Italian Americans At Bat -- From Sandlots to the Major Leagues Photography Exhibit Jun 22–Nov 25, 2012

No one even slightly familiar with the game of baseball can have failed to notice the signal contributions of Italian Americans to the sport. Just the name DiMaggio is enough to make the case, though the number of Italian names in baseball might surprise many -- names like Berra, Rizzuto, Lombardi, Lazzeri, Campanella, Santo, Piazza, Scioscia, Napoli, Lasorda, and La Russa, to mention but a few. The Museo ItaloAmericano presents a documentary exhibit honoring the contributions of Italian Americans to “America’s favorite pastime.”
The exhibit highlights the history of Italian Americans in the sport, and the several areas where baseball and Italian Americans were and still are connected: the qualities, such as grace, courage, and panache, that helped Italian youth adapt to an essentially English game, and become so adept at it; the degree to which learning baseball became a bridge to Americanization as well as a path to assimilation for many sons of immigrants; the significant numbers of players who made it not just to the majors, but into the game’s pantheon of enduring heroes; and the specific careers, including their sandlot beginnings, of some of those players and managers whose imprint on the game remains strong even today.