CHAPTER ONE
MEMORIES
We all have certain memories of years past. There are those remembrances we may have no idea why we should recall them and others we can understand exactly why they still bring a smile to our face-even 50 or more years later.
Why do so many of us remember the Bonnies Final Four run in '70, the Orioles with Frank and Brooks Robinson beating the Reds in the '70 World Series or Lenny Dawson and Otis Taylor leading the Chiefs over the Vikings in Super Bowl IV?
I played only two summers of fastpitch softball in Olean, the summers of 1982 and 1983, but I probably saw over 75 games between the ages of 12-17, going up and over Barnum Hill- Eldred to Olean once or twice a week to see a weekday doubleheader at Marcus Park.
Plus, we had the Bill Button broadcasts on WMNS and the Times Herald published league leaders in hitting and pitching during the week. Giberson, Keane, Halftown, Irons-names that always seemed to appear among the top of their respective categories.
This essay is to recognize as many players, managers, umpires and teams as possible. I talked with, texted and emailed as many ex-players and long-time observers. Undoubtedly, I could have reached many more experts if I lived in the area, but I tried to compile as much information as possible, despite now living 700 miles from where it all happened.
I realize there will be many names, teams and events excluded accidentally. This essay is in a blog format, so I can add or delete items almost immediately when anyone brings it to my attention.
This is not written in any chronological, top to bottom or bottom to top order. There's no category of top five pitchers or position players. It is simply written, hopefully, to put smiles on some faces, to bring forth some, "Oh yeah, I remember that guy," or "Jim forgot to mention this."
I hope the players in my age group will read this and feel proud about being a part of something that was fun and provided entertainment for so many people, for so many years. Maybe a few youngsters will realize that, "Hey, I didn't realize that guy across the street was such a good ballplayer."
Five loyal Marcus Park fans (My dad is in the middle, back row.
CHAPTER TWO
A WRITER'S LICENSE
It's a widely known fact that Hollywood often adds a little extra gusto or exaggeration in many of their films. I'm not taking any of those type of liberties, but I'm using this forum, one time, to open with two men who have ties to my hometown.
CHAPTER TWO
A WRITER'S LICENSE
It's a widely known fact that Hollywood often adds a little extra gusto or exaggeration in many of their films. I'm not taking any of those type of liberties, but I'm using this forum, one time, to open with two men who have ties to my hometown.
Many Eldred area residents have heard the story of the Potter-McKean Little League All-Star Team of 1951. That group of 14 (11 and 12-year-olds) won the Pennsylvania State Championship and advanced to Williamsport to the Little League World Series.
The P-M team lost a close game in the first round to the eventual champion. Stamford, Connecticut. They provided the closest competition to the '51 champions, losing 4-1. Fred, a shortstop and pitcher, took over the mound duties after the Pennsylvania team had fallen behind and basically shut down the opposition the rest of the game.
Fred was a 1956 graduate of Eldred High School. He became a well-known fixture on the Olean sports scene, playing both baseball and softball for many years in the Muny League and eventually the Old Timer's League.
Well-known sportswriter, Mike Abdo wrote in a 1970 article, "Fred Howell- the one-time boy wonder who at the age of 12 pitched in the Little League World Series....is a guy who inspires the respect of the opposition and the loyalty of his teammates." ("Howell Doesn't Qualify as a Grizzled Vet")
Tom Irons was from Rixford, Pennsylvania and graduated from Otto High School in 1956 (Eldred and Otto High Schools eventually consolidated in to Otto- Eldred High School, located in Duke Center, Pa.).
Tom signed a professional baseball contract with the Cleveland Indians and played for their minor league club in Parma, Ohio.
After returning from military service in the early sixties, Tom watched Bradford pitcher, Marty Snyder, and began to develop his slingshot motion.
Tom Irons and his "slingshot" delivery.
Irons was the MVP of the Muny League in 1964 and beginning in 1967, his Mini Bar team put together a string of eight consecutive MUNY Championships.
Tom Irons with the Mini Bar.
That Mini Bar club's infield consisted of catcher, Jerry Perischini, Fred Howell at third, Jack Wells at short, Larry Holtzworth at second and Tom Keane, another ex-minor leaguer, at first.
More information about Irons, Holtzworth and Keane will come later in this piece.
CHAPTER THREE
ANOTHER LEVEL
Many of the talented players who played at Marcus Park and/or fastpitch parks in Bradford or Salamanca were multi-sport performers in high school and some eventually became fine baseball, football, basketball players, etc. at the college level.
Even in the middle of a veteran fastpitch career, there were all-around athletes who continued to play Alle-Catt baseball, slowpitch softball or competed in a competitive basketball league.
There was one player though, who eventually left the area and played on fastpitch's largest stage, international softball against the best pitchers and players in the world.
One veteran fastpitch observer stated, "Salamanca's Shawn Rychcik was the first player who packed his bags and set out to play fastpitch at a full-time level.
Shawn Rychcik
In 1989, he played in his first ISC Tournament in Kimberly, Wisconsin for the New Martinsville Softball Club out of West Virginia. They went on to win four games and Rychcik was co-leader in RBI's for the tourney and named to his first All-World Team.
In 1991, as many fastpitch players have, Rychcik made a stop in Ashland, Ohio for a season with the Plannaggers Softball squad.He joined the Midland Explorers in 1992 and played for the Michigan club for two seasons and it was after a third place finish in the ASA Nationals in 1993, his softball career began to change dramatically.
At the end of the '93 season he received an invitation to play in New Zealand and that would have a huge impact on the rest of his career.
For the next 13 seasons, he played with the Tampa Bay Smokers, the Decatur Pride and his final five years were spent with the County Materials Team.
The Salamanca kid's last season was in 2006 and was very special indeed. Rychcik and his teammates played in seven tournaments and won all seven including its second straight ISC World Championship. That year's overall record was 47-3. The 2006 version of County Materials has been called one of the greatest teams ever.
Rychcik retired from playing after the 2006 season. his 23 year career included an eight year stint on the USA Men's National Team, winning a gold medal, two silver medals and one bronze.
He was twice named the U.S. Olympic Committee Athlete of the Year in Men's Softball. He was awarded two ASA National Championships with an MVP and eight All-American selections.
Rychcik finished his career with five ISC World Championship rings and ten ISC All-World Honors.
His playing days ended in 2006, but his coaching tenure had just begun with a multi-year stint at Boston University and a six year term at North Carolina State.
Head Coach Shawn Rychcik and Wolfpack Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Rychcik's teams at N.C. State went 173-162-1 overall and 53-59 in the ACC. They won one ACC Championship and also made an NCAA Super Regional appearance.
John Dry was also a graduate of Salamanca Central where he starred in both basketball and baseball. He was invited to play at Marcus Park at the urging of his cousin, Mike. John would play on A&J Subs with Mark Stavish, the catcher on that club.
Stavish had a fine career as a fastpitch catcher and was the veteran catcher for Olean Bradners in Alle-Catt baseball for many years.
Mark Stavish .
Dry also played two years of Alle-Catt, as a 16-17-year-old. He was recruited by several colleges, including Saint Bonaventure.
I was the head coach for Bonnies' Baseball from 1982-1984. I recently told both John and Olean High's Mike Threehouse (now the head softball coach at Bonas) that if I had been successful recruiting both of them, I might have stayed at Saint Bonaventure longer. I'm pretty certain we would have added a few more wins.
Mike was a third baseman at Eckerd College in Florida playing for long-time coach John Mayotte and Dry played almost every position on the field while attending Canisius.
Mike Threehouse-became the head softball Coach at Saint Bonaventure in 1997
John's love of fastpitch softball and his competitiveness has led him to a career, well, a career that has stretched almost 40 years and is still on-going. Like Rychick, it has taken him to the national stage and also in to the Western New York Softball Hall of Fame.
The "classic" John Dry setup.
"Fastpitch was king back in the day and wherever you went to play often there were hundreds of people who would come to see you. It was like you were playing in the pros.
The fastpitch community is a close-knit group and once you're in that group it's a great feeling to be accepted. At the end of the day it's all about having the guys you play with and against respect you and your ability and to compliment you on your talent."
John's first game at Marcus Park as a teenager was as a member of AJ's Subs.
