Town Mourns The Loss Of Coach Al

Swampscott Little League and just about anyone who had a child play in town over the past several decades is mourning the loss of local baseball legend Al Duratti.

Duratti, who had been on the field since Swampscott Little League started in 1954, died Thursday, his daughter said. Duratti passed away at home while watching the Red Sox vs. the Kansas City Royals, a baseball fan to the very end, his obituary says.

Duratti was , working with Swampscott’s . He coached the Major Yankees during the regular season, this year’s club finished in fourth place, and got by the eventual league champs, the Nahant Orioles.

Duratti’s District 16 team won state titles in 1978 when he was the manager, and 1981 when he was on the coaching staff. Duratti worked with the pitching staff in 1979 and 1983, those teams were champions as well.

Hundreds of Swampscott kids, boys and girls, played for Duratti. Young men who came to the games to watch their sons play for Coach Al, remember when they had played for him as well. More and more often, it was grandfathers at the games who remembered playing for Coach Duratti and now watched their grandchildren play.

Duratti lived on Middlesex Avenue for many years before moving to Ipswich, in addition to Little League, Duratti has been on the board of the Italian Club on Burpee road for more than 40 years.

In a r, Duratti said kids are the same now, and his message is the same in 2011 as it was in 1954.

“I’ve had so many great young men over the years,” Duratti said in a July 7 interview with Patch. “I don’t want to name names, because I’m sure I’ll leave somebody out.”

“It’s a great experience for me, I love the game, I love the kids, there’s no place I’d rather be than on the baseball field,” Duratti said. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of coaching, and I look forward to the games and working with the kids.”

Duratti, who was in his 80s, said, “As long as they need me, I’ll be there, baseball is a thinking man’s game and I enjoy the entire process of baseball, the kids have really given me a lift over all these years.”

Funeral from the SOLIMINE, LANDERGAN AND RICHARDSON FUNERAL HOME, 67 Ocean St. (Route 1A), Lynn. on Thursday at 9 a.m., followed by a funeral mass in Holy Family Church, Lynn at 10 a.m. Interment will be in Swampscott Cemetery. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. Visiting hours will be Wednesday from 4-8 p.m.. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations to the Coaches Scholarship Fund honoring Alfio Cerone and Al Duratti, care/of Keenan, 9 Tudor Rd, Nahant, MA 01908 

Did you play for Duratti? Do you remember him around town? Share your memories of Coach Al and what you will miss most in the comment section below. 

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