BARRE, VT – A celebration to recognize Louis Polli’s legendary baseball career and official designation by the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the First Italian Born Ballplayer to Play in the Major Leagues will take place in Montpelier, VT on Saturday, July 8, 2023. The Vermont Mountaineers baseball team in Montpelier will host a Louis “Crip” Polli Night for the community. This long overdue recognition will be a proud day for the Louis Polli family, the city of Barre, the State of Vermont, and Italians worldwide.

The Italian American Baseball Foundation (IABF) will be recognizing the life and career of Louis Polli with a plaque commemorating his baseball achievements. A rendering of a Barre granite plaque, to be permanently displayed at Recreation Field, will also be unveiled. The IABF award and the plaque rendering will be presented to Polli’s family at the First Pitch Ceremony.

Polli was born in Baveno, Italy on July 9th,1901 and raised in Barre, Vermont. He was a standout Spaulding High School player and transferred to Goddard Seminary prep school (still in Barre). During his senior year Polli attracted national attention striking out twenty-eight batters in a ten-inning game against Cushing Academy on June 3, 1921. After a football injury at Goddard, his teammates called him “Crip”, a nickname that friends called him his whole life.

At a recent 45th Spaulding High School class reunion, Mary Caccavo Federico was reminiscing with classmates about her grandfather Lou Polli. Her friends were reminded that in addition to playing professional baseball, Lou Polli enjoyed playing bridge with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. This really caught the attention of her classmate Brian Zecchinelli.

Once Zecchinelli got home from the reunion, he did a Wikipedia search for Lou Polli. Much to his surprise, in addition to all of Polli’s baseball accomplishments, the Wikipedia article recognized Lou Polli as the “First Italian born baseball player to play in the Major Leagues.” To verify this claim, Zecchinelli reached out to Cassidy Lent, Library Director at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Lent verified that Polli was the first of only seven Italian born ballplayers to ever play in the Major Leagues.

Lou Polli began his professional baseball journey with the New York Yankees organization in 1927. He roomed with Tony Lazzeri for a short time, “He snored so hard that he kept me awake half the night,” Polli reported. During his off the field time, Polli enjoyed playing bridge with Lou Gehrig and his wife, among others. He also had fond memories of shooting pool and playing a lot of golf with Babe Ruth. Polli had Major League stints with the St. Louis Browns (1932) and the New York Giants (1944).

During his professional ball playing days, his wife Mary with daughters Mary and Margaret often traveled with him. During his long-playing career, Polli played for teams in Harrisburg, PA – St Paul, MN (New York Yankees) – Louisville, KY (St. Louis Browns) – Milwaukee, WI, Montreal, Canada (Montreal Royals), Chattanooga-Knoxsville, TN and Jersey City, NJ (New York Giants). During many of the off seasons he would return to his home in Graniteville, Vermont, and work in the granite quarries.

Lou Polli is considered one of the greatest pitchers in minor league history. He compiled a lifetime minor league record of 236 wins against 226 losses. Polli threw three no-hitters in his 18-year minor league career. In his last career start, the lanky right-hander was on the mound for the Jersey City Giants and no-hit Newark ending their 14-game winning streak in 1945 at the age of 42.

In the Barre Industrial League’s 1948 Official Program, Lou Polli was credited as being, 

“Undoubtedly the greatest baseball player to represent Barre and Graniteville in organized baseball. In the spring of 1948 Polli became the manager of the Halifax, Nova Scotia team where he used his vast baseball knowledge and experience to good advantage”. At the time of his death in 2000, Polli (age 99) was the oldest living Major League Baseball player.

There will be a permanent exhibit featuring photos and recognition plaques at the Mutuo Soccorso Italian-American Club on 20 Beckley Street in Barre, VT. Baseball fans and the public are encouraged to visit the exhibit to learn more about Lou Polli’s professional baseball career. He was a member of the Mutuo for well over 50 years.