Italian American Herald - October 2021

ACHIEVER
Lodge president has big plans for 2022
PAGE 3
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OCTOBER 2021
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The $2.3 billion Yankee Stadium in the Bronx opened in 2009 not far from where the original stadium once stood.
By Frank Cipparone
Growing up in postwar America, October delivered three certainties – homework, Halloween candy, the Yankees in the World Series. Autumn in New York brought the thrill of the first pitch, the crack of the bat, the buzz of the crowd. Led by a nucleus of Italian-American players, from 1947-1963 the Bronx Bombers won 11 of the 15 Series they participated in. Every year was, as witty philosopher Yogi Berra famously said, “déjà vu all over again.” With the Giants in Man- hattan and Dodgers in Brooklyn competing for the hearts and minds of the city, baseball was in a New York state of mind. In that same time frame, only twice did at least one of the three not suit up for October action.
The game was different in those days. There were only 16 teams, eight in each
league, none west of the Mississippi until 1958. All Series games were played in the afternoon and viewed on black-and-white TVs. As shadows lengthened it really did get late early out there. Wild cards? Divisional playoffs? You had to be at the top of the standings in your league to play in the best-of-seven Fall Classic.
Going back to the Roaring ’20s and
the Murderers Row of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, first generation sons of Italian immigrants played a leading role. Frankie Crosetti and Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri, natives of San Francisco, were the lynchpins of the infield in the 1930s. Crosetti moved into coaching during the Yankees run of success in the ’50s.
The second era of Yankee dominance began with the arrival of Joe DiMaggio in 1935. The San Francisco fisherman’s boy
would become the game’s most iconic Italian-American player, idolized in Italian communities nationwide. Starting with the next season he led the team to six Series appearances, five of which they captured with a combined record of 20-4. In 1941, the last peaceful year of baseball, Joltin’ Joe grabbed daily front-page headlines and the ears of millions of radio listeners by getting
a hit in 56 straight games, a record still considered unbreakable. He hung up his spikes with more home runs than strikeouts, an unimaginable achievement in today’s swing-for-the-fences mentality.
In those postseason contests the Yankees faced other Italian-American stars such as ex-Phillie Dolf Camilli and Cookie Lavagetto of the Dodgers, Gus Mancuso of the Giants, and the Cubs hard-hitting Phil Cavaretta. The most prominent was Cincinnati’s Hall
of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi who won a batting title but was so slow running the bases he was timed with an hourglass.
When DiMaggio went off to war in 1943, pitcher Marius Russo and Brooklyn born Phil Rizzuto helped the team avenge the previous year’s Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Rizzuto, Crosetti’s successor at shortstop, proved to be a dependable fielder and steady hitter who would be part of Yankees baseball into the mid-1950s. He became a fixture
in the broadcast booth for 40 years, calling several Yankee Series victories, many of them punctuated by his signature “Holy cow!” to emphasize a big hit or fielding gem.
As the country returned to normal and players traded khakis for the familiar pinstripes, the Yankees picked up where
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At the top of their game
In the golden age of baseball, Italian Americans led the way
Vol. 8 / No. 10