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Roy Campanella, the Hall of Fame catcher who grew up in the Nicetown neighborhood of Philadelphia, was born more than 100 years ago, yet there are no baseball fields, playgrounds, schools, or streets in the city named after him. Besides earning the National League Most Valuable Player award — three times — “Campy” was such a pioneer for civil right...

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Anthony Volpe is making waves in the MLB. He was recently named on the New York Yankees’ Opening Day roster and was seen celebrating the announcement with his family in the dugout at Steinbrenner Field. MLB fans are now curious to learn more about the rookie phenom's ethnicity. Volpe was selected by the Bronx Bombers with the 30th overall selection...

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Anthony Rizzo began the season with no sour grapes: Each of his New York Yankees teammates found a blue box at his locker on Thursday morning before the season opener, most with the player's name embossed in gold. Rizzo purchased 26 boxes, each with two bottles of wine from the Il Cellese winery in Castellina in Chianti, Italy, near Siena. Rizzo vi...

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Dear friends, In the month that is ending our audio and video podcast, We the ItaliaNews, has reached (and exceeded) 350 episodes. Really, I never thought I would reach this number when three years ago I turned on the webcam and tried to answer the many questions from you Italian American friends, who were trying to understand this strange news abo...

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As you may know, Italy has played the World Baseball Classic with a national team composed mainly of Italian American players. If the WBC had existed say roughly 75 years, we would have been a kind of DREAM TEAM. I looked a little bit at all those faces of Italians who are no longer there. I saw the Italy of 1948 and told about it on Che Palle! blo...

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The Italian Football League season is in full swing and this year, the country’s nine first-division teams are chasing a unique prize. In October, the IFL raised eyebrows across Europe when they announced that the league’s annual championship game, the Italian Bowl, would be held outside of the country for the first time in history. Instead of in R...

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In front of a sold-out crowd at the Tokyo Dome, undefeated Japan won its fifth straight World Baseball Classic game in a row after defeating Team Italy 9-3 on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Japan now advances with Cuba to the WBC semifinals in Miami, With the daunting task of facing Japan starter Shohei Ohtani in the top of the first inning, Dominic Fle...

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He just turned 30. He bats left-handed. He boasts a career 124 OPS+ — the same as Nolan Arenado and Rafael Devers — and he was a free agent this winter. By those measures, you’d expect a bidding war for a long-term centerpiece. But Michael Conforto was a special case. The former New York Mets outfielder slumped in 2021, his original contract year,...

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Joe Pepitone, a three-time All-Star playing for the New York Yankees between 1962 and 1969 who was also known for his off-field lifestyle, has died at age 82, according to an announcement from the team. “The Yankees are deeply saddened by the passing of former Yankee Joe Pepitone, whose playful and charismatic personality and on-field contributions...

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I’ve been caught up all day with how important today’s Team Italy win was for what we’re trying to build in Italy and what we’re fighting for among Italian Americans. We understand baseball in Italy is a niche, and harnessing our interests in Italian Americans in the game is even more specific. But after today, do you see why? On the biggest stage,...

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