"My cousin, Mike Dry, was the pitcher and Stavish was the catcher. After playing with them for a year, Ronnie Wilson (more to come on Ron) asked me to join his travel team. Jay Weitzel (another Salamanca athlete) asked me if I wanted to go to Erie, Pa. and play in an open major fast pitch event with Big Ron's and I agreed and the fastpitch bug bit me.
Winning the Olean Fastpitch softball title beating A&J's Subs, 6-0. Kneeling left to right- Terry Brennan, Tommy Wilson, Terry Williams and Jay Weitzel. Middle row-John Hall, Rob Parks, Bob Chaffee and Dan Lemon. Back row-Marc Gagliardo, Ron Wilson, Billy Darling, and John Dry. Missing-Charlie Smith
"At that point I was a little reluctant to make that kind of commitment to the game. But I did and halfway through that first season with Angee's I could sense that 'bug' again. I was back full throttle," Dry stated.
John recalls, "After Ron's disbanded, we took a combined team from Olean and went to the "C" Nationals in Denver in 2000. There were 72 teams there and we finished third."
That team was coached by Clyde Bell and consisted of John, Sparky Granger, Judd Williams, Chris Mendell, Paul Furlong, Matt Foster, Richie Seiberg, Marc Halftown, Rocky Weitzel, Scott Bennett and Rob Sawicki.
John with friend, Terry (Webb) Williams, in Orlando, Florida.
"Over the course of playing both fastpitch and slowpitch all over the U.S. and Canada and competing against some of the best competition in the world, the best accomplishment I've had is the pleasure of meeting and calling so many of the guys from all over the world my friend."
John Dry was inducted in to the Western New York Softball Hall of Fame on September 19, 2016. Introducing John was his good friend, Terry Williams.
John (second from the right) with international players.
John has hit over 250 home runs in his fastpitch career that has spanned over 35 years. He has a lifetime batting average of .350.
"The Bombers," one of several teams that Dry played with during his career. That's John in the back, third from the right.
Dry has faced, at times during his lengthy career, pitchers who have been ranked number one in the world and are or surely will be in the National Softball Hall of Fame. They include; Ty Stofflet, the left-hander from Pennsylvania who earned national coverage by being on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Darren Zack of Toronto wore the crown after Stofflet. He was followed by Lauren Alger from New Zealand.
Currently, the new "King of the Hill," is Australian hurler, Adam Folkard, who plays for a Saint Catherines, Ontario team.
John (blue shirt) with friends.
The P-M team lost a close game in the first round to the eventual champion. Stamford, Connecticut. They provided the closest competition to the '51 champions, losing 4-1. Fred, a shortstop and pitcher, took over the mound duties after the Pennsylvania team had fallen behind and basically shut down the opposition the rest of the game.
Fred was a 1956 graduate of Eldred High School. He became a well-known fixture on the Olean sports scene, playing both baseball and softball for many years in the Muny League and eventually the Old Timer's League.
Well-known sportswriter, Mike Abdo wrote in a 1970 article, "Fred Howell- the one-time boy wonder who at the age of 12 pitched in the Little League World Series....is a guy who inspires the respect of the opposition and the loyalty of his teammates." ("Howell Doesn't Qualify as a Grizzled Vet")
Tom Irons and Casey Jones
Tom signed a professional baseball contract with the Cleveland Indians and played for their minor league club in Parma, Ohio.
After returning from military service in the early sixties, Tom watched Bradford pitcher, Marty Snyder, and began to develop his slingshot motion.
Irons was the MVP of the Muny League in 1964 and beginning in 1967, his Mini Bar team put together a string of eight consecutive MUNY Championships.
That Mini Bar club's infield consisted of catcher, Jerry Perischini, Fred Howell at third, Jack Wells at short, Larry Holtzworth at second and Tom Keane, another ex-minor leaguer, at first.
More information about Irons, Holtzworth and Keane will come later in this piece.
CHAPTER THREE
ANOTHER LEVEL
Many of the talented players who played at Marcus Park and/or fastpitch parks in Bradford or Salamanca were multi-sport performers in high school and some eventually became fine baseball, football, basketball players, etc. at the college level.
Even in the middle of a veteran fastpitch career, there were all-around athletes who continued to play Alle-Catt baseball, slowpitch softball or competed in a competitive basketball league.
There was one player though, who eventually left the area and played on fastpitch's largest stage, international softball against the best pitchers and players in the world.
One veteran fastpitch observer stated, "Salamanca's Shawn Rychcik was the first player who packed his bags and set out to play fastpitch at a full-time level.
In 1991, as many fastpitch players have, Rychcik made a stop in Ashland, Ohio for a season with the Plannaggers Softball squad.He joined the Midland Explorers in 1992 and played for the Michigan club for two seasons and it was after a third place finish in the ASA Nationals in 1993, his softball career began to change dramatically.
At the end of the '93 season he received an invitation to play in New Zealand and that would have a huge impact on the rest of his career.
For the next 13 seasons, he played with the Tampa Bay Smokers, the Decatur Pride and his final five years were spent with the County Materials Team.
The Salamanca kid's last season was in 2006 and was very special indeed. Rychcik and his teammates played in seven tournaments and won all seven including its second straight ISC World Championship. That year's overall record was 47-3. The 2006 version of County Materials has been called one of the greatest teams ever.
Rychcik retired from playing after the 2006 season. his 23 year career included an eight year stint on the USA Men's National Team, winning a gold medal, two silver medals and one bronze.
He was twice named the U.S. Olympic Committee Athlete of the Year in Men's Softball. He was awarded two ASA National Championships with an MVP and eight All-American selections.
Rychcik finished his career with five ISC World Championship rings and ten ISC All-World Honors.
His playing days ended in 2006, but his coaching tenure had just begun with a multi-year stint at Boston University and a six year term at North Carolina State.
Rychcik's teams at N.C. State went 173-162-1 overall and 53-59 in the ACC. They won one ACC Championship and also made an NCAA Super Regional appearance.
John Dry was also a graduate of Salamanca Central where he starred in both basketball and baseball. He was invited to play at Marcus Park at the urging of his cousin, Mike. John would play on A&J Subs with Mark Stavish, the catcher on that club.
Stavish had a fine career as a fastpitch catcher and was the veteran catcher for Olean Bradners in Alle-Catt baseball for many years.
Dry also played two years of Alle-Catt, as a 16-17-year-old. He was recruited by several colleges, including Saint Bonaventure.
I was the head coach for Bonnies' Baseball from 1982-1984. I recently told both John and Olean High's Mike Threehouse (now the head softball coach at Bonas) that if I had been successful recruiting both of them, I might have stayed at Saint Bonaventure longer. I'm pretty certain we would have added a few more wins.
Mike was a third baseman at Eckerd College in Florida playing for long-time coach John Mayotte and Dry played almost every position on the field while attending Canisius.
John's love of fastpitch softball and his competitiveness has led him to a career, well, a career that has stretched almost 40 years and is still on-going. Like Rychick, it has taken him to the national stage and also in to the Western New York Softball Hall of Fame.
"A lot of what I learned about sports is stuff I absorbed from watching my dad, Ted, play when I was a young boy," Dry said.
"Fastpitch was king back in the day and wherever you went to play often there were hundreds of people who would come to see you. It was like you were playing in the pros.
The fastpitch community is a close-knit group and once you're in that group it's a great feeling to be accepted. At the end of the day it's all about having the guys you play with and against respect you and your ability and to compliment you on your talent."
John's first game at Marcus Park as a teenager was as a member of AJ's Subs.
"My cousin, Mike Dry, was the pitcher and Stavish was the catcher. After playing with them for a year, Ronnie Wilson (more to come on Ron) asked me to join his travel team. Jay Weitzel (another Salamanca athlete) asked me if I wanted to go to Erie, Pa. and play in an open major fast pitch event with Big Ron's and I agreed and the fastpitch bug bit me.
Following his run with Ron Wilson and company, Dry played with the Third Base team then Angees where he played alongside Paul Furlong, Chris Mendell, Judd Williams, Matt Foster and Marc Halftown.
"At that point I was a little reluctant to make that kind of commitment to the game. But I did and halfway through that first season with Angee's I could sense that 'bug' again. I was back full throttle," Dry stated.
John recalls, "After Ron's disbanded, we took a combined team from Olean and went to the "C" Nationals in Denver in 2000. There were 72 teams there and we finished third."
