My research has uncovered 809 total Italian American MLB players/umpires/managers, each of whom have their own page on this site. Of these, I have acquired 716 individual player’s baseball cards.
Every card on this site is a card I own!
“Kudos to Ralph Russo for creating Baseball Amore, an impressive and extensive compilation of information about Italian American Major Leaguers.”
Lawrence Baldassaro, author of ‘Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball‘, and ‘Tony Lazzeri: Yankees Legend and Baseball Pioneer‘
Visit a Random Player:
View the Baseball Amore All-Time Italian American MLB Team
New site player additions June/July 2022: Vinnie Pasquantino, Len Dondero, Lou Bevil, Jerry Vasto, Damien Magnifico, Justin Verlander, Joe Musgrove
We are proud to partner with the Italian American Baseball Foundation (IABF). The IABF is dedicated to to the future of baseball & softball for Italian & Italian-American youths on the high school, college and professional levels. While we move forward, IABF – and this site – help us remember those who paved the way.
Visit their homepage and learn more about the scholarships, events, awards, games and other ways in which the IABF enriches and honors IA baseball professionals and youth.
Visit player pages who have been honored by IABF here
Site Contributor Shout Outs:
Thank you to Michelle Ceccarelli for her memories of her father-in-law’s brother, Art Ceccarelli.
Big thanks for the info on Justin Verlander‘s Italian Heritage from Twitter user @Shawn_Spradling – it seems that Justin’s maternal grandmother is Italian-American, with both her parents from Italy.
Huge thank you for the input from Chris Leggitt in which he researched and identified another 35 IA players that were missing from the site! We will be working on getting these players, and any additional players he has researched, added over the coming weeks. Some of the new players added will include David Fletcher, Chase Utley, Eppa Rixey (HoF), Stephen Piscotty and many others.
Thanks to site visitor C. D’Angelo for alerting us to Gerrit Cole’s Italian heritage!
See additional contributors on our “Shout Out” page
Take a Baseball Amore “Theme Tour”
Theme Tours are Direct links between thematically-related players/cards:
Visit Italian American National Baseball Hall of Fame Players
View all Topps Cards Designs (1951 to Present) thru IA Players
Tour all Italian American MLB All-Star Players
(112 Players in 362 appearances)
MVP/Cy Youngs: Players who have won either a Cy Young or MVP Award
Visit all the MLB players that were Born in Italy
See players Born in New York City (and LI)
Browse Italian American MLB Players Born in San Francisco/Oakland/Sacramento CA
Players who were Born in NJ
Players born in Chicago
View all the Italian American Players in the Jazz song: “Van Lingle Mungo”
Military Service during Wartime: IA Players who served during a War
Italian American Sports Hall of Fame members
Current MLB IA Players
Italian American MLB Managers
Italian American MLB Umpires
Brooklyn/LA Dodgers
New York Yankee players
New York/San Francisco Giants players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Chicago Cubs players
Boston Red Sox players
Chicago White Sox Players
Cleveland Indians Players
Cincinnati Reds Players
Philadelphia Phillies Players
Detroit Tigers Players
Pittsburgh Pirates Players
Pacific Coast League (PCL) Hall of Famers
Italian American Baseball Foundation (IABF) Award Honorees
Italian Heritage Unsure: Players that may/may not have Italian Heritage
MLB Players interviewed by historian Lawrence Baldassaro on his podcast “Baseball Italian Style” You can visit the Baseball Italian Style website here
Request Player Additions:
If you notice any players that are missing from this site, please drop me a note through my suggest a player form and I will update.
Report Site Corrections
If there’s a player listed here that you don’t think has Italian American heritage, or you spot an error of any type, please let me know through my contact form.
Download Excel Sheets for All Italian American Players, and Tour Lists
Further Reading: If this topic interests you, you might want to check out the book: Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball by Lawrence Baldassaro, Dom DiMaggio (forward). I read it, and it was very interesting, from both the sport and cultural points of view.
Another great book is “Reaching for the Stars: A Celebration of Italian Americans in Baseball” by Larry Freundlich (Editor)
…and another… “Baseball Italian Style” by Lawrence Baldassaro
Other Great Sites
- The Italian American Baseball Foundation (IABF)
- SABR
- This Day in Baseball
- This Great Game
- Baseball in Wartime
- Baseball Reference
- BR Bullpen
- The Trading Card Database
- Letters From Home Plate
- The Greatest 21 Days
- PCL Hall of Fame
- Retrosheet
- Chevrons and Diamonds
- Catchers Who Served in the Military
- Centerfield Maz
- Night Owl Cards
- Baseball Almanac
- Find A Grave
- Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers
- Italians R Us Baseball Players List
- Frank Russo’s The Deadball Era
”Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball” (Jacques Barzun)
Joe and Joe on the art of on-deck preparation and showmanship. A couple of my favorite baseball personalities growing up. Joe Garagiola was one of the most prolific voices of baseball in the 1970s and 1980s. Of course, Joe Torre was a great ball player and an even better manager.
Here’s a great pre-game video clip from the 1975 All-Star game in Milwaukee.
https://youtu.be/1ej809nJH5E
Great video!
Always seemed like Torre was destined to be doing more in baseball…