The seaside Italian town obsessed with baseball

Nettuno first fell in love with the game 80 years ago.

American soldiers landed on the beaches of Nettuno during World War II, ready to fight the Nazis who occupied the city. There was an intense battle between U.S. and German forces for months, resulting in some of the worst casualties during the six-year war. The area was decimated and thousands of lives were lost. Eventually, though, this initial American invasion led to an allied takeover of Rome and, thus, control of the entire Italian peninsula.

After the war, a temporary cemetery (now a beautiful memorial)—run by the U.S. Army—was set up in Nettuno to honor the allied lives who were lost. Grateful to the Americans for liberating their city, the Nettunese felt a kinship with the soldiers on-site. They talked to them and wanted them to feel a part of their culture, while also feeling the desire to adopt many aspects of theirs. One of those major aspects, one of the activities American soldiers partook in on almost a daily basis was, of course, baseball.

“The Italians were excited to imitate anything that was American after the war,” Ralph told me. “They wanted to learn this sport that the soldiers were playing in their downtime there on the beaches.”