10:35.730 of myself and have been carrying that shame ever since. 0:10:36.690 --> 0:10:40.270 So for Dan, it's complicated. That year, he wore a 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:44.320 professional baseball uniform, spent time on the field with real players, 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:47.840 made game time calls. He realized a dream. 0:10:47.860 --> 0:10:53.580 I have my jersey framed in my living room. I 0:10:53.680 --> 0:10:56.660 follow the team online, and it's still very much alive 0:10:56.700 --> 0:10:57.160 in my head. 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.240 But at the same time, it was all based on 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.820 a lie. And because he lied and was unqualified for 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:07.740 the job in the first place, Dan wonders, do I 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.440 bear responsibility for the team's failure? 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.540 If I don't, who does? I was dressed up like 0:11:14.580 --> 0:11:17.500 a coach. I was acting like a coach. I mean, 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:20.220 I was the coach. But I was a coach under 0:11:20.680 --> 0:11:21.780 false pretenses. 0:11:24.620 --> 0:11:28.120 Dan is finally ready. after 30 years, to come clean 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:32.460 to his old teammates. Maybe if Lafortitudo forgives him, he 0:11:32.500 --> 0:11:35.640 can keep the good memories uneclipsed by the shame of 0:11:35.710 --> 0:11:36.370 having lied. 0:11:36.390 --> 0:11:40.790 I think that they deserve to hear the truth. I 0:11:40.910 --> 0:11:43.569 hope it can allay some of the shame I feel. 0:11:43.590 --> 0:11:47.800 I just need to know I did my best to 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:49.160 put this lie to bed. 0:11:51.460 --> 0:12:01.600 After the break, going to bat for Dan. But before that, 0:12:02.820 --> 0:12:06.140 heads up, some amazing products to help you cover all 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:11.450 your bases and provide a home run of savings. That 0:12:11.470 --> 0:12:18.949 sounds like I know baseball, right? Did Dan really tank 0:12:18.970 --> 0:12:22.630 the team? As Robert De Niro, as Al Capone in 0:12:22.670 --> 0:12:26.700 The Untouchables said, just before driving a bat through someone's skull, 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:31.310 baseball is about teamwork. So how much damage, I wonder, 0:12:31.610 --> 0:12:35.090 could one little old fake coach have caused an entire team? 0:12:36.170 --> 0:12:39.690 Since asking his teammates if Dan destroyed their team, with 0:12:39.730 --> 0:12:43.700 Dan on the line, might potentially be awkward, I decide 0:12:43.740 --> 0:12:47.140 to make the initial calls on my own. But no 0:12:47.260 --> 0:12:50.400 sooner do I start thumbing through the Italian white pages 0:12:50.820 --> 0:12:53.520 that I'm confronted by the fact that I neither read 0:12:53.710 --> 0:12:57.490 nor speak Italian. What I'll need is an interpreter. 0:12:58.810 --> 0:12:59.130 Hello. 0:12:59.850 --> 0:13:00.990 Hi. How are you? 0:13:01.590 --> 0:13:02.290 I'm great. 0:13:03.030 --> 0:13:04.470 And so, Cynthia. 0:13:04.950 --> 0:13:05.410 Cinzia. 0:13:05.890 --> 0:13:11.640 Cinzia. Cinzia, okay. Cinzia lives in Italy. 0:13:12.100 --> 0:13:14.040 No, I'm based in Mexico City. 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.580 But the main thing is, she's an interpreter. Through talk 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:19.980 or translating on paper? 0:13:21.620 --> 0:13:24.330 None of them. I'm a masseuse. 0:13:25.190 --> 0:13:29.610 Cinzia is a masseuse. Wait, why is my interpreter a masseuse? 0:13:30.210 --> 0:13:32.630 A masseuse? Yes, I'm a massage therapist. 0:13:32.870 --> 0:13:32.990 Oh. 0:13:35.050 --> 0:13:38.010 But, she says, she has a degree in foreign languages 0:13:38.460 --> 0:13:42.560 and is unofficially translating all the time. Still, this will 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:46.240 be her first time doing it professionally. Cinzia is willing 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:47.360 to try new things. 