Having attended the European Baseball Championship in Torino and witnessed the managerial debut of National Baseball Hall of Famer and Team Italy skipper Mike Piazza over two months ago, MLB Senior Vice President of International Baseball Jim Small felt the passion and commitment of FIBS officials against all odds in the midst of a pandemic.

MLB International colleague Chris Haydock did not have to travel so far to understand the Italians' sense of urgency when seated at the FIBS table at the sold-out IABF Gala across the Williamsburg Bridge in nearby Brooklyn on Thursday night, December 2, 2021.