Samuel Francis Calderone (February 6, 1926 – November 28, 2006) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

who spent three seasons (1950; 1953–1954) in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as a member of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

. Calderone threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

, stood tall and weighed . Born in

Beverly, New Jersey Beverly is a City (New Jersey), city in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 2,499, a decrease of 78 (−3.0%) from the 2010 United Stat ...

, Calderone played baseball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

Burlington City High School Burlington City High School is a six-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade in Burlington, in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of ...

. Calderone first signed with the Giants' archrivals, the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

, in 1945 but could not make the Major League team, despite batting .317, .293 and .316 in successive

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

seasons. He was selected by New York in the 1949

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

and spent the season as the backup to regular Giant catcher

Wes Westrum Wesley Noreen Westrum (November 28, 1922 – May 28, 2002) was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager, and scout. He played for 11 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the New York Giants from to and was known a ...

, batting .299 in 34 games and 67

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and lost the 1951–1952 seasons to military service. One of his teammates on the 1951

Fort Myer, Virginia Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and Fort Whipple ...

, Army team was

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

southpaw

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Johnny Antonelli John August Antonelli (April 12, 1930 – February 28, 2020) was an American professional baseball player, a left-handed starting pitcher who played for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves, New York / San Francisco Giants, and Cleveland Indians bet ...

, and a year after Calderone returned to baseball, he and Antonelli would figure in a major trade between the Giants and the Milwaukee Braves prior to the season. In the deal, the Giants' 1951 hero

Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was an American professional baseball player, nicknamed "the Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants (1946–53, 1957), Milwaukee Brave ...

and Calderone were swapped to Milwaukee for Antonelli, pitcher Don Liddle, catcher

Ebba St. Claire Edward Joseph "Ebba" St. Claire (August 5, 1921 – August 22, 1982) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball. St. Claire stood tall and weighed 219 pounds. He was a switch hitter and threw right-handed. He can best be described as a p ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

Billy Klaus William Joseph Klaus (December 9, 1928 – December 3, 2006) was an American professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Boston / Milwaukee Braves (–), Boston Red Sox (–), Baltimore O ...

and $50,000. Antonelli would help lead the 1954 Giants to the

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, going 21–7, leading the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, and picking up a win and a save against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in the Giants' World Series sweep. Calderone, meanwhile, served as the Braves' third-string receiver that season and batted only 29 times, although he rang up 11

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

for a .379 average. He was sent to the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

for 1955 and finished his playing career in Triple-A in 1958. He managed in the Giants' minor league system briefly before leaving baseball. All told, Calderone appeared in 91 Major League games, batting 141 times with 41 hits.Career statistics
from

Baseball Reference Baseball Reference is a baseball statistics database maintained by Sports Reference. The site provides career statistics for Major League Baseball (MLB) players and teams as well as records, MLB draft history, and sabermetrics. History Founder ...

Sam Calderone died at age 80 in

Mount Holly, New Jersey Mount Holly is a Township (New Jersey), township that is the county seat of Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth largest city as of 2020. As ...

References

External links

Baseball Reference1949-50 Cienfuegos (Liga Profesional Cubana 1949-50)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderone, Sam 1926 births 2006 deaths Baseball players from Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington City High School alumni Cienfuegos players Havana Sugar Kings players Major League Baseball catchers Meridian Peps players Milwaukee Braves players 20th-century American sportsmen Minor league baseball managers Mobile Bears players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Newport News Dodgers players New York Giants (baseball) players People from Beverly, New Jersey Portland Beavers players Pueblo Dodgers players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Sportspeople from the Delaware Valley United States Army personnel of the Korean War American expatriate baseball players in Cuba