0:13:47.820 --> 0:13:49.679 I like to look at my life like it's a 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:50.400 big puzzle. 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:51.220 A big puddle? 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:52.590 A puzzle. 0:13:52.910 --> 0:13:53.570 Oh, a puzzle. 0:13:53.590 --> 0:13:54.190 A big puzzle. 0:13:54.650 --> 0:14:02.340 That's better than a puddle. We begin with a player 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:07.640 named Roberto Radaglielli, or Rada as he's known. Hello. 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:08.280 Hello. 0:14:08.380 --> 0:14:08.720 Ciao. 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:09.340 Come stai? 0:14:09.680 --> 0:14:10.740 Come stai, Roberto? 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:15.429 Rada was La Fortitudo's pitcher in 1996. When I set 0:14:15.470 --> 0:14:18.570 up the interview, I kept it vague, never bringing up 0:14:18.630 --> 0:14:24.910 Dan's name. I wanted to ask what he remembers about 0:14:25.010 --> 0:14:25.810 the 1996 season. Allora. 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:35.460 Sinceramente mi ricordo solo purtroppo cose non belle. 0:14:35.900 --> 0:14:39.180 He doesn't remember a lot and what he remembers are 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:52.200 not really pleasant things. So during that year, he says 0:14:52.260 --> 0:14:57.020 that it was a big disappointment because he was a 0:14:57.060 --> 0:15:01.540 really good player and this loss kind of marked a 0:15:01.580 --> 0:15:07.490 little bit his career. And he says that because of 0:15:07.570 --> 0:15:11.250 this vibe, let's say, that there was in the team, 0:15:11.270 --> 0:15:16.030 he wasn't feeling as he could train in his best way. 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.860 I can't help wondering if the vibe, short for vibration, 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.710 that kept him from training in his best way was Dan, 0:15:25.170 --> 0:15:28.410 short for Daniel. But when I ask Rada if he 0:15:28.470 --> 0:15:32.870 remembers a batting coach named Dan, Rada says no. Okay, 0:15:32.910 --> 0:15:33.330 thank you. 0:15:33.350 --> 0:15:34.150 Okay. 0:15:34.650 --> 0:15:37.490 Roberto, thank you, Roberto. It was very, very nice to 0:15:37.530 --> 0:15:39.250 talk to you. Ciao, ciao. 0:15:39.450 --> 0:15:40.410 Ciao, buona serata. 0:15:40.810 --> 0:15:41.810 Great. Very good. 0:15:41.850 --> 0:15:46.250 Very good. Bye. After the call and the awful beating 0:15:46.310 --> 0:15:50.460 my long-distance calling card took from all those goodbyes, Cinzia 0:15:50.590 --> 0:15:51.490 expresses doubts. 0:15:52.100 --> 0:15:55.280 That's actually weird that he doesn't remember. Like, that sounds 0:15:55.300 --> 0:15:56.220 a little bit shady. 0:15:57.220 --> 0:15:58.160 Oh, interesting. 0:15:58.500 --> 0:16:00.680 I don't know, but it just sounds a little bit. 0:16:01.100 --> 0:16:02.060 Okay. 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:07.660 I respect your suspicion. I like that. Could it be 0:16:07.820 --> 0:16:12.000 that just as the suspicious masseuse suspects, Dan was so 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:16.710 sus that Rada refuses to remember him? Before getting off 0:16:16.750 --> 0:16:20.090 the phone, Rada passed along the name of another teammate, 0:16:20.530 --> 0:16:28.440 one he thought might remember more, Stefano Landuzzi, or Bidi. 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:33.780 Bidi was Lafortitudo's catcher. I make an ill-advised attempt at 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.780 trying to match his joie de vivre. Oh, hello, hello. 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:43.880 The joie catching in my throat. Where are you? There's 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:44.900 a feeling of excitement. 0:16:46.950 --> 0:16:48.510 He's at the field, he's at the game. 0:16:48.870 --> 0:16:54.030 Bidi started playing at eight years old in La Fortitudo's 0:16:54.110 --> 0:16:57.550 junior league and then played 18 seasons in the Italian 0:16:57.590 --> 0:17:01.820 major league. He retired in 2010, but still coaches a 0:17:01.940 --> 0:17:04.720 youth league in Bologna. I love baseball. 0:17:07.490 --> 0:17:09.840 It's a sport that gets into your blood. 0:17:10.859 --> 0:17:13.800 A different journalist, the kind that wears a lanyard around 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.399 his neck, might next ask, what is the proudest moment 0:17:17.500 --> 0:17:22.630 in your legendary 18-year career? But instead, I ask, what 0:17:22.649 --> 0:17:29.810 do you remember about the 1996 season? I ask about 0:17:29.850 --> 0:17:35.040 the single most embarrassing year of his professional career. When 0:17:35.100 --> 0:17:38.850 I ask you what you remember about that season, you 0:17:38.909 --> 0:17:42.470 start to laugh. Why is that? That year, it was 0:17:42.649 --> 0:17:45.729 kind of sad because Portitudo was relegated and it didn't 0:17:45.750 --> 0:17:46.309 happen for 30 years. 0:17:46.330 --> 0:17:50.970 From 1966 to 1995, everything was fine. Then came 1996. 0:18:03.449 --> 0:18:06.390 Or, put another way, then came Dan. 0:18:06.409 --> 0:18:12.219 That year for the Fortitudo was like touching rock bottom. 0:18:13.199 --> 0:18:17.020 But Bidi tells me, the Fortitudo came back strong, winning 0:18:17.060 --> 0:18:19.100 the Italian Cup the very next year. 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:27.150 And Fortitudo what is today, it started in 1997. 0:18:27.149 --> 0:18:32.429 Wow, so it was doing great. Until 1996. 1996, bad year. 0:18:32.730 --> 0:18:35.030 And then 1997, good again. 0:18:35.050 --> 0:18:35.109 Si. 0:18:38.709 --> 0:18:43.730 Dan's year, in fact, was Lafortitudo's single relegation in its 0:18:43.750 --> 0:18:50.019 73-year history. I wonder if you remember a man named Dan. 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:57.399 Do you remember him at all? Me. 0:18:57.869 --> 0:18:58.129 Dan. 0:18:59.109 --> 0:19:04.789 With Dan, it was the first time for La Fortitudo 0:19:04.810 --> 0:19:06.810 to have a batting coach. 0:19:07.869 --> 0:19:12.289 And then, Bidi explains, after the troubles of 1996, La 0:19:12.310 --> 0:19:16.530 Fortitudo stopped having batting coaches. It would take another three 0:19:16.619 --> 0:19:18.139 years before they tried it again. 0:19:19.820 --> 0:19:20.200 Va bene. 0:19:20.399 --> 0:19:20.679 OK. 0:19:20.780 --> 0:19:21.119 Great. 0:19:21.340 --> 0:19:21.820 OK. 0:19:21.919 --> 0:19:22.439 Ciao, Jonathan. 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:22.980 OK. 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:23.450 Ciao. 0:19:23.740 --> 0:19:24.740 Ciao, Jonathan. 0:19:25.020 --> 0:19:25.129 OK. 0:19:25.169 --> 0:19:29.290 Ciao, Jonathan. Va bene, Ste. Ciao. 0:19:29.330 --> 0:19:29.590 OK. 0:19:29.609 --> 0:19:30.030 Bye-bye. 0:19:30.290 --> 0:19:30.689 Thank you. 0:19:30.850 --> 0:19:32.689 No, no, that's great. That's great. 0:19:32.970 --> 0:19:33.370 OK. 0:19:33.609 --> 0:19:34.850 OK. Ciao. 0:19:35.050 --> 0:19:36.750 Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Ciao, ciao. 0:19:37.510 --> 0:19:40.150 To the question of how much damage one little old 0:19:40.230 --> 0:19:43.710 fake coach might have caused, it seems, after speaking with 0:19:43.750 --> 0:19:47.290 Beattie and Radha, that the answer might be, a lot? 0:19:48.300 --> 0:19:51.969 I talked to a couple of the baseball guys and 0:19:54.189 --> 0:19:57.959 anytime that year was brought up, it was like, oh boy. 0:19:58.240 --> 0:19:59.059 Does the guilt make a little. 0:19:59.230 --> 0:20:02.850 more sense not only that but beady actually said that 0:20:02.869 --> 0:20:07.070 they were doing great until 1996 and then they did 0:20:07.169 --> 0:20:11.329 great after 1990 did you know that this is what 0:20:11.369 --> 0:20:16.790 i'm saying But there was one player I reached out to, 0:20:17.169 --> 0:20:20.310 who finally, after weeks of back and forth, agreed to 0:20:20.369 --> 0:20:24.050 speak with me. Thank you so much for doing this. 0:20:26.959 --> 0:20:27.549 It's a pleasure. 