[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 116 (Friday, September 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H6956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO THE ACERRA BROTHERS BASEBALL TEAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I want to take the opportunity today to pay 
tribute to the Acerra brothers baseball team.
  Mr. Speaker, the Acerra brothers who grew up in my hometown of Long 
Branch are a unique phenomena in the world of baseball. The 12 brothers 
played club baseball for 14 years, from the late 1930's to the early 
1950's. And they were inducted in June of this year into the National 
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY, 45 years after 
their final game.
  There are now seven surviving brothers, Paul, Alfred, Robert, 
William, Fred, Edward, and Richard, and they all attended the ceremony 
and obviously were very proud to do so.

                              {time}  1500

  During that era when the baseball team was active, there were some 16 
or so what they call all-brother baseball teams on file at Cooperstown, 
but no other all-brother team played as many years or accomplished as 
much as the Acerra brothers of Long Branch. They played in a circuit 
that included teams from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and 
Connecticut. The team stayed together even during World War II, even 
though six of the brothers enlisted in the service at various times. 
When the Acerras were being scouted by major league teams, their ages 
ranged from 17 to 40 years old. One brother, Alfred, continued to play 
catcher after having lost an eye while playing ball. Besides baseball, 
the brothers excelled in football, basketball, golf, softball, 
swimming, and bowling. Their achievements were extensively covered in 
newspapers and on radio and television and obviously they are very well 
known in my hometown of Long Branch and in the surrounding area where 
they and their children and their grandchildren continue to live.
  While compiling remarkable statistic feats on the field of play, the 
Acerra brothers never lost sight of the sense of family, and I cannot 
express that enough. These brothers were all and had a very strong 
sense of family. Their father, Pop, never missed a game and was active 
in coaching. Two of the brothers were offered professional contracts 
but turned them down because they did not want to leave their mother 
and break up the family team. There was another brother who turned down 
a football scholarship for the same reasons.
  Mr. Speaker, it is really a great honor for me to join with the 
Baseball Hall of Fame in paying tribute to the great accomplishments of 
the Acerra brothers baseball team and to extend my best wishes to the 
entire Acerra family and many of their friends. I am going to be with 
some, if not all, of them this Sunday where we are also going to be 
paying tribute at an event in Long Branch to them and I am just very 
proud of them and all that they have accomplished. They certainly bring 
a great sense of pride to my hometown of Long Branch, NJ.

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