Reno Bertoia, one of the six former Major Leaguers, who were born in Italy, visited Parma at the beginning of May and attended a game of the Italian Baseball League in the city. The Italian Baseball and Softball Federation FIBS used this opportunity to interview the former infielder. The video clip shows the eleven-minute Q&A.
Bertoia was born on January 8th, 1935 in Udine, Italy. His family moved to Windsor, Canada, when he was a child. In 1953 he was signed by the Detroit Tigers organization and made his big league debut the same year. He later also played for the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Athletics. During ten seasons MLB he batted .244 (OBP .303/SLG .336) with 425 hits, 27 homeruns and 204 runs scored and 171 RBI in 612 games. In 1964 Bertoia also had a short stint in the Japanese Central League with the Hanshin Tigers.
After his retirement as a player he became a teacher at the Windsor Catholic School Board and worked there for 30 years. In 1988 he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.