April 29, 2001 – The son of Sicilian immigrants, Phil Cavarretta was 17 years old when he quit high school in 1934 and began playing professional baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization to help support his family during the Great Depression. At the end of his first and only season in the minor leagues, he made his first start in the big leagues two months after his 18thbirthday and hit a game-winning homer at Wrigley Field, three miles from his boyhood home and high school. For the next 19 years, the left-handed-hitting first baseman/outfielder was a mainstay of the Cubs before finishing his career with the crosstown White Sox. His competitive spirit and relentless hustle made him one of the all-time favorite Cubs players.

Cavarretta was a four-time All-Star, won the National League batting title and Most Valuable Player Award in 1945, and played in three World Series. Over his 22-year career, he compiled a lifetime average of .293, with 95 home runs and 920 RBIs. For two and a half seasons between 1951 and 1953, he was the Cubs player/manager, becoming, in 1952, the first Italian American to manage a major league team for a full season. He later managed in the minor leagues and coached for the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets.