Al Salerno

The union efforts of NL umpires were ahead of their counterparts in the AL during the 1960s. At the annual meeting of the NL umpires’ association on September 13, 1968, Salerno and Bill Valentine attended in hopes of joining the group. Three days later, both Salerno and Valentine received calls from AL president Joe Cronin, who informed them that their contracts would not be renewed for the following season because of incompetence.