Patrick Joseph Salerno

Pasquale (Patrick) Salerno Sr.

Pat Salerno of Port Henry New York passed away on Friday September 22, 2023 at Elizabethtown Hospital at the age of 91.  Born on August 14, 1932 in Port Henry, New York, he was the son of Ralph and Anna (Esposito) Salerno.

Pat attended Port Henry High School and was a shortstop who was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 18.  He then started his professional career playing baseball with the Valdosta Dodgers and help them with the 1952 Championship by hitting over the winning run to second base which put him in scoring position to win it all. 

In December of 1952, Pat was drafted into the US army where he reported to Fort Dix in New Jersey.  There he was assigned to the special service division due to his tremendous athletic ability in both baseball and basketball.  He traveled through France and Germany on both the basketball and baseball teams to entertain the troops.

After returning from over-seas, Pat returned to professional baseball with the Dodgers and played in Thomasville, Georgia for the Georgia/Florida league.  He then played for the Cedar Rapids Raiders of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a class B league for Illinois, Indiana and Iowa Leagues.

After throwing out his arm, he was sent to the Reno Silver Sox of Reno Nevada a class C California league where he was hitting 292 with 120 hits and 2 home runs.  In 1957, he was promoted to class B and assigned to the big State league. In 68 games he hit 9 home runs to finish the season with 15. 

In 1957, Pat played for the Victoria Rosebud Dodgers of Victoria, Texas.  He enjoyed receiving $100 from the team’s owner for hitting home runs. He ended the season playing with the Shawnee Hawks of Shawnee, Oklahoma.  He finished the season with 15 home runs.

The start of the 1958 season, Pat was sent to the class C Pioneer league after hitting 15 home runs the previous season but declined and returned home to Port Henry.  In 2011 Pat was inducted into the Albany District Baseball Hall of Fame and Glens Falls Baseball Society Hall of Fame.  He had played with the likes of Maury Wills, Tommy Davis, John Roseboro, Frank Howard, Don Miles, and Pete Reiser. He also played against and with Johnny Podres.

Pat married his High School sweetheart, Jane (Egan) Salerno in 1956 and raised a family of four boys; Tony, Pat Jr, Randy and Tim.  Pat worked for the Grand Union for 32 years and Basin Harbor for 25.  He was pre-deceased by his siblings: Rosie (Salerno) Capuano, Louise (Salerno) Wheelock, Joan (Salerno) Taylor, Mary Anne (Salerno) Saunders, Joe Salerno, and Paul Salerno Sr.  He is survived by his wife Jane (Egan) Salerno, his sons; Tony (Juls) Salerno, Pat Salerno Jr, Randy (Julie) Salerno, Tim Salerno, and grandchildren; Whitney (Salerno) Bartlett, Dallas (Salerno) Chancey, Ty Salerno, Torin Salerno, Trevor Salerno and Sara Salerno.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the doctors and nurses at the University of Vermont Medical Center Burlington and Elizabethtown Hospitals as well as their staff.

A funeral service will be held to celebrate Pat’s life at the new St Patrick’s Cemetery 2841 Dugway Road Port Henry, NY on September 26, 2023 at 11:00.