Friday, October 10, 2003
Baseball in Italy. A legacy of
American GIs
The ANNOTICO Report
Walter Santi wrote me about his Italian nephew, Davide, playing
Baseball in Bologna.
I didn't realize that Italians played Baseball, (and certainly not
American Football).
Of course I was familar with the popularity of Basketball in
Italy/Europe.
Walter wrote back:
Yes there is some baseball in Italy with a few good teams.
How did this come about?
During the wind down of the last great war American GIs had plenty of
Government issue baseball gear to pass away idle hours with.
The young Italian kids hanging around the games were their gophers
."bring us a soft drink, pizza or candy" and they were also being
taught the game.
When the GIs left for home, they left mountains of baseball gear behind
that did not go to waste. Many of these young boys took over that
equipment and became darn good players.
Professional teams formed and were sponsored by merchants and
manufacturers, and professional club houses were also built.
Today, the young boys that started it all are grown men passing the
game on to their kids and in some cases grandfathers are passing the
game on to their grand kids.
Professional American players have gone to Italy to coach these players
and I was there when it happened, and in the baseball season Italian
teams "import" a few pro ringers to beef up a team.
Even stranger. American students at the nearby University of Bologna
medical school often have played on these teams to let off some steam
and have even married local girls and brought them back to the U.S.
Regards,
Walter
P.S. Re American Football. They don't play it, but they follow the
American games via satellite TV , and are up on all the teams and
players.