Players commonly thought of as Italian American that are not.

Player: Mussina, Mike (HoF)

Position: RHP

Status: Though many fans continue to consider Mike as having Italian Heritage, he has denied this. As per Wikipedia: “Mussina is of Slavic descent. Due to his last name, which was Americanized by his ancestors, he is often misidentified as an Italian American.”

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Player: Carbo, Bernie

Position: OF

Status: Despite being listed as an Italian American on multiple websites, he is also quoted on Boston Baseball History as responding to the question of his Italian ancestry as “No, I’m Spanish“.

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Player: Bevacqua, Kurt

Position: 3B/2B

Status: Despite being considered by some as an Italian American this is doubtful as he was quoted as calling Tommy Lasorda a “fat, little Italian” and accusing him of ordering a pitch be thrown at a Dodger’s player.

Here’s what Hall of Famer Lasorda had to say about Kurt’s comment:

“Tell you what I think about it. I think that is very, very bad for that man to make an accusation like that. That is terrible. I have never ever since I’ve managed ever told a pitcher to throw at anybody, nor will I ever. And if I ever did, I certainly wouldn’t make him throw at a fucking .130 hitter like Lefebvre or fucking Bevacqua, who couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a fucking boat. And I guaran-fucking-tee you this, when I pitched, and I was going to pitch against a fucking team that had guys on it like Bevacqua, I’d send a fucking limousine to get the cocksucker to make sure he was in the mother fucking line-up because I’d kick that cock sucker’s ass any fucking day of the week. He’s a fucking mother fucking big mouth; I’ll tell you that.“

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These Players are part of the Italian Ancestry Unsure/Doubtful Tour – Next Page