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My research has uncovered 793 total Italian American MLB players/umpires/managers, each of whom have their own page on this site. Of these, I have acquired 698 individual player’s baseball cards.

Every card on this site is a card I own!

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“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‘

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Visit a Random Player:

Frank DiPino: winning pitcher in the Cubs' 1st home night game ever

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View the Baseball Amore All-Time Italian American MLB Team

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New site player additions June 2022: Nick Lodolo, Ron Marinaccio, Vinny Capra, Andrew Bellatti, Chase Utley, David Fletcher, Stephen Piscotty, Daniel Bard, Luke Bard, Mike Belfiore, Eppa Rixey (HoF), Mike Venafro, Nick Christiani, Simon Muzziotti, Andy Parrino, Brian Omogrosso, Jeff Fulchino, Keith Garagozzo, Mike Esposito, Darrell Ceciliani, Chris Demaria, Blake Lalli; Danny Murphy, Mike Vento, Alec Distaso, Anthony Ferrari, Matt Mangini, Tony Ghelfi, Jeff Fiorentino, Rob Segedin

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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

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Site Contributor Shout Outs:

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!

Thanks to site visitor Daniel Serafini for: (1) reminding us to add “Rocket Ron” Necciai to the site – The Rocket’s family was from the same town in Italy as Daniel’s family! (2) reminding us to post Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo to the site and (3) recounting his message from Jim Duffalo who indicated that he is not an Italian American… but still a great ballplayer.

Thanks Chet Campanella for your wonderful memory of playing with Dick Barone!

Also, thanks to Jeff Fierson for the memory of working with Steve Lembo at A&R…

Thanks to Frank Allegro for sharing his personal story about facing Sal Campisi‘s brother Frank in HS in Brooklyn…

Thanks to Wayne Hallett for the memory of pitcher Jim Duffalo hitting for the Springfield Mass Giants in ’59 and ’60…

Thanks to Brian Ritchie for his recollection of meeting umpires Augie Guglielmo, Terry Tata, Dick Stello and Dale Long at Toronto Maple Leaf Stadium – they borrowed his Chest Protector!

Thanks to Donald Amareld for his comments about Ricky Bottalico‘s post-game analysis for the Phillies!

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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

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View all Topps Cards Designs (1952 to Present) thru IA Players

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Tour all Italian American MLB All-Star Players

(111 Players in 352 appearances)

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MVP/Cy Youngs: Players who have won either a Cy Young or MVP Award

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Visit all the MLB players that were Born in Italy

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See players Born in New York City (and LI)

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Browse Italian American MLB Players Born in San Francisco/Oakland/Sacramento CA

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Players who were Born in NJ

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Players born in Chicago

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View all the Italian American Players in the Jazz song: “Van Lingle Mungo”

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Military Service during Wartime: IA Players who served during a War

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Italian American Sports Hall of Fame members

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Current MLB IA Players

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Italian American MLB Managers

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Italian American MLB Umpires

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Brooklyn/LA Dodgers

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New York Yankee players

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New York/San Francisco Giants players

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St. Louis Cardinals players

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Chicago Cubs players

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Boston Red Sox players

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Chicago White Sox Players

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Cleveland Indians Players

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Cincinnati Reds Players

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Philadelphia Phillies Players

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Detroit Tigers Players

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Pittsburgh Pirates Players

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Women in Pro Baseball/AAGPBL

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Pacific Coast League (PCL) Hall of Famers

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Italian American Baseball Foundation (IABF) Award Honorees

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Italian Heritage Unsure: Players that may/may not have Italian Heritage

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MLB Players interviewed by historian Lawrence Baldassaro on his podcast “Baseball Italian Style” You can visit the Baseball Italian Style website here

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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.

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Download Excel Sheets for All Italian American Players, and Tour Lists

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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.

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Another great book is “Reaching for the Stars: A Celebration of Italian Americans in Baseball” by Larry Freundlich (Editor)

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…and another… “Baseball Italian Style” by Lawrence Baldassaro

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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

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”Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball” (Jacques Barzun)