Baseball Italian Style

April 9, 2017; April 18, 2017 - At the relatively young age of 27, Anthony Rizzo was acknowledged as the leader of the Chicago Cubs team that won the 2016 World Series, ending 108 years of frustration for the franchise and its fans. That season the 6-foot-3, 240-pound left-handed first baseman hit .292 with 32 homers and 109 RBIs. His leadership role was confirmed symbolically at the 2017 home opener at Wrigley Field when, standing in the center field bleachers, he was the first to hoist the...

May 10, 2017 - Pitching prodigies are rare in big-league baseball, with good reason. Given the rigors of the game at that level, even the most promising prospects usually require a few years of apprenticeship in the minors. This is especially true for pitchers, who tend to mature more slowly than position players. Rick Porcello was an exception to the rule. After being acclaimed High School Player of the Year by USA Today, Porcello was selected by the Tigers in the first round of the 2007...

Feb. 7, 2017 - Illinois native Dan Bellino was in his second year at the John Marshall Law School when he decided to become a professional umpire. Given the long odds of making it to the major leagues, this would seem to have been a curious career change, especially since he admits that he didn’t know how difficult the process would be. In fact, his original plan was to be a Division I basketball referee as well as an attorney. In spite of the obvious obstacles, he persevered, receiving his...

April 24-25, 2017 - In his first 11 seasons (2007–16), Joey Votto’s statistics placed him among the elite hitters in the history of Major League Baseball. According to the March 27, 2017 issue of Sports Illustrated, his career “slash line” of .313/.425/.536 (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage) had been equaled or surpassed by only five players: Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Foxx, and Hornsby. What makes his record even more impressive is that Votto is a native of Toronto,...

August 20, 2004; April 29, 2016 - A star pitcher-outfielder, as well as valedictorian, at Cathedral High School in Springfield, MA, Chris Capuano was drafted out of high school by the Pirates but chose to go to Duke University on a baseball scholarship. Following his junior year, he was signed by the Diamondbacks, but before beginning his professional career he completed his degree in Economics at Duke where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. The discipline and tenacity that enabled him to be...

Feb. 1, 2017 - Jason Grilli was remarkably resilient throughout his long major-league career. A top pitching prospect and the fourth overall draft pick at the age of 20, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound right-hander seemed destined for a stellar career. But a series of injuries intervened, forcing him to reinvent himself again and again. In his fifth year, he was converted from a starter to a reliever, and over the course of his first 14 years, he was traded four times, released twice, and was a free...

June 19, 2007 - After being coached incessantly from an early age by his father, Joe, Barry Zito was selected by Oakland out of the University of Southern California in the first round of the 1999 draft. By mid-season the following year, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound lefty with a paralysis-inducing curveball was in the A’s starting rotation. After compiling a record of 24-12 through the 2001 season, he had a career year in 2002, going 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA and winning the Cy Young Award at the age...

Feb. 6, 2017 - Frank Catalanotto was a high school senior in Smithtown, New York, by the time he drew the attention of pro scouts who had come to watch some of his teammates. He impressed them enough to be selected by the Tigers in the tenth round of the 1992 draft. Following six years of development in the minors, he went on to play for five teams in a 14-year big-league career between 1997 and 2010. The 6-foot, 170-pound left-handed hitter was versatile, playing first, second, third, and...

March 14, 1999 - Like his childhood friend and neighbor, Yogi Berra, Joe Garagiola Sr. grew up to be a major-league catcher. After five-plus years with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals (1946–51), he spent the last three-plus years of his career with three other teams before going on to an award-winning career as a popular radio and television personality. He received the Ford C. Frick Award in 1991 for excellence in broadcasting and the Hall of Fame's Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award...

March 15, 1999 - A native of Chicago Heights, Illinois, Jerry Colangelo earned All-Big Ten honors as captain of the University of Illinois basketball team. Named general manager of the expansion Phoenix Suns in 1968 at the age of 28, he remained involved with the NBA franchise until 2012 in various roles, including head coach and managing general partner. A four-time NBA Executive of the Year, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2005 Colangelo was named to head the...

