International League

Jays’ Colabello and Toronto FC’s Giovinco are cause for celebration during Italian Heritage Month in Canada

Roberto AngottiLeave a comment
Canada celebrates Italian Heritage Month in June.
It’s Italian Heritage Month in Canada.

While Americans dread June gloom–traditionally the weakest month of the year for U.S. stocks, our neighbors in Canada rejoice and experience La Vita Bella during Italian Heritage Month. Coupled with the addition of Team Italia slugger Chris Colabello to the Toronto Blue Jays lineup and Juventus soccer sensation Sebastian Giovinco to the Toronto FC, the 1.5 million Italian Canadians living north of our border can beam with pride while recognizing the insurmountable sacrifices generations prior had to endure during Italian Heritage Month every June.

Team Italia/Toronto Blue Jays' Chris Colabello
Team Italia/Toronto Blue Jays slugger Chris Colabello

Italian American Chris Colabello began the 2015 season playing at Triple-A Buffalo, where he hit .337 with five home runs and 18 RBI in April and won the International League Player of the Month award to earn a May 5th call-up to MLB. The 31-year-old outfielder and first baseman led the Blue Jays in hitting during the 25 games he played in May. In just 95 plate appearances, Chris Colabello has a .368 batting average with four home runs, seven doubles, eight walks, 14 RBI and 15 runs scored.

italiani%20in%20Canada Outside of Italy, Canada boasts the sixth largest Italian population. From the moment explorer Giovanni Caboto–AKA John Cabot–landed on the coast of Newfoundland in the late 1400’s, Italians have made their imprint on Canadian history. Between 1861 and 1900, seven million Italians left their families behind to build the foundation for railways and highways into Canada’s northern forests. The early Italian presence in Canada was primarily concentrated in Montreal and Toronto. Italian immigration to Canada after World War II was generally composed of families rather than single men joining the bustling labor force. The majority of these immigrants were from southern Italy destined for the province of Ontario. Since then, strong Italian communities have sprawled into Vancouver, Hamilton, St. Catharines-Niagara, Ottawa-Hull, Windsor, Calgary, Edmonton, London, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Oshawa.

italian-heritage-month-logo As part of the Italian Heritage Month festivities, the Toronto FC presents Italian Heritage Day in support of Prostate Cancer Canada on Saturday, June 20th when Italian soccer superstar Sebastian Giovinco and the Toronto FC take on the New York City Football Club. $5 of each $30 ticket sold will be donated to Prostate Cancer Canada when purchasing tickets by emailing creag.munore@prostatecancer.ca Visit Prostate Cancer Canada to learn how you can help out even if you cannot attend the match. For more information on all events taking place during Italian Heritage Month, make sure to check out Italian Heritage Canada and get the latest updated information on everything Italian in Canada.

Rangers’ Anthony Ranaudo tweets interest in pitching for Team Italy in response to prayer to Saint Anthony

Roberto Angotti1 Comment


St Anthony CoverOne should never underestimate the power of prayer. Saint Anthony has miraculously helped believers find lost things and people when all else has failed. So when the Texas Rangers selected 6-foot-7 right-hander Anthony Ranaudo out of New Jersey’s Saint Rose High School in the 11th round of the 2007 draft and failed to sign the promising Italian American pitcher, they looked to Saint Anthony to bring him to Arlington. After eight years of intensive prayer, the Rangers acquired Ranaudo in January from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for lefty pitcher Robbie Ross. The miracle worker Saint Anthony was once again called upon over two years ago when prayers went out for divine intervention for Team Italy prior to the start of the 2013 World Baseball Classic. When hitting coach Mike Piazza had successfully recruited Cubs’ slugger Anthony Rizzo to join la squadra azzurri, it was time to pray to the great Saint Anthony to find the “missing” Anthonys to complete the Italian roster.
Premier-12-Ranking

A simple tweet exchange two years ago could very well be a blessing to Team Italy from Saint Anthony should Major League Baseball allow franchise players to participate in the 2015 Premier 12 Tournament in Japan and Taiwan. With Ranaudo’s positive response echoing his desire to pitch for underdog Italy, Italian MLB Academy director and Team Italy pitching coach Bill Holmberg can possibly bolster his pitching arsenal alongside Braves’ All-Star reliever Jason Grilli, Blue Jays prospect Tiago Da Silva, Diamondbacks prospect Tim Crabbe and former Cubs’ minor leaguer Alessandro Maestri. Coach Holmberg deserves credit for Team Italy’s upset victories over Mexico and Canada in the 2013 WBC. By keeping some of MLB’s finest hitters guessing what was coming their way next when calling for a slew of off-speed pitches from the dugout, many big names including Adam Jones (.167), Carlos Beltran (.143), Alex Rios (.125), Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Votto (.000) never felt comfortable at the plate. Ranaudo_Pitcher_ofthe_Year_640x360_l51h6tgo_78y4cu7p

Anthony Ranaudo
Rangers’ pitcher Anthony Ranaudo

Patience has always been a virtue for Ranaudo. Instead of signing with the Rangers out of high school in 2007, he played baseball at Louisiana State University, where he was third in NCAA strikeouts and led the LSU Tigers to become 2009 National Champs. Four years after being chosen by Boston as a supplemental first-round pick in the 2010 draft, he made his MLB debut with the Red Sox last year and won four games with a 4.81 ERA in seven starts. Ranaudo started the 2014 season at Triple-A Pawtucket, where he compiled a 14-4 record and was voted the International League’s Most Valuable Pitcher. Anthony is currently competing at Rangers Spring Training Camp in Arizona for an Opening Day roster spot as their number five starter.preview_black_texas_italy