Birthday party for Baseball Novara: a long history that lasted 54 years

Today is an important date in city sport: Baseball Novara turns 54 years old. The blue “beat and run” was in fact born on October 28, 1967 on a pitch in the Social Center in Viale Giulio Cesare. Giulio Genocchio, Francesco Chiaretti, Oscar Calcaterra, Pier Augusto Sguazzini, Aldo Antonini, Giacomo Varalda, Vittorio Moretti, Paolo Mogna, Paolo Maccagnan, Mino Ranzini, Guido Liverziani, Roberto Rossini, Aldo Mongrandi, Paolo Bossi and Beppe Guilizzoni: they are the founders of “Beat and run” blue. A discipline, that of baseball, which became second in popularity only to football and hockey in the early 1970s, even if the Novara club did not have a suitable playing field, lacking lighting. And in fact the pioneers of blue baseball had to play in exile, on the Lombard fields (but also in Turin), until 1981, the year of the installation of the lighting. Two years earlier, however, the Novara Baseball had found “home” in a space adjacent to the Viale Kennedy stadium: the players and managers rolled up their sleeves, building the stadium, with the Innocenti stands that welcomed thousands of spectators for the internal debut (May 17, 1981) against the champions of Rimini. Since then, Baseball Novara has come a long way: another important date was 1983 with the conquest of the Italian Cup, with the TeleMontecarlo brand. And in 1988, the year of the great return of the Azzurri to the top flight, the inauguration of the stadium named after a former player, Marco Provini, with the concrete stands. It was the year of the World Championship with the strongest national teams, from the United States to Cuba to Japan. Another season to remember was 1992, when Baseball Novara (branded Tosi Farmaceutici), with champions of the caliber of Nezi Balelo and Eddie Vosberg, won the second Italian Cup by participating, in 1993 and 1994 in the Cup Winners’ Cup first in Bussum, in the Netherlands, and in Madrid. Then Baseball Novara went through a difficult period, with the disengagement of the main sponsor until his disappearance from the competitive scene. But the legend can never be erased.