The Aaron Judge story has a Brooklyn connection

October 7, 2022 Andy Furman

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge follows through on a solo home run, his 62nd of the season, as Texas Rangers catcher Sam Huff, left, and umpire Randy Rosenberg, rear, look on in the first inning of the second baseball game of a doubleheader in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. With the home run, Judge set the AL record for home runs in a season, passing Roger Maris. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

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With all the Ruth-Mantle-Maris-Judge talk, Marty Appel, the former New York Yankees’ publicist reminds us of Sal Durante – the gent who caught Maris’s 61st home run in 1961.

“Sal was a terrific guy – he offered the ball to Roger, but Roger said, ‘Keep it kid, get what you can for it,’” Appel wrote recently on social media.

And Sal did get $5,000 – about $50,000 in 2022 money – from a San Francisco restauranteur, who later donated it to the Hall of Fame, according to Appel.

Sal took the money and married his girlfriend Ro, who was with him at the game. “He was a humble guy and a real Brooklyn product,” Appel noted, “he fought for the ball and emerged with it. He led a modest life, drove a school bus, and would occasionally be back to Yankee Stadium. As PR Director, I invited him back on October 1, 1976 – the 15th anniversary – to throw out the first pitch from the location of his original seat – No. 9 to Graig Nettles – who went out to right field to catch it. Nettles was the first Yankee since 1961 to lead the league in homers.”

But Appel admitted he neglected to get security to go with Sal for that strange first pitch from right field, and he was stopped several times by ushers demanding to see his ticket. “But he made it,” Appel remembered, “Like I said, he was a Brooklyn guy.”

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Current head coach Alan Balkan is the longest tenured head football coach in New Utrecht High School history at 23 years. “He’s been the driving force behind the creation of the Alumni Days,” says Tom Ferrante, one of the latest members of the New Utrecht Football Hall of Fame. “Alumni Day was his brainchild; without him and his encouragement, none of this happens.”

Alumni Day and Hall of Fame inductions are set for tomorrow (Saturday) at New Utrecht High School – and the Green and White varsity footballers meet Bayside at 2 p.m.

A little late, but a shout-out to Steve Cedor, a New Utrecht All-City running back and linebacker (’94) and later went on to a stellar college career at New Haven and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame as linebacker in 2016.

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Steve Feigenbaum, co-captain of the ’67 New Utrecht High School football team writes and claims he’s part of the “Lost Boys.”

“That’s because that ’67 team never won a game,” he says. “Things were tough back then -no home field, and we had to take the 18th Avenue bus to Dyker Park off Cropsey Avenue. By the time we got out of school, went to practice and came home it was dark outside.”

Don Landolphi, the former Brooklyn College baseball coach who recently had success coaching the blind in Holland, responds to comments made by Al (The Bull) Ferrara, the former Los Angeles Dodgers star.

KiKi was a great high school player at Lafayette,” Landolphi writes. “He had a tough senior year but still made the All-City team. I played a pre-season game against him in high school (St. Michael’s DHS). He hit a shot past me that I just about moved. He, Ben Montalto and Ron Salamine made an outstanding outfield.”

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Medgar Evers men’s soccer team dropped a City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) contest to Lehman at Old Boys High School Field, Saturday, 2-0, despite Cougars’ goalkeeper Louis Caiola making 14 saves.

Joell McKeon led the women’s team with a personal-best time of 27:10 while Aaron De Leon clocked in at 37:19 to pace the men’s team for St. Joseph University at the Golden Eagle Invitational cross-country meet last week.

After scoring the first goal of her collegiate career, Trystan Thompson-Cotterell was named a Northeast Conference (NEC) Prime Performer for the first time. She received the honor after netting her first goal as a St. Francis College Terrier in the NEC opener at Merrimack.

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Xaverian High’s jayvee footballers blew-out Mount St. Michael, 46-0, Saturday. Quarterback Jude Vanoyen threw for a touchdown to Diego Foster and had a 20-yard rushing score. Aron Meredith ran for two scores and Tommy Martin ran for one. Finbar McGuinness led the defense with three interceptions – one a Pic Six.

The Lady Clippers’ girls varsity tennis team topped The Mary Louis Academy with senior captain Ava Castellano winning her first match, 8-6. Freshman Sofia Biagino clenched a win in her third singles match, 8-2.

Senior Caitlyn Thompson scored two goals, and senior Riley Mullen and sophomore Juliana Javier each added one more, as Xaverian’s girls varsity soccer team topped Staten Island’s Notre Dame Academy, 4-0 last week.

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Michaela Skiski, Emilce Paez and Jules Kuzmich each scored a goal and pushed LIU’s field hockey team to a 4-1 win over Stonehill, Friday…Sophomore Elyas Ayyoub led the way for the men finishing third in the 8K College Brown Race with a time of 23:53.0 for LIU at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa., Friday.

That shaved more than a minute off his time a year ago at the prestigious event, when he finished eighth.

Ainhoa Brea and Ralitsa Mihaylova set the tone for the women’s team. Brea finished with a speedy 6K time of 21:25.2, while Mihaylova crossed the finish line at 21:49.9.

LIU will run again October 14th at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

The LIU men’s tennis team had weekend success at the MIT Invitational. Facing Army, MIT and Boston College in a hidden dual invitational format, sophomore Philip Hilble and junior Arthur Voiseux won all three of their single matches.

Hible, in fact, did not drop a set all weekend while manning Nos. 1 and 2 singles.

Voiseux overcame three match points in a super tiebreaker against Boston College.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR