Aaron Judge
- Thread starter batts
- Start date
Should hook the guys that returned the ball with some playoff tickets at least. Come on Yanks.
At the last minute, I left work and went to last nights game
Pandemonium, not pandemic
Pandemonium, not pandemic
Roger Maris’ $5,000 advice to Sal Durante, who caught his 61st homer
Sal Durante was 19 years old in 1961 when he caught Roger Maris’ record-breaking 61st home run ball.
nypost.com
Roger Maris’ $5,000 advice to Sal Durante, who caught his 61st homer
By Ryan GlasspiegelSal Durante was 19 years old in 1961 when he caught Roger Maris’ record-breaking 61st home run ball, and it was an experience he cherished for 60 years.
Durante was with his girlfriend, Rosemarie, who would become his wife, on a double date in the right field bleachers for Yankees-Red Sox — and she paid for the tickets.
“I was broke at the time, and Rosemarie loaned me $10 so I could buy four tickets at $2.50 each,” Durante explained to the Seattle Times in 2016. “Rosemarie never let me forget the loan.”
With Aaron Judge looking certain to pass Maris’ mark — which many baseball fans and media consider to be the true single-season home run record, given the PED usage in which Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds were implicated — the magical 1961 season is getting revisited from every angle.
“I heard the crack of the bat and saw it headed toward the right-field bleachers where we were sitting,” Durante said in 2016. “I jumped up on my seat and stretched as high as I could, and the ball slammed into the palm of my bare hand.”
Sal Durante holds up Roger Maris’ 61st home run ball on the 50th anniversary in 2011.
Getty Images
Red Barber, calling the game on WPIX, implied that the lucky fan who caught the ball would receive $5,000.
Durante was happy to return the ball and receive nothing but a “thank you” from Maris in return. Instead, he recalled Maris telling him, “Keep it, kid. Put it up for auction. Somebody will pay you a lot of money for the ball. He’ll keep it for a couple of days and then give it to me.”
That somebody was California restaurateur Sam Gordon, who did just that.
Sal Durante and Roger Maris in 1961.
Diamond Images/Getty Images
According to the CPI calculator, which measures the tides of inflation, the $5,000 Durante received in 1961 is the equivalent of nearly $50,000 today. It’s hard fathom what the ball would fetch in an auction today.
Durante was a Brooklyn-based truck driver at the time he caught the ball; he would later drive a school bus for 30 years until his retirement at the age of 62. About 20 years ago, Sal and Rosemarie moved from Brooklyn to Staten Island.
Rosemarie passed about eight years ago. As of the past several months, Durante, now 80, is hospitalized and suffering from dementia, his son, Tom, a 58-year-old New York City real estate broker, informed The Post.
“He still had — and still has — all his pictures of him and Maris through the house. He would talk about it,” the son said. “If we asked questions about it until recently, he would have known the answers. About one-and-half months ago, his mind completely shut off.”
The memorabilia Durante held onto included a ticket stub signed by Maris from that day, Maris’ own Zippo lighter that the two both used to light cigarettes in the locker room and a ball signed by Maris, Durante and Tracy Stallard, the Red Sox pitcher who gave up the home run.
“He had a nice run with this,” Tom Durante, the son, said. “In 1976, when they opened up the new-old Yankee Stadium, he threw out the first ball to Graig Nettles. Then at the 25th anniversary, they invited him up there with my mom. Then on the 50th anniversary he brought out the ball — that is now in the Hall of Fame — to the Maris family.”
Way to go Aaron!!!!! Didn't see it live but that was one hellacious game ending...
I remember being at the stadium with a pal who was a big NYY fan. Yanks down a bunch, top of the ninth. My friend, who drove said he was leaving. Told him we should stay. He said OK, then you can take the subway home cause I have had enough. Driving down the FDR. Yanks get a run or 2 and are down 2, 2 on, Nettles up. I still bust my friend to this day that he gave up hope and we missed Nettles game winner. Cant imagine anyone leaving the stadium last night, but I bet some did...
On Sunday all four NYC teams win. Last night both baseball teams win on a grand slam.
I remember being at the stadium with a pal who was a big NYY fan. Yanks down a bunch, top of the ninth. My friend, who drove said he was leaving. Told him we should stay. He said OK, then you can take the subway home cause I have had enough. Driving down the FDR. Yanks get a run or 2 and are down 2, 2 on, Nettles up. I still bust my friend to this day that he gave up hope and we missed Nettles game winner. Cant imagine anyone leaving the stadium last night, but I bet some did...
On Sunday all four NYC teams win. Last night both baseball teams win on a grand slam.
watched that clip that @Halldan1 posted of Maris hitting his record breaking shot and one thing stood out to me... his humility. He was embarassed to come out for the curtain call. He went up there hit the HR and couldnt wait to get back into the dugout. Impressive.
Stanton has a no trade clause in his contract and you would need him to waive that clause in order to trade him.
Nobody will trade for Stanton unless Yanks continue to pay half of his salary.He is a part time player in effect since he loses significant time to injuries every year.How a 32 year old pro athlete gets injured every year when he is mostly a DH is a mystery.
Stanton has a no-trade clause. He basically engineered his way to the Yankees because he refused deals to the Cardinals and Giants.
Even if you get him to waive the no-trade (i.e. pay him), he reportedly has five years and $150 remaining on his contract plus an option for 2028 worth $25 million or a $10 million buyout.
The ball has an estimated value of $100,000 - $150,000. Kid was extremely generous to give it back, period. Yanks should have kicked in a team-signed bat, some playoff tickets, etc. He basically got $1,500 in merch for him, and $500 for each friend. Organization should have done more for him without being solicited to do so - that ball tied Babe Ruth's record for pete's sake.
