19 Responses to “Big Leaguers From Italy”

1. depstein Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 3:42 pm

   My top 25 man roster of European-born players (1901-present):

   Starting Lineup

   1. 3B Jimmy Austin, S
   2. LF Elmer Valo, L
   3. CF Bobby Thompson, R
   4. DH Mike Blowers, R
   5. RF Patsy Donovan, L
   6. 2B Glenn Hubbard, R
   7. 1B John Anderson, S
   8. SS Dave Brain, R
   9. C Jimmy Archer, R

   Reserves

   C Eddie Ainsmith, R
   1B/2B/3B/OF Jeff Baker, R
   2B/3B Reno Bertoia, R
   2B Hobe Ferris, R
   OF Brian Lesher, R
   OF Jimmy Walsh, L

   Starting Pitchers

   RHP Bert Blyleven
   RHP Jack Quinn
   LHP Otto Hess
   RHP Charlie Lea
   RHP Edwin Jackson

   Relief Pitchers

   RHP Moe Drabowsky
   LHP Craig Lefferts
   LHP Will Ohman
   LHP Lance Painter
   RHP Tom Waddell

   Manager: Bruce Bochy (apologies to Ron Gardenhire)

2. Larry R. Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 3:46 pm

   I guess it doesn't take much to get enshrined in the Canadian Baseball HOF.

3. Tmckelv Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 3:54 pm

   Lou Polli is an interesting case, look at his Bullpen entry.

   I clicked on his name first because I saw he played from 1932 to 1944 but only played 24 games. Then when I got to his player page I noticed he ONLY played in the years 1932 (5 games) and 1944 (19 games) - 12 year gap. That intrigued me so I checked out his Bullpen page.

4. Dr. Doom Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 5:23 pm

   @2

   Actually, I've been e-mailing a lot lately with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. It's harder than you might think to get in. They do have a particular fondness towards 1992-93 Blue Jays, but Tim Raines isn't even in yet. I would say it's harder to get in there than it is to get into the Royals Hall of Fame, if Poz's piece today is to be taken at face-value.

5. Barry1776 Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 8:23 pm

   Interesting article! The Cubs have a pitcher named Alex Maestri, who was born in Italy, who has been kicking around their farm system for 5 years. Based on his numbers, it is a real long shot that he will ever make the majors, but if he does, he will be the Italian born pitcher to ever make it MLB!

6. DavidRF Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 8:30 pm

   @1
   Several good Europeans from the 19th century. Tommy Bond, Tony Mullane, Jim McCormick, Harry Wright (though not George).

7. kingcrab Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 8:39 pm

   when i think about Italy and baseball i always think about the Victorino/world baseball classic story...

   http://articles.philly.com/2009-02-21/sports/25282204_1_italian-stallion-world-baseball-classic-candidates

8. James Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 9:28 pm

   Bertoia was kind of a local legend in Windsor, having made the majors for what was basically his hometown team (Windsor being right across the border from Detroit). I suspect that his Canadian Hall of Fame induction has a lot to do with his subsequent teaching and coaching days, and not just his Major League stats.

9. oneblankspace Says:
   March 16th, 2011 at 10:18 pm

   Saturday the 19th is St Joseph's Day, which is sort of big in Italy. So you can blame this post on that.

10. Max Says:
    March 17th, 2011 at 6:36 am

    Well, actually today we are celebrating 150 years of Italy being reunited, thus your timing is perfect. (St. Joseph isn't popular everywhere).

11. camisadelgolf Says:
    March 17th, 2011 at 7:53 am

    I don't know how many active Italians are playing baseball, but here's a Reds prospect, Luca Panerati, that once got some attention from Baseball America:
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=panera001luc

12. Scott Says:
    March 17th, 2011 at 8:28 am

    Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees:
    75% Canadian
    25% born outside Canada, but have given a significant contribution to baseball in Canada

    Blue Jays inducted: Ron Taylor, Pat Gillick, Bobby Mattick, Dave McKay, Paul Beeston, Cito Gaston, Don McDougall, Joe Carter, Peter Hardy, Dave Stieb, Tony Fernandez, Peter Widdrington, Ernie Whitt, Roberto Alomar, Paul Quantrill, Tom Henke

    Expos inducted: Charles Bronfman, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Jim Fanning, Steve Rogers; Claude Raymond, Ron Piche, John McHale, Larry Walker

    Montreal/Quebec inducted: Calvin Griffith, Allan Roth, Billy Harris, Sherry Robertson, Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, Jim McKean, Joseph Lannin, Richard Belec, Harry Simmons, Jackie Robinson

    Inductees such as Bertoia, Tom Burgess, Ron Piche, etc...got in not only for their playing, but also for that they did for Canadian baseball after their playing days.

13. John Autin Says:
    March 17th, 2011 at 11:12 am

    On a tangent ... there's a good book about baseball being played in Italy -- "Baseballissimo," by Dave Bidini (a Canadian).
    http://www.amazon.com/Baseballissimo-Dave-Bidini/dp/0771014627

    Continuing the Canadian connection, a film option on the book has been bought by Geddy Lee, the lead singer for Rush:
    http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/06/24/geddy-lee-of-rush-options-dave-bidinis-baseballissimo/

14. John Autin Says:
    March 17th, 2011 at 11:27 am

    How about that line by Hank Biasetti?
    Just 2 hits in 32 AB -- but both were doubles!
    He also drew 8 walks, giving him a .313 OBP despite an .083 BA.

    Biasetti's 33 PAs without hitting a single are the most by any non-pitcher.
    And he's the only player with at least 1 hit and more than 3 times as many walks as hits.

    It's a small sample, of course -- but Biasetti's plate discipline was real. He drew over 100 walks at AAA both the year before and the year after his brief MLB career, with about 3 times as many walks as strikeouts.

15. Andrew Says:
    March 17th, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    It's surprising that the list is so short, especially when considering that if you expand the list to include Italian-Americans and not just Italians, you'll find it no small wonder that generations of Italian-Americans in New York and New Jersey were inspired to baseball (especially Yankee) fandom by players such as Tony Lazzeri, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Joe DiMaggio, and Roy Campanella.

16. Max Says:
    March 17th, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    ...and while we are still waiting for the first Italian-born, Italian-trained big leaguer, here's the first to have played in the minors:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=rinald001alb

17. . So the Tigers are on the right track by frontloading their starting rotation with aces. In fact « wholesale new era hats,cheap new era caps. Says:
    March 19th, 2011 at 12:10 pm

    [...] baseman/third baseman from 1953-58 and made a brief encore in 1961-62. Baseball-Reference brings this factoid up because Italian-born infielder Alex Liddi has a shot at making the Seattle Mariners [...]

18. Hornblower Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    I remember Reno Bertoia well, because of an inside the park home run he hit at a game I attended at Griffith Stadium. In a close play at the plate, he somersaulted and hit the plate with his head. I could not tell whether he merely stumbled or collided with the catcher. He appeared to be stunned, and the crowd was silent for a few seconds until he got up and returned to the dugout apparently not hurt.

19. MCT Says:
    March 23rd, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    Bertoia's bullpen page states that he attended Assumption College in Worcester, MA (which happens to be my alma mater). There used to be another Assumption College in Windsor, ON, however. It was a predecessor to what is now the University of Windsor. Given Bertoia's connections to the Windsor/Detroit area, I'm wondering if he really went to the Assumption College in Massachusetts, or if he actually attended the Assumption College in Ontario, but is mistakenly believed to have attended the former because it is the only North American college known by that name today.