That team was coached by Clyde Bell and consisted of John, Sparky Granger, Judd Williams, Chris Mendell, Paul Furlong, Matt Foster, Richie Seiberg, Marc Halftown, Rocky Weitzel, Scott Bennett and Rob Sawicki.
"Over the course of playing both fastpitch and slowpitch all over the U.S. and Canada and competing against some of the best competition in the world, the best accomplishment I've had is the pleasure of meeting and calling so many of the guys from all over the world my friend."
John has hit over 250 home runs in his fastpitch career that has spanned over 35 years. He has a lifetime batting average of .350.
Dry has faced, at times during his lengthy career, pitchers who have been ranked number one in the world and are or surely will be in the National Softball Hall of Fame. They include; Ty Stofflet, the left-hander from Pennsylvania who earned national coverage by being on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Darren Zack of Toronto wore the crown after Stofflet. He was followed by Lauren Alger from New Zealand.
Currently, the new "King of the Hill," is Australian hurler, Adam Folkard, who plays for a Saint Catherines, Ontario team.
John is still on-the-field and in uniform. For the last eight years he has been an assistant coach with the Olean Oilers, a collegiate summer league team in the NYCBL. John will be the pitching coach for the club in 2020 and still has hopes of playing another year of fastpitch in one of the major international tournaments.
The third and last member of this category of "another level," admittingly, is a choice that will draw a lot of questions and probably even more debate. Ironically, he's another Salamanca High School graduate.
Joe Sanflippo was inducted into the Chatauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 for his outstanding career as a high school football coach at Salamanca from 1957-1973 and Jamestown from 1974-1981.
During his tenure he sent many of his players to the college football level including such Division I universities as Michigan and Florida State.
When asked who was the best player he ever coached, there was no hesitation. "Chuckie Crist was in a class by himself."
Crist, in the late 1960's at Salamanca earned almost every honor the athletic department presented. He was the MVP in four sports during his senior year. He was named the Olean Times Herald Player of the Year in 1967. During his junior and senior football seasons, the Warriors were 15-1-1.
Crist scored over a 1,000 points in his high school basketball career and was the scoring leader in the Lake Shore League, averaging 24 points a game his senior season. Salamanca won the Section VI championship.
He set school records in the high jump and triple jump and was a first-team Lake Shore League selection in baseball.
He signed a letter of intent with Penn State for football and/or basketball. There was no doubt that Chuck wanted to play quarterback for the Nittany Lions and there was little doubt that the PSU staff wanted him to play defensive back.
Chuck went to football practice on day one and at noon walked in to the basketball office and asked the coach if his basketball scholarship was still available. The coach said "Yes" and Crist played four years of basketball only for Penn State.
He was the team's MVP his senior season (1971-72) when the Nittany Lions went 17-8.
Crist was the captain of the PSU team during his junior and senior seasons.
He was signed by the NFL's New York Giants as a free agent in 1972 and played three seasons for the Giants. He followed that with three seasons with the New Orlean Saints. He was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 1978.
He was named the defensive MVP for the Saints in 1977 and in his final season with San Francisco picked off six passes raising his career interceptions total to 20.
He was named the southwestern New York "Athlete of the Century" by the Olean Times Herald.
And now, for our purposes, the story begins. After his professional football career was over he began to play fastpitch softball. The softball story has begun, but it is extremely muddied. One, very few people asked about him for this essay knew about his softball portfolio and how his tremendous athletic ability translated in to the fastpitch game.
Shawn Rychcik and John Dry put up the fastpitch numbers and proved their outstanding softball ability. Crist is the poster boy example of a paradox that baseball scouts face several times a year; outstanding athlete with at least one or more above average tools, but can he play the game?
We are not debating if he was a Major League prospect. At this point, he was now 29-30 years old and hadn't played organized baseball in 11-12 years. He played at the top level (NFL), in the game he chose to participate, but would all those skills translate in to a top flight softball player?
Somewhere out there, undoubtedly, there are softball fans who saw Chuck play- a lot. The only information I was able to obtain came from only a few, who more or less echoed each other's thoughts.
Those who saw him play had this to say.
"Chuck played for the "Hungry Horse. He only played one or two years after retiring from football. He played both center field and shortstop. He batted left-handed. Insane talent. He was really, really fast. He did not travel to tournaments, etc."
There was little said that would enhance or lower projection of his fastpitch potential other than the fact he did not play often and maybe saw the opportunity to play softball similarly to the way many see golf.
To no one's surprise, Crist was the six-time club champion at Holiday Valley Golf Club in the 90's.
You would have to think that the speed and first-step quickness he had to have to play in the NFL would translate in to the Fastpitch game. The ability to run plus hitting left-handed is a big advantage in the game. Being able to chop the ball to third and short, making either middle infielder backhand the ball and/or having any infielder make even the slightest bobble was almost a sure way to reach first.
The ability to drag or push bunt is an unknown. When the art of bunting was mentioned, two names came up every time; Tommy Wilson and John Karuch. And getting down the line, home to first, two names came up every time; Tommy Wilson and John Karuch.
Tavern Slowpitch Champions:Front row- second from the left, Pat (Tiger)Flynn and John Karuch is in the middle of the front row.
Karuch played both slow and fastpitch and by some accounts did not have a long softball career, at least by some softball standards. John was an outstanding basketball player at Olean Bishop Walsh High School and was eventually named to the Big 30 Basketball Hall of Fame.
Invariably, when one of our long-time Marcus Park on-lookers was asked to name their top five players or when some players listed their top five opponents and/or their top five teammates, Tommy Wilson's name came up immediately.
Tommy began playing competitive fastpitch at 16 (some said 15) and made an impact immediately. His athleticism was unparalleled in Olean and surrounding area. It was said that any sport he attempted; boxing, football, track and field, etc., he was outstanding.
A teammate's description of Tommy: "Tommy was one of the most gifted players I met in my career. Tremendous raw speed and bat speed with the ability to make consistent contact."
Big Ron's squad. Front row in the center is Johnny Hall. Middle row, left to right- Jay Weitzel, Larry Daniels, Billy Welch, Bill Swift (glasses) Back row, left to right-Jim Kolkowski, Pat Atwell is third from the left (dark hat and top), Ron Wilson with his arms folded, Sparky Granger and Tommy Wilson
From a baseball scout's perspective and there were two fine ones in the Weitzel brothers, just watching young Tommy warm up, play a few innings defensively (run and throw) and take a couple of at bats (bat speed), combined with his loose, stream-lined body and athleticism- well, even a baseball scout watching a fastpitch game would be very impressed. Maybe you were watching a young version of Devon White.
Chuck Crist-now there's some good early morning, Tim Horton's donut and a coffee conversation.
Bob Davies and Mike Abdo's article about putting together an area fastpitch "dream team"They mention Muny League stars like; Mike Martello, HenryBzdak and Mickey Yusko- former "Merchants." John Karuch from the Silver Slipper, Jeff Wallen from the Blue Bird Team, Mike Foster of the Holiday Pharmacy. Over to Bradford with Larry Holtzworth and Joey Straub. To Salamanca for; Maury Abrams, Roger Halftown, Tommy George and Chuck Crist.
Also listed, Terry Johnson of Smethport, Jim Reitz of the Capitol Hill squad and Gene Bingman from the Ramble Inn. Of course, Tom Irons and Wayne Dornsife on the hill.
Chapter Four
Pitchers
Many of the Marcus Park fastpitch viewers; players, umpires, fans, umpires, etc. who were asked questions about MUNY fastpitch categories ranged from those who began in the early 60's and carried through the 80's. Others began steadfastly watching in the 70's and carried in to the 90's.
The significance of that is there are very few people who saw every player during their peak years or even at all. Personally, I hit against Dornsife, never Irons, George Santora, Carl Venable and many others.
The one constant when most observers were asked about the top pitchers at Marcus was Irons and Dornsife (1-2) or Dornsife and Irons (1-2)
Tom "The Ironman" Irons was inducted in to the Western, New York Softball Hall of Fame on May 3, 2013.
Irons' career spanned 27 years and included over 1,600 games pitched. He threw five or six games in one day on several occasions and threw 26 career no hitters.
"I was surprised. I'm just a small town boy," Irons said about his HOF induction.
