La Salle professor is national Orwellian scholar

By Olivia Biagi
Collegian Editor
February 27, 2008

As Dr. John Rossi of the history department wheels around in his desk chair in his Olney third floor office, he looks completely at ease. Comfortable, relaxed, contented, are all synonyms that could describe the professor emeritus, and it’s most likely not because of the interview. No, it’s more likely that after being a loyal Lasallian for about 50 years, Rossi sees La Salle as a comfort zone.

Olivia Biagi - Dr. John Rossi, a Lasallian icon for almost 50 years, sits proudly in his office.

“You might say I found a home [at La Salle],” Rossi said.

And, it would make sense. Rossi, a Philadelphia native, first attended La Salle High School, followed immediately by La Salle College. Then, Rossi went on to Notre Dame University for his masters and University of Pennsylvania for his doctorate. But, he did not stray from La Salle for long; he returned in 1962 after a call from Dennis McCarthy, the then history department chairman while finishing his doctorate.

“[He] called me and invited me to lunch,” said Rossi. Later, McCarthy asked if Rossi would “be interested in teaching a couple courses next semester. That September I started teaching, and they hired me full time.

“It couldn’t happen today the way it did [then].”

La Salle, however, is not Rossi’s entire life. He is a family man and a scholar. Not only is Rossi a respected authority on baseball, specifically on the history of the Philadelphia Phillies, Rossi is also a nationally recognized scholar on George Orwell. He has been published numerous times in books, scholarly journals, historical essays and served as associate editor for Four Quarters, Journal of Contemporary Culture from 1986 to 1996. He is also a member of the Society of American Baseball Research.

“[It’s made up of] about eight or 9,000 people who are interested in the history of baseball in one form or another,” said Rossi. “Some are what you would call baseball historians, others are kind of amateurs.”

According to Rossi, the society holds conferences and meetings throughout the year.

“Usually a book is published every year.”

The Society also publishes two annual journals, National Pastime and Baseball Research Journal, to which Rossi has contributed. The aim of the organization is to encourage the study of baseball as both athletic and social institution, further research and efforts to establish a historical record of the game, and “to help disseminate educational, historical and research information about baseball,” according the Society’s official Web site.

Rossi not only loves studying the history of baseball, but was once a player of the game for the American Legion until he was 20 years old.

“I knew I could hit, but I couldn’t do other things well,” said Rossi. “Then you start to measure yourself against others. But, I love the game … I also enjoy watching it.”

Years after Rossi stopped playing it was his wife who eventually encouraged him to write about the game.

“I wrote pieces about baseball history and out of that grew three books,” Rossi said. “[The National Game: Baseball and American Culture] links [events in] American history with baseball.

“I got a reputation for knowing something about the history of the game. I’m kind of an authority on the history of the Phillies.”

Rossi’s fourth book, The 1964 Phillies: The Story of Baseball’s Most Memorable Collapse, is an account of the Phillies team that made it to the World Series, but could not close the deal.

“Just ask anyone over 50 who’s a Phillies fan about the 1964 team,” said Rossi.

While it may seem odd that Rossi be both a scholar on baseball as well as Orwell, there is a small connection between the two in the form of Rossi’s writing, which he feels has been inspired by Orwell.

“I came across Orwell as a student,” said Rossi. “I read Animal Farm and 1984. They impressed me, but then I came across his essays. I think he’s the greatest essayist of the 20th century. I wanted to write that kind of direct prose he wrote: keep it simple, keep it direct, and I think it did influence my writing.”

And it was that kind of writing that had Rossi published, not only about baseball, but works on Orwell, politics, film and history, religion, and historical essays.

“There are two Orwell essays that everyone should read,” Rossi advised. “Shooting an Elephant” and “Politics and the English Language”. “Shooting an Elephant” is unforgettable.”

Outside of baseball and his professional life, Rossi is a family man. He is the eldest of six children, with three brothers and two sisters.

“We were all baseball nuts, all Phillies fans,” said Rossi. “For about 20 years my brothers and I had season tickets, and then the family scattered a bit.

“Some people are amazed that we all get along. I just found my brothers and sisters easy to get along with. One sister lived with [me and my wife] for about eight to 10 years. She lives in Ireland now and considers coming to us her home.”

Rossi and his wife, Frances, have a daughter Monica, who also attended La Salle.

“[My wife and I] met at a wedding of a mutual friend, although she only lived three blocks from me,” said Rossi. “This was back in the days when guys didn’t hit on girls the way they do today.”

Rossi, who had continually seen her at church, had been trying to find a way to approach her. He accidentally learned that she would be attending the same wedding as he, and he finally had a chance to speak to her. His pick-up line?

“I think we’re fellow parishioners.”

And of course, there is always Rossi’s Lasallian family.

“When I came here [as a student] it was a very close-knit place,” said Rossi. “Of course, as the school’s gotten bigger, some of that has changed.”

Rossi has many fond memories of La Salle.

“There were a couple things that touched me,” he said. “They had a retirement party for me last May. John Rodden used to come to my office and ask me questions. I had a lot of good students. The students make it pleasant to teach.”

While Rossi is officially retired, he was brought back as a professor emeritus fall 2007. This semester, he is teaching Modern Europe Since 1870 and History of World War II.

“I’ll teach two classes as long as I can, as long as they’ll have me.”

biagio@lasalle.edu