New this month from University of Nebraska Press is Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball by Larry Baldassaro. It is a social history of baseball, tracing the evolution of American perceptions toward those big players of Italian decent like DiMaggio, Giamatti and Piazza. It chronicles the baseball exploits that influenced those perceptions.

Baldassaro conducted more than fifty interviews with players, coaches, managers, and executives—some with careers dating back to the thirties—in order to put all these figures and their stories into the historical context of baseball, Italian Americans, and, finally, the culture of American sports.

Baldassaro was invited by Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes to appear on WGN radio tomorrow to talk about baseball and his book.

The game starts at 2:00 p.m. Central time; Baldassaro comes on in the sixth inning. Tune in online to listen.