A forgotten Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher's unremarkable 2000 season hid a dark secret that culminated in a life sentence for a violent crime.
Dan Serafini had an unremarkable stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The journeyman left-hander made 11 starts in 2000 and had a 2-5 record and a 4.91 ERA. He was one of 10 Pittsburgh pitchers who started in a season that was most notable for being the Pirates’ last at Three Rivers Stadium.
I covered the Pirates that year as a beat writer for the Beaver County Times, and I can’t remember one game in which Serafini pitched. I interviewed him a few times, and the only thing that stuck out to me was that he had a lot of tattoos. Those were times when ballplayers having multiple tattoos were still uncommon.
Pittsburgh cut Serafini following that season, and he bounced around the major leagues, the minor leagues, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Mexican League before his career ended after the 2013 season.
I hadn’t thought of Serafini in years, until October 2023, when news broke that he had been arrested for allegedly shooting his father-in-law to death and critically wounding his mother-in-law. The alleged shooting occurred earlier that month.
He remained out of mind until last Friday, when I read he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2021 shooting of his in-laws during a burglary at their Lake Tahoe, Calif., home.
Serafini was convicted in July 2025 of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and first-degree burglary.
Prosecutors said Serafini hated his wife’s wealthy parents and was heard saying he was willing to pay $20,000 to have them killed. Prosecutors also showed jurors transcripts of angry emails and text messages between Serafini and his in-laws during a six-week trial in Auburn, Calif.
Serafini denied he was at his in-laws’ home on the night of the 2021 shooting, claiming instead that he was partying. After his conviction, he filed motions for a retrial, but these were denied.
On the stand, Serafini described himself as a “broken, imperfect man who makes mistakes.”
Serafini’s mistakes during his time with the Pirates came on the pitcher’s mound as the imperfect statistics illustrate. Serafini came across as a little odd and spaced out on the field, but nothing suggested he would someday murder his father-in-law.
All of which goes to show that you never really know someone, even if he is a major-league player.
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