Sal Durante, Who Caught a Bit of Baseball History, Dies at 81

Salvatore Durante was born on Nov. 11, 1941, in Brooklyn. His father, Gabriel, was a postal worker who had to give up his job after he became disabled, causing Sal to drop out of high school six months before graduation to help support his family. His mother, Catherine (Marino) Durante, was a homemaker.

Mr. Durante and Ms. Calabrese were married at a church in Brooklyn a few weeks after he caught the ball and then flew to Sacramento to collect the $5,000 (nearly $50,000 in today’s dollars). Half the money went to start the Durantes’ married life, half to help Mr. Durante’s parents. Mr. Gordon also paid for the couple’s honeymoon in Palm Springs.

The next August, Mr. Durante was invited to the Seattle World’s Fair, where he was offered $1,000 to catch a ball off the Space Needle. When it was determined that a ball thrown from the 605-foot-tall tower would generate too much speed, the stunt (with Stallard, then pitching for a local minor league team, throwing the ball) was moved to a 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel.

After catching some practice throws from lower heights, Mr. Durante dropped the one for all the money (he got the money anyway). When Stallard asked what happened, Mr. Durante told United Press International, “I guess I wasn’t relaxed when I knew the money was riding on the toss.”

In addition to his son Sal Jr., Mr. Durante is survived by two other sons, Robert and Thomas; six grandchildren; his sisters, Mary Serpe and Susan Monaco; and his brother, Joseph.

Mr. Durante later owned a messenger service and then drove a school bus before retiring to take care of his wife, who died in 2014.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/sports/baseball/sal-durante-dead.html