Tom was born in Olean. He was one of 12 children. He was a Rixford, Pa. native and eventually resided in Bradford. He became well known for his baseball, basketball and football ability, eventually playing minor league baseball in the Cleveland Indians' organization.
Irons fastpitch mound work continued through 1988, until the age of 50.
Wayne Dornsife was a teacher and coach in the Jamestown School District. He lives in Randolph, New York.
There's a short story about Wayne pitching one weekend for the Salamanca Merchants. The catcher who received Wayne's offerings in his first appearance couldn't handle him and there were multiple passed balls.
Wayne told his catcher to make a phone call to a certain number late that evening or actually, maybe it would be better to call an hour or two after midnight.
Wayne's request to his catcher was to tell the man who answered the phone to show up the next morning and to be ready to catch him.
His game one catcher questioned calling someone that late, but went ahead and made the call. Bright and early the next morning, Wayne's new receiver showed up, Big Ron himself-Ron Wilson.
Ron Wilson with John Elmore and James Hart
The list of top-rated pitchers who performed through 30-40 years of MUNY League fastpitch is long and imposing. Some hitters found some of these individuals as tough, if not more difficult to hit than the Irons and Dornsife duo.
In no particular order:
Bill Swift
Carl Venable
Carl Venable. Carl is now 82 years old and lives in Florida. He taught eighth grade earth science at what used to be Olean Junior High. He retired from teaching in 1991.
Gene Fazio- Bradford
Dude Luzzi- Bradford
Jerry Birmingham
George Santora
Rocky Weitzel
Bob Golden
Tom Carney- The tall lefty pitched for three decades in the Olean League, starting at 17 and pitching until he was 51, An excellent competitor.
Seth Halftown- pitched in the Gowanda, Salamanca and Olean Leagues plus tournament ball. An accident forced him to step aside for awhile, but he bounced back to later pitch in Olean and Salamanca. A great competitor, but well-known as a better person.
Jim Adamczak
Ken Boser
Jay Mendell
Mike Dry
Jerry Goldman
Tommy Hargis
Bump Dunham
NOTE- Seth Halftown and Tom Carney were both HOF inductees.
Chapter Six
"The King and His Court" vs. Bradford
The "King and His Court was a four man fastpitch team with a catcher, shortstop, first baseman and the "King," Eddie Feigner, on the mound.
Some may have seen them as fastpitch's version of the Harlem Globetrotters. They played in over 4400 cities, 104 countries and in front of over twenty million people.
It all revolved around the master on the mound. Eddie began his unique traveling show in 1946 when he was in his 20's. He threw a blazing fastball that was difficult enough, but some others could throw hard. What they couldn't do was strikeout tons of hitters by throwing behind their back or between their legs. He struck out hitters when he was blindfolded or pitching from second base. Feigner had hitters swinging sometimes and he hadn't even thrown the ball yet.
There was a long stretch when they appeared on ABC's Wide World of Sports once a year. They were national entertainment and Feigner's talents never failed to amaze viewers.
His surrounding three position players varied at times (he had three ex-major leaguers play for him at different times during his lengthy career), but Eddie was the show.
Dave Barnett was a former center fielder for the University of North Carolina. We met and worked at the Wes Rinker Baseball School in Sanford, Florida. Dave also was the head coach at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.
John Bateman was a former Major League catcher who played for Houston, Montreal and Philadelphia. He hit 81 home runs in his ML career. He toured with "The King and His Court from 1977-1980.
"The King" won over 9700 games. He had 141,517 strikeouts (that's NOT a mistake), 930 no- hitters and 238 perfect games and he was in Bradford, Pennsylvania on September 3, 1969 to face a team consisting of many of the best players in Bradford.
Bradford took a 1-0 lead when Joe Manning, the leadoff hitter, lined a base hit to left. With no outfielders, the ball rolled to the left field fence and Joe circled the bases for an inside-the-park homer.
Bradford's Joe Manning
Bradford, with Jerry Goldman, Larry Holtzworth, Bob Woods and George Santora teaming up for a three-hitter made the solo run stand up as Eddie Feigner and his court were handed a 1-0 loss.
"The King struck out 16 (three while blindfolded and three from second base). He gave up three hits; Manning's HR, a triple by Marv Goodman and a single by Holtzworth.
1200 fans attended the game and it was noted that the famed club wasn't thrilled with the rare loss. It had to be a great night for the team and the fans from Bradford.
Eddie, who began his pitching career in 1946, pitched until 2000.
Chapter Seven
Managers, Sponsors and Personalities
Constantly overlooked in any type of athletic league; high school, amateur or professional are the countless number of people that allow teams to play in an atmosphere where all they have to be concerned with is playing. Many of these people "behind" the scenes are invisible to many, but without them, the show does not go on.
I am unfamiliar with many of the people and businesses listed below. Their names arose through the course of conversations with players and fans and I wanted to include them in some manner. There are many in the community that realize their contributions
merit more than a solitary line.
Blue Bird Bus
Mini Bar
Big Ron's
Rumors
Clark Brothers
Angees
Kamery Meats
State King
Tom Bell
Titos
Night Moves
Mego Anastasia
Bill Button
Silver Slipper
Hopkins Sporting Goods
Casey Jones
A&J's Subs
Village Inn
Tasta Pizza
Jock Shop
The Hut
Jack Coffey
Kendall
Holiday Pharmacy
Dan Piccioli
Icky's
My Brothers Lounge
One-Eyed Jack
"Gunder" Simon
Chapter Eight
Position Players
This will be a long list as I've decided to combine all infielders, outfielders and catchers. Mostly, they are players we haven't mentioned in this essay, but their names were brought up by at least one representative on our Marcus panel.
1. Tom Keane- Tom was a player whose name was brought up by many observers. Keane was a 1950 graduate of Bradford High School. Tom was probably 36-37 when I first saw him man first base. He had played minor league baseball in the Phillies farm chain from 1950-1952. He was a Korean War veteran and in 1961 he began his career as a Bradford fireman, retiring as a captain in 1996.
He played in the MUNY League for the Mini Bar during the 60's and 70's
2. Jon Baker- infielder and former basketball coach at Olean high School.
3. Brad Weitzel-Brad was an assistant coach on the University of Florida's NCAA baseball title in 2017. As his players celebrated, piling on the field, Weitzel walked out to the shortstop position. His thoughts were of his hometown back in Salamanca.
"That's where I played my whole life. I thought about Marcus Park back in Olean, playing fastpitch there. I thought about Vets Park (in Salamanca), all the hundreds of games I played shortstop. I thought about my teammates in football in Salamanca who were just the toughest kids in the world. I did my reflection out there. It really hit me out there at shortstop and I stood there and watched those kids dog-pile and hug each other."
Weitzel sent his old football teammates an email, letting them know "even though they weren't there, that's where I honored them. The 42 years of domination we had, I was a small part of that, but it was a huge part of my life." he said.
I met Brad, not at Marcus or Salamanca, but sometime in the late 90's or early 2000's. He was scouting for the Twins and I was with the A's and we were somewhere in central Florida at a game. We were standing next to each other and sometime during the early innings we found out where we grew up. That, of course, led to a long, long conversation about softball and the guys we both knew from the Olean area.
4.Terry Johnson, from Smethport, Pennsylvania is widely known as one of the best players to ever play in the Alle-Catt Baseball League. The left-handed hitter, middle infielder was one of the leaders of the Crosby team that won league championships seemingly year after year. He is definitely one of the best players I've ever played against and he did it year after year.
Terry had a short-lived career in the MUNY League. He was hit by a pitch by Jim Adamcyk and broke his jaw. He would have been a perfect fastpitch player with his lefty bat, a small strike zone with outstanding recognition of the zone, good speed, good hands and surprising pull power. Competitiveness off the chart- he went back and showed it weekend after weekend for nearly 20 years for the Crosby Mudhens. "Swede" played for the Mini-Bar with Joe Straub, Tom Irons, Jack Wells, Larry Holtzworth, Tom Keane, George Santora and Billy Welch.
Tom Sherwood, from Eldred, played for State King along with Fred Howell, Skeet Stoughton and Mike Harwood. Tommy played for Coryville LL where he first ran in to Terry Johnson where they played against each other in HS and also together in a few All-Star Games.
5/6 Mike and Brian Neary- the brothers played infield in both fast and slowpitch.