April 22, 1998; June 6, 2006 - Selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 62ndround of the 1988 draft, behind 1,389 other hopefuls, Michael Joseph Piazza seemed destined to be just another kid with an unfulfilled dream. Instead, the native of Norristown, Pennsylvania, went on to be widely acknowledged as the greatest offensive catcher in major-league history. In a 16-year career with the Dodgers, Marlins, Mets and Padres, he hit 427 home runs, including a record 396 as a catcher, and posted...

July 2, 2000; Sept. 1, 2006 - A native of Peoria, Illinois, Joe Girardi was a three-time Academic All-American at Northwestern University and two-time All-Big Ten selection as a catcher. Following his graduation in 1986 with a degree in industrial engineering, the Chicago Cubs selected him in the fifth round of the draft. He went on to a 15-year career with the Cubs, Rockies, Yankees, and Cardinals, won three World Series rings with the Yankees in 1996, ‘98, and ‘99, and was an All-Star in...

May 28, 2005 - Few if any players in big-league history have achieved so much success at a variety of positions as Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. A seven-time All-Star as both a catcher and second baseman, he also spent two seasons as an outfielder. Biggio was also something of a rarity in the era of free agency, having spent his entire 20-year career with one team. A star running back at Kings Park High School on Long Island, Biggio chose to pursue baseball as his profession. Following his...

September 26, 1999 - An MVP Award recipient and three-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner, third baseman Ken Caminiti was the classic scrappy ballplayer who won the respect and admiration of fans and teammates by refusing to let injuries keep him out of the lineup. But the Hanford, California, native was not always so committed to the game. Frustrated with baseball while in college, he was ready to quit until his father convinced him to give it one more year. He did and performed well enough...

May 18-19, 2016 - In 11 big league seasons between 1986 and 1996, Sacramento native Chris Bosio, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound right-hander, posted a 94-93 record with a 3.96 ERA in 309 games. With the Milwaukee Brewers for the first seven years, he won 14 or more games three times, was named their Most Valuable Pitcher in 1989 when his 2.95 ERA was the sixth-best in the AL and had a career-high 16 wins in 1992. He then went to the Seattle Mariners as a free agent in 1993 and soon made his mark...

September 26, 1999 - Brooklyn native Matt Galante was a student at St. John’s University when he was selected by the Yankees in the 1966 amateur draft. The 5-foot-6, 157-pound infielder played for eight years in the minor-league systems of the Yankees and Brewers. Between 1973 and 1984, he spent 12 seasons as a minor-league manager for the Brewers, Mets, and Astros. Except for 1997, when he had a front-office position, he was a Houston Astros coach from 1985 to 2001. In 1999 Galante served...

Dec. 14, 2016 - Chicago native Ned Colletti was a blue-collar guy who made it to the highest levels of Major League Baseball’s front offices. After working as a sports reporter, in 1982 he began his major- league career in the Chicago Cubs’ media relations department before moving into baseball operations. In 1990 he won MLB’s Robert O. Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence. He then spent 11 years (1994-2004) with the San Francisco Giants, first as director of baseball operations,...

April 29, 1998; May 13, 2016 - In his long major league career Mike Scioscia has had success both as a player and as a manager. A native of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, he was selected out of high school by the Dodgers in the first round of the 1976 draft. He became the Dodgers regular catcher in 1981, his first full season, and except for 1983, when he missed most of the season due to injury, he held that position over the next 12 seasons and helped the team win two World Series titles. A...

May 31, 2017 - Larry Lucchino is among the most influential executives in major-league history, but he himself describes his entry into the world of baseball as fortuitous. A star high school athlete in Pittsburgh, Lucchino was a reserve guard on the Princeton basketball team that Bill Bradley led to the 1965 Final Four. Then, with a law degree from Yale in hand, he went to work for famed attorney Edward Bennett Williams, who became the owner of the Baltimore Orioles in 1979. After...

April 25, 2016 - For San Jose, California, native Dave Righetti, baseball has been part of his life as long as he can remember. His father, Leo, was signed by the Yankees while a junior in high school and played professional ball for 13 years, the last three (1953–55) as a shortstop with the San Francisco Seals in the Pacific Coast League. Drafted by the Rangers in 1977, Dave Righetti was traded to the Yankees following the 1978 season. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1981, then threw a...