My wife, Anita, and I live in southern Illinois, about 10 miles from Herrin, a community with a rich Italian-American heritage. Its historical society recently asked me to give a talk on Italian-Americans in baseball history.
Once I began my research, I was surprised by the number of notable Italian-Americans who played baseball in Pittsburgh, beginning with Lewis Pessano. Recognized as the first Italian-American in professional baseball, Pessano played under the name Buttercup Dickerson. Baseball often has been celebrated as a melting pot for the sons of immigrant families, but America’s early game was so resistant to players with foreign names that some, including Pessano, hid their ethnicity.