Italian American Digest 7Italian American Digest FALL 2018

Vol. 45 No. 3
Fall 2018
Circulation 20,000
Museum Renovations Begin
AMERICAN ITALIAN CULTURAL CENTER MUSEUM
©
©
by Tabor Brewster
Metairie native Blake Butera
became the youngest minor league
baseball manager this year, at just 25
years old.
Butera, who is now the 26-year-
old team manager for the Hudson
Valley Renegades, was born and
raised in Metairie and went on to
pursue baseball at Boston College. In
2015, the Tampa Bay Rays, an MLB
American League team, drafted
Butera as an infielder. He continued
with the Rays for two seasons and
in 2017 joined the coaching staff for
their minor league affiliate team, the
Hudson Valley Renegades, com-
peting in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. In
March of 2018, he was promoted to
manager.
This season, Butera’s first as a
manager, the Renegades hold a
record of 31-19 as of August 7. The
season bears with it the pressure of
last year’s glory: the team’s third
New York-Penn League Champion-
ship victory. Although his position is
different, the situation is familiar to
Butera, who coached the team and
Butera cont. on page 7
Metairie Native Is Minor League
Baseball’s Youngest Manager
The American Italian Cultural Center has begun renovation of its museum with Synergy
Design Group, a local agency. While the museum is closed to the public, the American
Italian Cultural Center remains open and will continue to host Italian language classes,
events, meetings, and more! The museum is scheduled to reopen in January 2019.