Marten Gasparini (born May 24, 1997) is an Italian former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

who played in the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

organization his entire minor league career. Gasparini received a $1.3 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

from the Royals, a record bonus for a European player. On May 18, 2019, Gasparini announced his retirement from professional baseball after 6 seasons in the Kansas City Royals organization.

Early life

Gasparini was raised in the town of

Ruda, Friuli Ruda ( fur, Rude) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southeast of Udine. Ruda borders the following municipalities: Aiello del Fr ...

, the son of an Italian father (Federico) and a British mother (Wendy). His mother, a former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, taught English in Italy, using American movies with Italian subtitles to help her students learn the language. One such film was ''

For Love of the Game ''For Love of the Game'' is a novel by American author Michael Shaara, published posthumously in 1991. The book tells the story of fictional baseball great Billy Chapel, thirty-seven years old and nearing the end of his career. Plot summary On t ...

'', which piqued Gasparini's interest in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

. He also participated in soccer and martial arts. While competing in

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...

. He then attended the Italian Baseball Academy in

Tirrenia Tirrenia is a frazione (parish) of Pisa, Italy with a population of 3,112 inhabitants. Immersed in the pine forest of the "Litorale Pisano" and in the coast of Ligurian Sea (even if the name of the village refers to Tyrrhenian Sea, in Italian ''Ma ...

beginning in 2011. In 2012, Gasparini competed for the Italian national baseball team in the 15-and-under and 18-and-under Baseball World Championships.

Career

At the age of 16, Gasparini signed with the Royals as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

for a

of US$1.3 million in 2013, the largest bonus given to a European player. That fall, he participated in the Arizona Instructional League. Gasparini made his professional debut in 2014 with the

Burlington Royals The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington I ...

of the rookie-level

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from J ...

. He had a .191

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

in 19

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Baseball ...

for Burlington, and also played four games for the

Idaho Falls Chukars The Idaho Falls Chukars are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and play their home games at Melaleuca ...

of the rookie-level Pioneer League. Gasparini spent the 2015 season with Idaho Falls, where he had a .259 batting average, 26 stolen bases, and led the league in

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

with 10. He played the 2016 season with the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, posting a .196 batting average with seven home runs and 42 RBIs. He returned to Lexington in 2017, batting .227 with nine home runs and 50 RBIs in 122 games.

Personal life

Gasparini has a sister, who is studying in the United States.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gasparini, Marten 1997 births Living people People from Ruda, Friuli Sportspeople from the Province of Udine Burlington Royals players Idaho Falls Chukars players Italian expatriate baseball players in the United States Italian people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Lexington Legends players