By Jack Nicas

Larry Fidalgo, 69, fondly remembers his days of playing professional baseball. However, in his old age he’s traded his ash bats for ash floors at his Somerville flooring company, Fidalgo Floors, at 152 Albion St.

Fidalgo said at the Sept. 5 Somerville News contributors’ meeting that he moved into his childhood home on Fremont Street at the age of two. He graduated from Somerville High School in 1957 as the captain of both the football and baseball team, and returned 30 years later to receive the school’s Hall of Fame award for excellence in baseball. He said scouts with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees often watched him during his senior season.

After one year at Villanova University, he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a catcher for $700 a month and a $30,000 signing bonus; the year was 1958.

Fidalgo said he then spent the next six years with Pittsburgh’s AAA affiliate, the Salt Lake City Pirates, creating long-lasting memories. He said, ‚ÄúSandy Koufax’s fastball was memorable,‚Äù as well as was watching his parent club win the 1960 World Series on Bill Mazeroski’s legendary Game 7 walk-off homerun.

However, he said some of the best memories came on the road with his team. “Ever see the movie Bull Durham?” he asked. “That epitomized the camaraderie of our team.”

Although Fidalgo still enjoys watching baseball today, he said the game has significantly changed since his time. Even as a catcher, Fidalgo said he would rarely taunt the batter; a practice thought to be common today. ‚ÄúIt was more of a gentleman’s game,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúPlayers like Manny Ramirez never would’ve made it.‚Äù He said hitters who show up the pitcher by watching their homeruns would always be thrown at in their next at bat. 

“Managers have a tough job now because players are such prima donnas,” he said.

And performance-enhancing drugs were “never even thought of.”

Fidalgo said the salaries were also different. He signed contracts with Louisville Slugger, Wilson, and Fleer for $100 to $200 each to be sponsored for bats, gloves and trading cards, he said. Yet with his meager salary, he laid floors in the off-season to make ends meet. By the end of 1964, Fidalgo said Pittsburgh offered him $800 a month to play another season, but he declined.

Without baseball, Fidalgo said he naturally fell into what he knew best and opened Fidalgo Floors in 1965. He said he moved back to Somerville with his wife Sherry, who he calls “the best catch of my life,” and opened up his current location on Albion Street in 1977.

He said his company specializes in “old-fashioned service,” such as bordered floors. However, he said lately “business has been spotty.”

‚ÄúI liked [owning a business] until the economy slowed down,‚Äù he said. Nevertheless, he’s stayed involved with local business owners as a member of the Somerville Lions Club, serving as president in 1992.

Fidalgo said he’s remained a baseball fan all his life, and despite his years with the Pirates, he’s a proud Red Sox supporter. ‚ÄúI love it,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúIt’s the American pastime.‚Äù