7. Jeff Wallen- I remember Jeff as a left-hand hitting outfielder, a good player. A fellow fastpitch player told me Jeff said that hitting slowpitch was more difficult for him than fastpitch simply because he had more time to think during the softpitch delivery I can understand that mindset- one of the thoughts that can travel through your mind in slowpitch is placement-where do I want to hit the ball instead of reaction and hopefully, good contact.
8. Jerry Perischini- Jerry was Tom Irons' catcher for many years, eventually replaced by Billy Welch.
9. Mike "Whitey" Welch. Whitey has always been a big part of the Olean sports scene for me. He played OF for the Mini Bar in 1970 and his brother, Billy caught. He then umpired in the league from 1971-1990. I also remembered playing some slowpitch against Whitey's squad because he always hit the ball hard to the right side of the field. I played second and the Bonnies' basketball coach, Jim O'Brien, played short on our Sullivan's squad. My best memories of Whitey were he and Ken Woodruff umpiring the majority of my baseball games at Saint Bonaventure. Honestly, in three years, I never remember any type of argument occurring. Maybe, Whitey remembers, but I don't. Those guys always did a standout job for me.
10. Pat Atwell- I first met Pat when he was a high school baseball and basketball star at Andover High School and played in the Alle-Catt. League.
I later saw Pat as a key hitter for Big Ron's. Good size and power, outfielder with a good arm and had a little wiggle in his timing device that was his trademark. Tournament traveler. He became the baseball coach at Salem University in West Virginia and it was my good fortune to have Pat join me at Quincy University in Illinois as my assistant for two seasons.
Pat was a great assistant coach, but even a better head coach when I left before the 1992 season to begin my scouting career. Pat led the Hawks to at least one 40 win season and several 30 plus campaigns, beating teams along the way that QU had not defeated in a long time. The Great Lakes Conference was one of the few wooden bat leagues in the country and it was really enjoyable watching Pat's clubs.
He had two of his Division II players make it to the big leagues (Josh Kinney from Port Allegany and Josh Rabe from nearby Mendon, Illinois. Pat is now the athletic-director at Culver Stockton University in Missouri.
11. Joe Moran- I'm not sure what position he played, but several observers agreed with me that Joe could hit. He consistently hit the ball hard, not an easy task in fastpitch softball. Consistent, good contact.
12. Tony Wilson- not the same physical tools as Tommy (no one had those), but a fine player and contributor.
13. Johnny Hall- Johnny's name was brought up several times- a real ballplayer. We saw him at second base a lot, but he could play several positions well and was always a tough out at the plate. Played hard and enthusiastically every game.
14. Rick Rosenswie. Rosey was an outstanding hitter, a tournament-type guy with power from the right side. A left-handed thrower- you'd expect the big man to play mostly first base, but he was a fine athlete and I even saw him play second on occasion. A kicker in college. One of the better right-handed hitters in the MUNY league and a Softball HOF inductee.
15/16. Johnny and Jimmy Kolkowski. I saw these guys up close and personal a lot as my folks and I sat on the third base bleachers and I recall big John playing third, never wearing a hat. Several Marcus followers saw Jimmy as one of the best young shortstops to ever play fastpitch at Marcus. Two fine players.
17. Bobby Bell- Bobby was a baseball/softball legend in the Olean area. I believe he managed the Olean Oilers in their opening years in the NYCBL college league and also managed the Bradners' team in the Alle-Catt league. I think Bobby played a lot of years of first base for several different clubs.
18. Jerry Attea- This name may be a stumper. My Babe Ruth coach, Ed Harrington, brought me down to watch a weekend tourney at Marcus. There were several Buffalo teams in the field and Attea played third. We watched from the first base side from mid-morning to the last evening game so I think I saw Attea play three games at third. I was 14-15 at the time and I marveled and later imitated his defensive actions. He had range, a strong arm, could make the play on the run, foiled any bunt attempts. I thought he was the Brooks Robinson of the tournament. I don't recall his at bats other than I know he was not an easy out. Jerry Attea- almost 50 years later and I still recall this cat.
19- Billy Darling- Darling's name arose several times, occasionally high in some viewers beliefs. Billy, many believed came over to the Muny League about the same time as Pat Atwell did. He may have caught for Pat when Atwell pitched for Bolivar after his baseball stint with Andover. Billy was also a college teammate of Pat's at Salem, one year behind Atwell. Prior to playing in Olean, Darling played fastpitch in Wellsville.
Darling caught and played third base in the Muny League and his plus speed helped make him a definite offensive threat. He was an excellent athlete.
20. Mike Martello was an excellent all-around athlete and again, was a player who was mentioned by many people who gave their opinion of some of the better MUNY players. Mike played a similar type of game in the Alle-Catt League. He was solidly built and powerful man with home run power, solid defensive ability and rarely went a game without making a contribution to help his team in some manner. If recalling correctly, Mike also pitched some in the Alle-Catt.
21- Mitch Simon- Mitch was a lefty hitter who played the little game well. He was a slash type hitter who had the ability to get down the line. One of those guys who could be a real pest at the plate. An outfielder and a good bunter.
22-24 Three players who I never saw play fastpitch, but were recommended by some observers were Johnny Greene, Herbie Elmore and Jerry Padlo. Johnny played Alle-Catt ball for Bolivar.
Johnny was remembered as a left fielder, Herbie in center, and Jerry in right.
25. Larry McCutcheon was a middle infielder. He hit from the left side, some thought he may have been a switch hitter. Another guy who was a ballplayer and that's always a high compliment. There are guys who have outstanding run, throw and hit skills, but they don't know how to play. McCutcheon knew how to play and, I believe he played both fast and slowpitch.
26-Terry Rider- Terry was an outstanding high school pitcher and had some college opportunities. He wasn't the hardest thrower of a bunch of Olean past and future pitchers, but had excellent breaking ball stuff.
Terry was involved in a car accident in the summer after HS graduation that left him with a scarred cornea and robbed him of a possible college career. He eventually bounced back and played shortstop in the MUNY.
Terry Rider- now in South Carolina, but still a Bills' fan
27- Jay Weitzel- Jay spent 17 years as a scout in the Minnesota Twins organization. In March of 2017, the Salamance native was selected to be the head coach of the Olean Oilers, the area's summer college league team.
Jay said, "I am excited for the new opportunity and thankful to the team owners for bringing me on. There is not a whole lot to be said; this is a new year, we have new players. We are going to play old-school baseball with new school instruction throughout the season."
His brother, Brad, said, "The Oilers players will have a great experience. They will definitely learn a lot about baseball. What amazes me about my brother is how hard he works players and they still love him. Other than our dad, he's the fiercest competitor I have ever faced. No doubt that those loyal Olean fans will enjoy another summer of winning baseball at Bradner Stadium"
There was no doubt from Marcus fans that Jay Weitzel was a hard-nosed second baseman. Absolutely, no doubt. I saw Jay play several games, played against him once and would easily echo the voices of those who spoke of him as an outstanding, no-nonsense competitor- night in, night out.
28/29. Joe Duffy and Bail Kolkowski were called by several, "the legends of fastpitch in the area." Their era began in the 50's.
30. We have already mentioned Mark Stavish, Billy Darling, Jerry Perischini, Ron Wilson and Billy Welch behind the plate. another catcher who made the list was Mike Calabro.
31/33. I had to add these fine players who made my fastpitch days enjoyable and gave us (A&J Subs) a pretty solid infield; Bobby Clarke at third, Sean Moran at short and Mike Carr at first. Good guys, good teammates. Thanks, guys
34/37. These four men were said to be some of the early pioneers of fastpitch softball in the area; Dutch Padlo, Don Doxey, Bill Bush and Herbie Elmore, who was mentioned earlier, but deserves to be named again.
38/39 Dave Andrews ran the Salamanca teams for years. (My Brothers Lounge, One-Eyed Jack and Salamanca Merchants). He was a catcher, first baseman. Dave's brother, Bruce, also played second base on Dave's teams.
