Giovanni Carrara, Venezuelan baseball player
Giovanni Carrara Jiménez [car-rah'-ra] (born March 4, 1968) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. Listed at 6' 2", 225 lb.,
Carrara batted and threw right-handed. He established himself as a valuable middle relief man in MLB, as well as a solid starting pitcher in the Italian Baseball League.
Carrera initially struggled as a starting pitcher in the major leagues but later became an effective long reliever. He had a 90–92 MPH fastball, along with a couple of breaking balls, a deceptive slow curve, and particularly his off-speed pitch; a hard one that was somewhere between a slider and cut fastball. He controlled the running game as well, with a good move to both first base and second, and a quick delivery to the plate.
On August 15, 2001, Carrara combined with fellow Venezuelan pitchers Omar Daal, Kelvim Escobar, and Freddy García to win their respective starts: Carrara, of the Dodgers, facing Montreal, 13–1; Daal, in a Phillies victory over the Brewers, 8–6; Escobar, of the Blue Jays, over Oakland, 5–2, and García, of Seattle, against the Red Sox, 6–2. This marked the first time in major league history that four pitchers coming from Venezuela have recorded a winning game in their respective starts in the same day.
On August 26, 2006, Carrara was designated for assignment by the Dodgers. He was called up in September 2006 when rosters expanded and used sparingly after re-joining the big league club. The Dodgers chose not to re-sign Carrara in the offseason.
On May 4, 2007, Carrara was signed by the Caffè Danesi Nettuno of Serie A1 in Italy. In 2008, he was 8–2 with a 2.35 ERA and 49 strikeouts.
1968Mar, 4
Giovanni Carrara
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Events on 1968
- 30Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. - 31Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive. - 29Apr
Counterculture of the 1960s
The controversial musical Hair, a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, opens at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, with some of its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. - 14Oct
U.S. Marine Corps
Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps will send about 24,000 soldiers and Marines back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours of duty in the combat zone there. - 20Oct
Jacqueline Kennedy
Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.