0:20:28.199 --> 0:20:31.840 Mamo, the right-handed batter Dan put in to pinch hit. 0:20:32.919 --> 0:20:36.399 Mamo is now a 50-year-old cafe owner in Bologna. He 0:20:36.439 --> 0:20:39.639 hasn't played baseball in many years. When I ask him 0:20:39.679 --> 0:20:45.889 about 1996, Mamo makes this sound. Oof. Mamo calls that 0:20:45.949 --> 0:20:49.609 whole year traumatic. The following year, he even took a 0:20:49.649 --> 0:20:52.970 whole season off baseball. But when I bring up Dan, 0:20:53.250 --> 0:20:58.220 Mamo has fond memories. Mamo recalls Dan as young and enthusiastic, 0:20:58.639 --> 0:21:02.400 always on the field, giving advice about batting stance. Does 0:21:02.439 --> 0:21:06.979 he remember there was a game where the pitcher on 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:11.529 the other team, a guy named Dennis Rasmussen, he was 0:21:11.629 --> 0:21:12.570 on Rimini. 0:21:14.020 --> 0:21:16.800 Do you remember? I remember. 0:21:16.859 --> 0:21:17.660 He remembers. 0:21:18.139 --> 0:21:18.540 Really? 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:19.679 I remembered that one. 0:21:27.310 --> 0:21:31.669 I didn't play often, but I do remember that time 0:21:31.730 --> 0:21:37.250 that I hit the ball and I brought home that point, basically. However, 0:21:37.570 --> 0:21:40.149 I don't think we won that game. 0:21:41.109 --> 0:21:45.649 But you do remember that moment 30 years later. 0:21:47.770 --> 0:21:52.280 I remember that specific moment, the adrenaline and the enthusiasm 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:52.979 of that point. 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:57.759 Wow. Then, Mamo confesses something about that point that he's 0:21:57.780 --> 0:21:59.900 been holding onto for 30 years. 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:07.319 I thought it was Dan convincing the first coach to 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:07.959 put me in. 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:12.639 Really? I thought about that. Dan wants to apologize for 0:22:12.679 --> 0:22:15.799 his lie, and Mamo, because he and Dan share that 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:18.820 same happy memory, is the right person to receive it. 0:22:19.659 --> 0:22:22.190 It'll be like the gift of the Magi, without any 0:22:22.209 --> 0:22:27.450 of the cruel irony. Bada bing, dare I say, bada boom. 0:22:29.290 --> 0:22:37.019 A few days later, we all get on a video call. 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:40.340 Dan and Mamo catch up, and as a wind-up to 0:22:40.379 --> 0:22:44.459 his confession, Dan brings up Mamo's hit against Ramini, what 0:22:44.500 --> 0:22:46.159 that moment has always meant to him. 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:47.819 So I want to say thank you. 0:22:49.260 --> 0:22:55.909 He makes me really happy. We should have talked before. 0:22:55.929 --> 0:22:59.590 You've waited too long. 0:23:00.470 --> 0:23:03.549 I didn't have the courage. I thought you would be upset. 0:23:03.570 --> 0:23:07.859 Dan then offers Mamo the reason he thought he'd be upset. 0:23:08.679 --> 0:23:12.139 It is very hard for me, and I am very ashamed. 0:23:12.939 --> 0:23:18.149 When I got the job as the hitting coach... I 0:23:18.230 --> 0:23:24.570 lied about my background. I never played for the Phillies 0:23:24.629 --> 0:23:27.649 in the minor leagues, and I was never a coach. 0:23:28.149 --> 0:23:31.419 I only played two years in high school. 0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:35.440 On screen, Mamo laughs quietly to himself. 0:23:39.770 --> 0:23:43.429 You came for a good experience in Italy, for an adventure, 0:23:43.709 --> 0:23:48.070 even if it didn't end well. What happened is. 0:23:48.310 --> 0:23:48.949 Not your fault. 0:23:50.109 --> 0:23:53.770 Yeah. 0:23:54.050 --> 0:23:56.430 You're not sure, you're not convinced about. 0:23:56.290 --> 0:23:56.770 What I've said? 0:23:56.790 --> 0:24:05.659 I don't really have a way to tell you don't 0:24:05.709 --> 0:24:06.409 worry about it. 0:24:10.959 --> 0:24:13.649 Thank you. Thank you, guys. 0:24:13.980 --> 0:24:14.649 Thank you, Mamo. 0:24:14.949 --> 0:24:16.070 Thank you. Thank you, Mamo. 0:24:16.209 --> 0:24:17.149 Ciao, Mamo. 0:24:18.090 --> 0:24:19.050 Ciao. 0:24:19.090 --> 0:24:22.050 Buona serata a tutti. È stato un piacere. Un bacio 0:24:22.070 --> 0:24:22.949 grande a tutti. 0:24:22.990 --> 0:24:24.470 Have a lovely night, everyone. 0:24:24.730 --> 0:24:25.140 Bye. 0:24:25.310 --> 0:24:26.200 Grazie. 0:24:26.399 --> 0:24:28.600