40. Buzzy O'Neil- a left-handed hitter with good speed. Center fielder. Slasher-type hitter.
41-Mike Foster- Mike was a catcher for the Holiday Pharmacy during the 70's. His manager was Mego Anastasia. Some names remembered from Mike's team are;
Tom Carney
Roger Halftown
Seth Halftown
Frank Reilly
Morey Abrams
Wayne Abrams
Ivan Logan
Paul Thornbury
Mike often went with Tom Irons to catch him in tournaments. Mike coached and taught at Olean High before leaving in 1979 to become the athletic director and head football coach in Canandaigua.
42. Herb Niles-played for the Kendall Team from 1963-1965. Tom Irons pitched on that team and other Bradford players in the league included pitchers, Gene Fazio and Dude Luzzi. Other players included Don Raabe and the Mannings (Bill and Joe)
43. Bob Tucker- Bob broke in to competitive fastpitch in 1959 as a 17-year-old. His first playing exposure was with Frank Fitchben and the Blue Bird Bus. Bob was a teammate of Ron (Whip) Wilson during the 60's. The young catcher also was teammates with Herbie Elmore, Ray Padlo, John Kreydt and Tony Giunta.
The 60's, for many, was the Golden Age of Muny softball. Of course, players from each decade more than likely feel that way about the time span in which they played, but there's little doubt there were a lot of excellent players who began long and successful softball careers in those years.
Many of the top pitchers in MUNY history pitched in two, three and maybe even four decades, but their initiation in to competitive softball probably started somewhere in the late 50's or early 60's. Tucker was fortunate to have been able to catch Irons, Dornsife, Bob Golden, Jerry Goodman and Tom Carney at some period in the 60's.
44/46.-John (Tubber) Kreydt was recognized as one of, if not the best, position player in the 60's era. John played on both Icky's and Blue Bird Bus.
Bob Milgate. Bob was responsible for recruiting previously named players; Jon Baker, John Kreydt, Paul Lindamer and Bob Tucker to Icky's Cookies. Mike Abdo and Bob Davies, long-time sportswriters for the Olean Times Herald, often called the Icky's group the "Kiddie Korps."
Ed "Icky" Haut and Bob Milgate, with cooperation from Niagara Mohawk, the Chamber of Commerce and several fastpitch players, were instrumental in adding significant features (lights, billboards, broadcast booth, etc.) to make Marcus Park the place where hundreds of people played and hundreds of fans watched for over half a century.
Bob also recalled the contributions of " Gunder" Simon to the fastpitch scene.
Bob left the area in 1964, but remembers, "I actually got a couple of hits off Irons (Tom)." That's a fact to be proud of, definitely.
Dick Lindamer was another outstanding fastpitch player, but he was better recognized as one of the top baseball pitchers in the area. Dick later became one of the top baseball coaches in New York State and eventually won Allegany County awards for his umpiring career.
Dick Lindamer- baseball and softball star
Dick Lindamer (on the right), accepting the 2016 NYSBUA (umpire) award from President Tom Hanback
Dave Remington was another position player who kicked off his softball career in the 60's and was one of the top players in the area.
Bill (Pops)Keane, Jon Baker, Virgil and Seth Halftown and
Morrie Abrams were others recognized for their play during the 60's and 70's
NOTE- These position players and names are not listed in any type of order.
Chapter Nine
When and Why?
I did not realize the MUNY League had disbanded until a visit home a couple of years ago. I had been aware of the Alle-Catt's final days by accident, more or less, seeing a brief reference on-line.
The A-C's final season was in 2017. The league champion that year was Crosby. There were five clubs in the league. The following year only three teams showed any interest in being a part of the league and the decision was made to dissolve.
Every person I spoke to or gathered information from was asked when the MUNY league officially ended and what were the reasons it folded.
Most of the fastpitch fans asked were a few years on both sides of my generation and I found it interesting that no one seemed able to nail down the exact time of the closing season. It ranged from 2002 to 2017. It appeared as if, it was over now, it wasn't coming back and though everyone had lively memories it was time to move on. There seemed to be a calm acceptance that a community landmark had closed.
My best guess and I'm sure someone will kindly give me the exact year was that the league ended around 2012-2013.
The reason(s) why the league closed were more definitive in some ways, but also carried some variance. Slowpitch was the first word out of many mouths. That wasn't a big surprise. That was a similar response when I asked players, etc about the demise of adult amateur league baseball.
I recall when slowpitch began to grow in the area and it did take off and grew quickly. I'm sure there were some players who decided that was the only ball game they were going to participate in, but there still were many players who played both forms of softball with some just adding "the new game" to fastpitch or tacking it on to baseball. Some played all three.
The slowpitch vs. baseball and/or baseball and fastpitch comparison has been made for years. The difficulties or skills needed to play have been discussed endlessly. There's really no need to kick that around any longer, especially when I don't see that as the sole reason or the number one reason the other leagues ended.
Plenty of good, all-around athletes on this club.
I grew up in the area, but certainly do not have my finger on the pulse of Olean or the surrounding communities. Lots of friends back home, but I have not resided in the N.Y. Penn. locale for more than a quarter of a century.
Here's some discussion points.
1. Several people conversed about the need for leagues and/or teams to have a person(s) who are extremely dedicated to giving enormous amounts of time and willing to hear complaints from all directions to the point where no one seems happy with what's happening. You need some pretty tough skin. Many mentioned the role that Casey Jones played in getting fastpitch in to the limelight- setting up and organizing the league and teams, getting the field(s) prepared, making decisions about weather conditions, etc. Countless decisions to be made daily. It's a difficult and often thankless job.
2. Area populations are decreasing. Almost every city, town or village have seen their population reduced in the last 5-10 years. Some places (Bradford, Emporium..) have dropped dramatically. The central reason has to be lack of jobs. The number of businesses closed, companies closed or relocated are numerous. Shift work has always been an issue that affects the ability of some to play ball and now it's imperative a person takes what is available.
3. Those who are still involved in fastpitch are quick to say there is a real dearth of pitchers in the United States. Most of the elite pitchers are from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc.
4. Travel was always an issue in the Alle-Catt with teams in both Pennsylvania and New York. Olean playing at Galeton, Emporium playing at Friendship, Crosby at Allegany-all those are all day commitments and if there's a good chance you're not going to play much or at all, then a person is probably not going.
The same can be said for out-of-town weekend softball tournaments. What has affected that greatly is youth, travel-team baseball. We now have children from 7-17 being a member of some larger city select-type travel team. That team plays on numerous weekends often demanding a fee to be on the team, hotel and travel expenses weekend after weekend and little time to be a part of many usual summer, out-of-school activities. The days of playing 15-18 games in a hometown or nearby summer league has given away to many kids participating in 45 plus games in various parts of the country. The weekends where dad played in tourneys has changed to dad taking his kids to play out of town.
5. Obviously, the technology of today has changed aspects in almost everything we do. There are so many more options for people to spend their time and money. We all can use the phrase, "when I was a kid...." It's 2020.
6. The growth of fastpitch for women has grown dramatically and steadily, seemingly in most parts of the country. Here, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, the collegiate college signings for girls' fastpitch seemingly outnumbers baseball three to one, at least.
I guess this is all just food for thought and others will have more and most likely better reasons. I just believe it's more complicated than placing the blame in one place.
Epilogue
Many thanks to all the people who helped me put this essay together. I hope everyone understands this is nowhere near a comprehensive review of 50 plus years of MUNY fastpitch. Including the names included in some team shots, I think we posted at least something about 150 people. That was my central goal-just getting as many names out there as possible, former players, managers, etc. who would bring back more and more memories. The downside of that is I missed more names than I listed.
The research for a blog differs greatly than for a book. The one giant advantage about a blog is we can can add, delete, change names, stats, etc. immediately. It's definitely unintentional, but I'd be quite naive to think there are not numerous errors (probably more than when I played shortstop). Please message me with corrections and I can make the change almost immediately.
My other request is that if you know people who might find this piece interesting, please send it to them in whatever method is available.
Finally, thanks again to all those friends who took the time to talk with and forward me information. Covering 50 plus years of any subject is difficult and I know we only touched on the MUNY subject. Regardless, it was a lot of fun discussing and remembering some fun and memorable times.
NOTE: This blog is a continual process. Please feel free to send information, clippings, photos, etc. and we will keeping adding to the essay. I realize we have missed some integral parts to the MUNY League and Marcus Park experience and will always enjoy noting their accomplishments.
Milo Belvees at Marcus Park
The third and last member of this category of "another level," admittingly, is a choice that will draw a lot of questions and probably even more debate. Ironically, he's another Salamanca High School graduate.
