Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
What do Yogi Berra, Joe Garagiola, Frank Crespi and Jim Pisoni have in common? The baseball legends have been immortalized on a mural in Cuggiono, Italy!
All four were born between 1918 to 1929 on “The Hill,” the legendary Italian-American neighborhood in St. Louis, to parents who had emigrated from western Lombardy, where Cuggiono is located.
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, thousands of residents of Cuggiono and nearby towns such as Inveruno, Malvaglio, Buscate and Arconate immigrated to the United States, with St. Louis being one of their primary destinations.
The idea to honor the four baseball stars was first suggested by Oreste Magni, president of the Ecoistituto della Valle del Ticino, a nonprofit promoting cultural, social and ecological initiatives in the Ticino River Valley. “Looking at the past and at one’s roots helps to better understand our present,” says Magni, who also designed the mural. “At the end of the 19th century, thousands of inhabitants around Cuggiono migrated to the Americas, with many settling in St. Louis. Integration was difficult but through sports, especially baseball, some children of our emigrants became champions.”
The mural has six photographic panels at its center — including one each of the honored baseball stars in a batting stance during his playing years, with descriptions of the position played, teams, career highlights and ancestral hometown. Bookending the portraits are two present-day photographs of The Hill: one of the statue “The Italian Immigrants” by local artist Rudolph Torrini, which stands outside St. Ambrose Church, and the second of a typical home in the iconic Italian enclave. Stretching 60 feet in length, the mural covers a wall bordering a small park between Via San Rocco and Via Manzoni.
The ceremonies for the unveiling of the mural were presided over by Mayor Giovanni Cucchetti and attended virtually and in person by several relatives and descendants of the honored baseball players. Among them were Berra’s son Larry and granddaughter Lindsay; Crespi’s brother Richard, and Richard’s children, Tom, Sue, Jane and Julie. The festivities took place on June 16, fittingly Father’s Day in the United States.
Lindsay Berra, executive producer of the 2022 documentary about her grandfather, “It Ain’t Over,” stated, “My grandfather was very proud of his Italian heritage and the athletic accomplishments of the guys with whom he grew up on The Hill. It is very important to me to keep his legacy alive, as both a great baseball player and a great human being. I love that this mural will introduce him and his accomplishments to generations of Italians and I’m so grateful to Cuggiono for including him.”
This is not the first time Cuggiono honored the four baseball players. In 2015, the town bestowed honorary citizenship upon them. Back in the States, Ernesto Milani, representing the town, attended Yogi Berra’s 90th birthday celebration, presenting him with honorary citizenship and the keys to Cuggiono.
Cuggiono sports four other murals and plans to add more highlighting local culture and their connection to the United States, including ones honoring the 1950 U.S. World Cup soccer team, which included several St. Louis residents.
Cuggiono is located 14 miles south of Milan’s Malpensa airport. On your next trip to Italy, stop by Cuggiono to see the mural dedicated to four legends of our great American pastime!
The article above appears in the December 2024 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.
