There was once an advertising campaign for a rye bread that went ‘You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s.’ And you don’t have to be Italian to love Larry Baldassaro’s oral history, Baseball Italian Style. With warmth and good humor, it portrays the dreams and striving that were integral to the immigrant experience. And which, in this case, produced an uncommon and extraordinary number of highly accomplished and hugely popular Italian participants in the New World’s beloved game, baseball.” —Ira Berkow, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of It Happens Every Spring
“Whether you collected cards as a kid, played through your life, or are simply a fan of sports or Italian American culture, you’ll find Baldassaro’s Baseball Italian Style a riveting read. Something wonderful happens when the journalist steps back and lets the voice of the ballplayer tell the story of his life and love of the game. You don’t have to be Italian to enjoy this book, but if you are, you’ll relate to the way these sports heroes, conditioned by family and culture, have dodged prejudices and donned ethnic pride on their way to achieving the American dream through America’s pastime.” —Fred Gardaphé, distinguished professor of Italian American studies, Queens College, City University of New York
“Larry Baldassaro follows in the estimable footsteps of Lawrence Ritter’s The Glory of Their Times with this compelling collection of interviews spanning nearly a century of baseball. It is at once a most entertaining read as well as an indispensable volume in the canon of literature regarding the Italian American Dream.” —Richard A. Johnson, curator of the Sports Museum, Boston, and author or editor of more than twenty books
“You will not have to be of Italian descent to thoroughly enjoy this book. The stories are compelling and while they are told in the first person by Italian Americans, the themes transcend ethnicity. These are baseball stories, and, in essence, American stories.” —Michael Bauman, former national columnist, MLB. com
“Baseball Italian Style is a wonderfully written book and a tribute to the great game of baseball. From the legendary Joe D. to Joe Torre to Mike Piazza, it covers the important impact that Italian ballplayers have had on baseball and why the game will always be the National Pastime.”— Bud Selig, Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball and 2017 Hall of Fame inductee
“There was once an advertising campaign for a rye bread that went ‘You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s.’ And you don’t have to be Italian to love Larry Baldassaro’s oral history, Baseball Italian Style. With warmth and good humor, it portrays the dreams and striving that were integral to the immigrant experience. And which, in this case, produced an uncommon and extraordinary number of highly accomplished and hugely popular Italian participants in the New World’s beloved game, baseball.” —Ira Berkow, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of It Happens Every Spring
“Whether you collected cards as a kid, played through your life, or are simply a fan of sports or Italian American culture, you’ll find Baldassaro’s Baseball Italian Style a riveting read. Something wonderful happens when the journalist steps back and lets the voice of the ballplayer tell the story of his life and love of the game. You don’t have to be Italian to enjoy this book, but if you are, you’ll relate to the way these sports heroes, conditioned by family and culture, have dodged prejudices and donned ethnic pride on their way to achieving the American dream through America’s pastime.” —Fred Gardaphé, distinguished professor of Italian American studies, Queens College, City University of New York
“Larry Baldassaro follows in the estimable footsteps of Lawrence Ritter’s The Glory of Their Times with this compelling collection of interviews spanning nearly a century of baseball. It is at once a most entertaining read as well as an indispensable volume in the canon of literature regarding the Italian American Dream.” —Richard A. Johnson, curator of the Sports Museum, Boston, and author or editor of more than twenty books
“You will not have to be of Italian descent to thoroughly enjoy this book. The stories are compelling and while they are told in the first person by Italian Americans, the themes transcend ethnicity. These are baseball stories, and, in essence, American stories.” —Michael Bauman, former national columnist, MLB. com
“Baseball Italian Style is a wonderfully written book and a tribute to the great game of baseball. From the legendary Joe D. to Joe Torre to Mike Piazza, it covers the important impact that Italian ballplayers have had on baseball and why the game will always be the National Pastime.”— Bud Selig, Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball and 2017 Hall of Fame inductee