Joe Sanflippo was inducted into the Chatauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 for his outstanding career as a high school football coach at Salamanca from 1957-1973 and Jamestown from 1974-1981.
During his tenure he sent many of his players to the college football level including such Division I universities as Michigan and Florida State.
When asked who was the best player he ever coached, there was no hesitation. "Chuckie Crist was in a class by himself."
Crist, in the late 1960's at Salamanca earned almost every honor the athletic department presented. He was the MVP in four sports during his senior year. He was named the Olean Times Herald Player of the Year in 1967. During his junior and senior football seasons, the Warriors were 15-1-1.
Crist scored over a 1,000 points in his high school basketball career and was the scoring leader in the Lake Shore League, averaging 24 points a game his senior season. Salamanca won the Section VI championship.
He set school records in the high jump and triple jump and was a first-team Lake Shore League selection in baseball.
He signed a letter of intent with Penn State for football and/or basketball. There was no doubt that Chuck wanted to play quarterback for the Nittany Lions and there was little doubt that the PSU staff wanted him to play defensive back.
Chuck went to football practice on day one and at noon walked in to the basketball office and asked the coach if his basketball scholarship was still available. The coach said "Yes" and Crist played four years of basketball only for Penn State.
He was the team's MVP his senior season (1971-72) when the Nittany Lions went 17-8.
Crist was the captain of the PSU team during his junior and senior seasons.
He was signed by the NFL's New York Giants as a free agent in 1972 and played three seasons for the Giants. He followed that with three seasons with the New Orlean Saints. He was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 1978.
He was named the southwestern New York "Athlete of the Century" by the Olean Times Herald.
And now, for our purposes, the story begins. After his professional football career was over he began to play fastpitch softball. The softball story has begun, but it is extremely muddied. One, very few people asked about him for this essay knew about his softball portfolio and how his tremendous athletic ability translated in to the fastpitch game.
Shawn Rychcik and John Dry put up the fastpitch numbers and proved their outstanding softball ability. Crist is the poster boy example of a paradox that baseball scouts face several times a year; outstanding athlete with at least one or more above average tools, but can he play the game?
We are not debating if he was a Major League prospect. At this point, he was now 29-30 years old and hadn't played organized baseball in 11-12 years. He played at the top level (NFL), in the game he chose to participate, but would all those skills translate in to a top flight softball player?
Somewhere out there, undoubtedly, there are softball fans who saw Chuck play- a lot. The only information I was able to obtain came from only a few, who more or less echoed each other's thoughts.
Those who saw him play had this to say.
"Chuck played for the "Hungry Horse. He only played one or two years after retiring from football. He played both center field and shortstop. He batted left-handed. Insane talent. He was really, really fast. He did not travel to tournaments, etc."
There was little said that would enhance or lower projection of his fastpitch potential other than the fact he did not play often and maybe saw the opportunity to play softball similarly to the way many see golf.
To no one's surprise, Crist was the six-time club champion at Holiday Valley Golf Club in the 90's.
You would have to think that the speed and first-step quickness he had to have to play in the NFL would translate in to the Fastpitch game. The ability to run plus hitting left-handed is a big advantage in the game. Being able to chop the ball to third and short, making either middle infielder backhand the ball and/or having any infielder make even the slightest bobble was almost a sure way to reach first.
The ability to drag or push bunt is an unknown. When the art of bunting was mentioned, two names came up every time; Tommy Wilson and John Karuch. And getting down the line, home to first, two names came up every time; Tommy Wilson and John Karuch.
Karuch played both slow and fastpitch and by some accounts did not have a long softball career, at least by some softball standards. John was an outstanding basketball player at Olean Bishop Walsh High School and was eventually named to the Big 30 Basketball Hall of Fame.
Invariably, when one of our long-time Marcus Park on-lookers was asked to name their top five players or when some players listed their top five opponents and/or their top five teammates, Tommy Wilson's name came up immediately.
Tommy began playing competitive fastpitch at 16 (some said 15) and made an impact immediately. His athleticism was unparalleled in Olean and surrounding area. It was said that any sport he attempted; boxing, football, track and field, etc., he was outstanding.
A teammate's description of Tommy: "Tommy was one of the most gifted players I met in my career. Tremendous raw speed and bat speed with the ability to make consistent contact."
From a baseball scout's perspective and there were two fine ones in the Weitzel brothers, just watching young Tommy warm up, play a few innings defensively (run and throw) and take a couple of at bats (bat speed), combined with his loose, stream-lined body and athleticism- well, even a baseball scout watching a fastpitch game would be very impressed. Maybe you were watching a young version of Devon White.
Chuck Crist-now there's some good early morning, Tim Horton's donut and a coffee conversation.
Also listed, Terry Johnson of Smethport, Jim Reitz of the Capitol Hill squad and Gene Bingman from the Ramble Inn. Of course, Tom Irons and Wayne Dornsife on the hill.
Chapter Four
Pitchers
Many of the Marcus Park fastpitch viewers; players, umpires, fans, umpires, etc. who were asked questions about MUNY fastpitch categories ranged from those who began in the early 60's and carried through the 80's. Others began steadfastly watching in the 70's and carried in to the 90's.
The significance of that is there are very few people who saw every player during their peak years or even at all. Personally, I hit against Dornsife, never Irons, George Santora, Carl Venable and many others.
The one constant when most observers were asked about the top pitchers at Marcus was Irons and Dornsife (1-2) or Dornsife and Irons (1-2)
Tom "The Ironman" Irons was inducted in to the Western, New York Softball Hall of Fame on May 3, 2013.
Irons' career spanned 27 years and included over 1,600 games pitched. He threw five or six games in one day on several occasions and threw 26 career no hitters.
"I was surprised. I'm just a small town boy," Irons said about his HOF induction.
Tom was born in Olean. He was one of 12 children. He was a Rixford, Pa. native and eventually resided in Bradford. He became well known for his baseball, basketball and football ability, eventually playing minor league baseball in the Cleveland Indians' organization.
Irons fastpitch mound work continued through 1988, until the age of 50.
Wayne Dornsife was a teacher and coach in the Jamestown School District. He lives in Randolph, New York.
There's a short story about Wayne pitching one weekend for the Salamanca Merchants. The catcher who received Wayne's offerings in his first appearance couldn't handle him and there were multiple passed balls.
Wayne told his catcher to make a phone call to a certain number late that evening or actually, maybe it would be better to call an hour or two after midnight.
Wayne's request to his catcher was to tell the man who answered the phone to show up the next morning and to be ready to catch him.
His game one catcher questioned calling someone that late, but went ahead and made the call. Bright and early the next morning, Wayne's new receiver showed up, Big Ron himself-Ron Wilson.
The list of top-rated pitchers who performed through 30-40 years of MUNY League fastpitch is long and imposing. Some hitters found some of these individuals as tough, if not more difficult to hit than the Irons and Dornsife duo.
In no particular order:
Bill Swift
Carl Venable
Carl Venable. Carl is now 82 years old and lives in Florida. He taught eighth grade earth science at what used to be Olean Junior High. He retired from teaching in 1991.
Gene Fazio- Bradford
Dude Luzzi- Bradford
Jerry Birmingham
George Santora
Rocky Weitzel
Bob Golden
Tom Carney- The tall lefty pitched for three decades in the Olean League, starting at 17 and pitching until he was 51, An excellent competitor.
Seth Halftown- pitched in the Gowanda, Salamanca and Olean Leagues plus tournament ball. An accident forced him to step aside for awhile, but he bounced back to later pitch in Olean and Salamanca. A great competitor, but well-known as a better person.
Jim Adamczak
Ken Boser
Jay Mendell
Mike Dry
Jerry Goldman
Tommy Hargis
Bump Dunham
NOTE- Seth Halftown and Tom Carney were both HOF inductees.
Chapter Six
"The King and His Court" vs. Bradford
Some may have seen them as fastpitch's version of the Harlem Globetrotters. They played in over 4400 cities, 104 countries and in front of over twenty million people.
It all revolved around the master on the mound. Eddie began his unique traveling show in 1946 when he was in his 20's. He threw a blazing fastball that was difficult enough, but some others could throw hard. What they couldn't do was strikeout tons of hitters by throwing behind their back or between their legs. He struck out hitters when he was blindfolded or pitching from second base. Feigner had hitters swinging sometimes and he hadn't even thrown the ball yet.
