Background
Born as Pietro, Bertoia moved with his family to Canada from Italy at the age of one and grew up in Windsor, Ontario.
Born as Pietro, Bertoia moved with his family to Canada from Italy at the age of one and grew up in Windsor, Ontario.
Bertoia attended and graduated from Assumption College High School in Windsor. Signed by the Detroit Tigers in 1953, Bertoia continued his education by attending Assumption University from which he graduated in June 1958 while a member of the Tigers.
His next-door neighbour and role model was Hank Biasatti. In 10 major league seasons he played in 612 games and had 1,745 at bats, 204 runs, 425 hits, 60 doubles, 10 triples, 27 home runs, 171 runs batted in (RBIs), 16 stolen bases, 142 walks.244 batting average.303 on-base percentage.336 slugging percentage, 586 total bases and 31 sacrifice hits. In January 1964, Bertoia signed to play in the Japanese Central League with the Hanshin Tigers.
He was inducted into the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in 1982, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988 and the University of Windsor Alumni Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.
Bertoia died on April 15, 2011, of lymphoma in Windsor.