Generous or naive? Judge should have followed the Maris precedent and told the kid to sell it. And if the ball is that meaningful to Judge he could just reach into his deep pockets and buy it himself.
But maybe an auction on the ball where kid keeps half and half goes to a worthwhile charity would be a reasonable outcome.
Saw Marris’ 61 on TV. I thought then and still think that Red’s call was awful.Roger Maris’ $5,000 advice to Sal Durante, who caught his 61st homer
Sal Durante was 19 years old in 1961 when he caught Roger Maris’ record-breaking 61st home run ball.
Roger Maris’ $5,000 advice to Sal Durante, who caught his 61st homer
By Ryan Glasspiegel
Sal Durante was 19 years old in 1961 when he caught Roger Maris’ record-breaking 61st home run ball, and it was an experience he cherished for 60 years.
Durante was with his girlfriend, Rosemarie, who would become his wife, on a double date in the right field bleachers for Yankees-Red Sox — and she paid for the tickets.
“I was broke at the time, and Rosemarie loaned me $10 so I could buy four tickets at $2.50 each,” Durante explained to the Seattle Times in 2016. “Rosemarie never let me forget the loan.”
With Aaron Judge looking certain to pass Maris’ mark — which many baseball fans and media consider to be the true single-season home run record, given the PED usage in which Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds were implicated — the magical 1961 season is getting revisited from every angle.
“I heard the crack of the bat and saw it headed toward the right-field bleachers where we were sitting,” Durante said in 2016. “I jumped up on my seat and stretched as high as I could, and the ball slammed into the palm of my bare hand.”
Sal Durante holds up Roger Maris’ 61st home run ball on the 50th anniversary in 2011.
Getty Images
Red Barber, calling the game on WPIX, implied that the lucky fan who caught the ball would receive $5,000.
Durante was happy to return the ball and receive nothing but a “thank you” from Maris in return. Instead, he recalled Maris telling him, “Keep it, kid. Put it up for auction. Somebody will pay you a lot of money for the ball. He’ll keep it for a couple of days and then give it to me.”
That somebody was California restaurateur Sam Gordon, who did just that.
Sal Durante and Roger Maris in 1961.
Diamond Images/Getty Images
According to the CPI calculator, which measures the tides of inflation, the $5,000 Durante received in 1961 is the equivalent of nearly $50,000 today. It’s hard fathom what the ball would fetch in an auction today.
Durante was a Brooklyn-based truck driver at the time he caught the ball; he would later drive a school bus for 30 years until his retirement at the age of 62. About 20 years ago, Sal and Rosemarie moved from Brooklyn to Staten Island.
Rosemarie passed about eight years ago. As of the past several months, Durante, now 80, is hospitalized and suffering from dementia, his son, Tom, a 58-year-old New York City real estate broker, informed The Post.
“He still had — and still has — all his pictures of him and Maris through the house. He would talk about it,” the son said. “If we asked questions about it until recently, he would have known the answers. About one-and-half months ago, his mind completely shut off.”
The memorabilia Durante held onto included a ticket stub signed by Maris from that day, Maris’ own Zippo lighter that the two both used to light cigarettes in the locker room and a ball signed by Maris, Durante and Tracy Stallard, the Red Sox pitcher who gave up the home run.
“He had a nice run with this,” Tom Durante, the son, said. “In 1976, when they opened up the new-old Yankee Stadium, he threw out the first ball to Graig Nettles. Then at the 25th anniversary, they invited him up there with my mom. Then on the 50th anniversary he brought out the ball — that is now in the Hall of Fame — to the Maris family.”
I dunno, but I wanted to be generous by referring to him as generous
Personally, I don't like when athletes and teams rely on fans' "generosity". Both of the former have untold millions at their disposal, and could easily change their life for the better in a situation like this.
This 60th homer ball is historic, someone could have flipped him $50k and neither party would have felt the difference. Reminds me of the Brady situation, the guy that gave back that football got fleeced, and here is one of the richest athletes in sports history "thanking him". Like, dude, help the fan out a bit if it's that important to you.
An 83? I think it's remarkable. He's older than my father and I still can't break 90.
Hey, the Dodgers took Joey Gallo,, paid his full salary and gave them a strong pitching prospect.
Eat what it takes to move on. Yanks don't do this enough. They keep their mistakes around which isn't good for anyone.
Hicks you'll have to eat almost all $30M.i
Donaldson you'd have to eat around $10 Million. He's still a great defensive 3B. His attitude/personality just don't fit the Pinstripes.
Stanton is owed 5 more years at $160. Probably have to eat almost half that.
The problem is the yankees will stink of desperation to get rid of these guys. Nobody is going to pay Stanton who turns 33 this offseason and batting around .210, $15 mil per year for the next 5 years for a guy who bats .210. If they get a buyer at that rate they should jump all over it. They're going to be paying a fortune for guys not to play for them. It may be best for the team, but will sting the wallet so I doubt they make those moves.
Well he does hit from the golds…lol. SOB took some money off me too.
Guy playing in front of us few weeks back. 97 year old guy who apparently shoots his age. WW2 vet.
Red Sox giving him nothing so far like the bitter organization they are this year
I would personally donate $100 to never see Aaron Hicks again.
The greatest skill of this front office has been turning Yankees fans into amateur baseball accountants. Everyone seems more interested in balancing the team's payroll and spending than having great players on the roster.
it really is going to suck and i dont think the doomsday attitude is an overreaction. seems too late to reign it in
I hope that fellow does, but I've learned not to assume too much.
Nice story from ESPN. Act of kindness.
www.espn.com
Here
The real MVP moment of Aaron Judge's season
Forget the 60 home runs and 128 RBIs. The best moment of Yankees star Aaron Judge's remarkable 2022 season may have been what happened with one of his home run balls.
Here
