The international baseball community mourns the passing of Bill Holmberg at the age of 67. He was still very active in the sport, performing in the role of bench coach for the Italian Baseball National Team, under manager Mike Piazza, .
William Herbert Holmberg was born in 1953 in Chicago but grew up in Florida. He played baseball as a catcher at Florida State University.
Holmberg moved to Italy in 1976 to play in the Serie A2 league for Vercelli. After graduating, in 1978 he accepted a job as a player-manager for Godo. He returned to the United States in 1980 to coach the Cristopher Columbus High School before making a final move to Italy in 1989.
Riccardo Fraccari, currently the President of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, hired him as the manager of the U-18 National Team in 2003. Holmberg was then promoted to the Italian Federation (FIBS) Academy as the Major League Baseball (MLB) Coach in Residence.
Holmberg served under manager Marco Mazzieri as the pitching coach of the Italian National Team from 2007 to 2016. He helped Italy earn a historic bronze medal at the IBAF Intercontinental Cup 2010 and two CEB European Titles in 2010 and 2012. He was on the staff of the Italian National Team that qualified for the second round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
The European Coaches Association honoured Holmberg with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
