Sam Calderone

Who is Sam Calderone?

Samuel Francis Calderone was an American professional baseball catcher who spent three seasons in Major League Baseball as a member of the New York Giants and Milwaukee Braves. Calderone threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 185 pounds.

Born in Beverly, New Jersey he played baseball, football and golf at Burlington City High School.

Calderone first signed with the Giants' archrivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1945 but could not make the Major League team, despite batting .317, .293 and .316 in successive minor league seasons. He was selected by New York in the 1949 Rule 5 draft and spent the 1950 season as the backup to regular Giant catcher Wes Westrum, batting .299 in 34 games and 67 at bats. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War and lost the 1951–1952 seasons to military service. One of his teammates on the 1951 Fort Myer, Virginia, Army team was Boston Braves southpaw pitcher Johnny Antonelli, 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 1954 season.