Ned Colletti has seen just about everything in his four-decade career as a sports executive.
A 1976 NIU journalism graduate, Colletti built or helped build teams that made five World Series appearances — two that won the Fall Classic. He’s also scouted hockey talent for the San Jose Sharks. But nothing compares to what he and Team Italy accomplished on the world stage earlier this month.
Italy ended a magical run in the World Baseball Classic on March 16 with a 4-2 loss in the semifinals against eventual champion Venezuela. Though the Azzurri may have surprised a worldwide audience, Colletti, Italy’s general manager, was able to see his team’s potential early on, starting with captain and Kansas City Royals slugger Vinnie Pasquantino.
“I could see the work he was doing and the passion he has,” Colletti said. “Every player came in with a passion — nobody came in begrudgingly — everybody came in with a chance to make a difference.”
And that difference was apparent from the get-go. The Italians went undefeated in a pool that featured heavyweights Team USA and Team Mexico. They captured international attention and downed countless espresso shots on their way to the tournament’s penultimate game. They put Italy on the baseball map.
Colletti called his experience improbable. Others might call it impossible. But all he and Italy needed was a chance — the same chance he didn’t get when he first applied to NIU in the summer of 1972.
“I didn’t have the grades. They wouldn’t let me in,” said Colletti, who attended Triton College in River Grove before later enrolling at NIU in the fall of 1975. “So that’s where I come from. I needed a chance.”
In January 2025, Colletti was named general manager of Team Italy. But the chance to put together one of the sport’s biggest Cinderella stories in recent history was decades in the making. Colletti served as a top front office executive from 1997 to 2014 with two MLB clubs: the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He spent nine years as assistant general manager for the Giants before a nine-season stint as the Dodgers’ general manager.
It was during his time in Los Angeles that Colletti hired Marco Mazzieri as a scout in Europe. While working together, the two discussed growing the game in Italy — Colletti’s grandparents having been born there — and those conversations came full circle two falls ago.
In November 2024, Mazzieri was elected president of the Federation of Italian Baseball and Softball, the governing body of the Italian national team. Colletti reached out to congratulate his former scout. Two months later, Mazzieri called to offer Colletti the role of general manager and a chance to honor his Italian heritage.
Colletti accepted, but only after passing it through his personal criteria. The 71-year-old said he lives in the moment but also picks and chooses where to dedicate his time — and for good reason.
“I’m running out of time. We can look at our bank account and figure out how much money we have. We have no idea how much time we have, so I’m a bit selective on what I do and how I do it,” Colletti said. “I only get involved with people I respect, I trust, I see as passionate and genuine and true to the quest.”
Those were the type of people he brought together for Team Italy. But just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, that team wasn’t built overnight — and yet, Colletti only had limited time to assemble his squad. Due to MLB rules that kept players off-limits until December and a variety of club and player decisions, Italy’s roster wasn’t set until early February — barely a month before the tournament began.
At the same, Colletti had to bring in players that could actually mesh on and off the field. He couldn’t base his roster on stacking a superteam of Italian-Americans.
“When you build a team, obviously you’re looking for not just the best players but the personalities, the best fits,” Colletti said. “because all-star teams aren’t necessarily successful. The best teams are successful.”
Success, of course, was never guaranteed for Italy. Before this year, the Azzurri had only advanced past the tournament’s first round once. But the Italians made the most of their chance in the international spotlight with their deepest tournament run in program history.
The exact date of the next World Baseball Classic isn’t yet known, and Colletti isn’t sure if he’ll be back as general manager, but he knows his saga with Team Italy is one he won’t soon forget.
“This entire experience, starting with Marco calling me and finishing the other day against Venezuela — the eventual champion — it’s one of one in my life,” Colletti said. “I have nothing I can compare it to.”