There was a long stretch when they appeared on ABC's Wide World of Sports once a year. They were national entertainment and Feigner's talents never failed to amaze viewers.
His surrounding three position players varied at times (he had three ex-major leaguers play for him at different times during his lengthy career), but Eddie was the show.
"The King" won over 9700 games. He had 141,517 strikeouts (that's NOT a mistake), 930 no- hitters and 238 perfect games and he was in Bradford, Pennsylvania on September 3, 1969 to face a team consisting of many of the best players in Bradford.
Bradford took a 1-0 lead when Joe Manning, the leadoff hitter, lined a base hit to left. With no outfielders, the ball rolled to the left field fence and Joe circled the bases for an inside-the-park homer.
Bradford, with Jerry Goldman, Larry Holtzworth, Bob Woods and George Santora teaming up for a three-hitter made the solo run stand up as Eddie Feigner and his court were handed a 1-0 loss.
"The King struck out 16 (three while blindfolded and three from second base). He gave up three hits; Manning's HR, a triple by Marv Goodman and a single by Holtzworth.
1200 fans attended the game and it was noted that the famed club wasn't thrilled with the rare loss. It had to be a great night for the team and the fans from Bradford.
Eddie, who began his pitching career in 1946, pitched until 2000.
Chapter Seven
Managers, Sponsors and Personalities
Constantly overlooked in any type of athletic league; high school, amateur or professional are the countless number of people that allow teams to play in an atmosphere where all they have to be concerned with is playing. Many of these people "behind" the scenes are invisible to many, but without them, the show does not go on.
I am unfamiliar with many of the people and businesses listed below. Their names arose through the course of conversations with players and fans and I wanted to include them in some manner. There are many in the community that realize their contributions
merit more than a solitary line.
Blue Bird Bus
Mini Bar
Big Ron's
Rumors
Clark Brothers
Angees
Kamery Meats
State King
Tom Bell
Titos
Night Moves
Mego Anastasia
Bill Button
Silver Slipper
Hopkins Sporting Goods
Casey Jones
A&J's Subs
Village Inn
Tasta Pizza
Jock Shop
The Hut
Jack Coffey
Kendall
Holiday Pharmacy
Dan Piccioli
Icky's
My Brothers Lounge
One-Eyed Jack
"Gunder" Simon
Chapter Eight
Position Players
This will be a long list as I've decided to combine all infielders, outfielders and catchers. Mostly, they are players we haven't mentioned in this essay, but their names were brought up by at least one representative on our Marcus panel.
1. Tom Keane- Tom was a player whose name was brought up by many observers. Keane was a 1950 graduate of Bradford High School. Tom was probably 36-37 when I first saw him man first base. He had played minor league baseball in the Phillies farm chain from 1950-1952. He was a Korean War veteran and in 1961 he began his career as a Bradford fireman, retiring as a captain in 1996.
He played in the MUNY League for the Mini Bar during the 60's and 70's
2. Jon Baker- infielder and former basketball coach at Olean high School.
3. Brad Weitzel-Brad was an assistant coach on the University of Florida's NCAA baseball title in 2017. As his players celebrated, piling on the field, Weitzel walked out to the shortstop position. His thoughts were of his hometown back in Salamanca.
"That's where I played my whole life. I thought about Marcus Park back in Olean, playing fastpitch there. I thought about Vets Park (in Salamanca), all the hundreds of games I played shortstop. I thought about my teammates in football in Salamanca who were just the toughest kids in the world. I did my reflection out there. It really hit me out there at shortstop and I stood there and watched those kids dog-pile and hug each other."
Weitzel sent his old football teammates an email, letting them know "even though they weren't there, that's where I honored them. The 42 years of domination we had, I was a small part of that, but it was a huge part of my life." he said.
I met Brad, not at Marcus or Salamanca, but sometime in the late 90's or early 2000's. He was scouting for the Twins and I was with the A's and we were somewhere in central Florida at a game. We were standing next to each other and sometime during the early innings we found out where we grew up. That, of course, led to a long, long conversation about softball and the guys we both knew from the Olean area.
4.Terry Johnson, from Smethport, Pennsylvania is widely known as one of the best players to ever play in the Alle-Catt Baseball League. The left-handed hitter, middle infielder was one of the leaders of the Crosby team that won league championships seemingly year after year. He is definitely one of the best players I've ever played against and he did it year after year.
Terry had a short-lived career in the MUNY League. He was hit by a pitch by Jim Adamcyk and broke his jaw. He would have been a perfect fastpitch player with his lefty bat, a small strike zone with outstanding recognition of the zone, good speed, good hands and surprising pull power. Competitiveness off the chart- he went back and showed it weekend after weekend for nearly 20 years for the Crosby Mudhens. "Swede" played for the Mini-Bar with Joe Straub, Tom Irons, Jack Wells, Larry Holtzworth, Tom Keane, George Santora and Billy Welch.
Tom Sherwood, from Eldred, played for State King along with Fred Howell, Skeet Stoughton and Mike Harwood. Tommy played for Coryville LL where he first ran in to Terry Johnson where they played against each other in HS and also together in a few All-Star Games.
5/6 Mike and Brian Neary- the brothers played infield in both fast and slowpitch.
7. Jeff Wallen- I remember Jeff as a left-hand hitting outfielder, a good player. A fellow fastpitch player told me Jeff said that hitting slowpitch was more difficult for him than fastpitch simply because he had more time to think during the softpitch delivery I can understand that mindset- one of the thoughts that can travel through your mind in slowpitch is placement-where do I want to hit the ball instead of reaction and hopefully, good contact.
8. Jerry Perischini- Jerry was Tom Irons' catcher for many years, eventually replaced by Billy Welch.
9. Mike "Whitey" Welch. Whitey has always been a big part of the Olean sports scene for me. He played OF for the Mini Bar in 1970 and his brother, Billy caught. He then umpired in the league from 1971-1990. I also remembered playing some slowpitch against Whitey's squad because he always hit the ball hard to the right side of the field. I played second and the Bonnies' basketball coach, Jim O'Brien, played short on our Sullivan's squad. My best memories of Whitey were he and Ken Woodruff umpiring the majority of my baseball games at Saint Bonaventure. Honestly, in three years, I never remember any type of argument occurring. Maybe, Whitey remembers, but I don't. Those guys always did a standout job for me.
10. Pat Atwell- I first met Pat when he was a high school baseball and basketball star at Andover High School and played in the Alle-Catt. League.
I later saw Pat as a key hitter for Big Ron's. Good size and power, outfielder with a good arm and had a little wiggle in his timing device that was his trademark. Tournament traveler. He became the baseball coach at Salem University in West Virginia and it was my good fortune to have Pat join me at Quincy University in Illinois as my assistant for two seasons.
Pat was a great assistant coach, but even a better head coach when I left before the 1992 season to begin my scouting career. Pat led the Hawks to at least one 40 win season and several 30 plus campaigns, beating teams along the way that QU had not defeated in a long time. The Great Lakes Conference was one of the few wooden bat leagues in the country and it was really enjoyable watching Pat's clubs.
He had two of his Division II players make it to the big leagues (Josh Kinney from Port Allegany and Josh Rabe from nearby Mendon, Illinois. Pat is now the athletic-director at Culver Stockton University in Missouri.
11. Joe Moran- I'm not sure what position he played, but several observers agreed with me that Joe could hit. He consistently hit the ball hard, not an easy task in fastpitch softball. Consistent, good contact.
12. Tony Wilson- not the same physical tools as Tommy (no one had those), but a fine player and contributor.
13. Johnny Hall- Johnny's name was brought up several times- a real ballplayer. We saw him at second base a lot, but he could play several positions well and was always a tough out at the plate. Played hard and enthusiastically every game.
14. Rick Rosenswie. Rosey was an outstanding hitter, a tournament-type guy with power from the right side. A left-handed thrower- you'd expect the big man to play mostly first base, but he was a fine athlete and I even saw him play second on occasion. A kicker in college. One of the better right-handed hitters in the MUNY league and a Softball HOF inductee.
15/16. Johnny and Jimmy Kolkowski. I saw these guys up close and personal a lot as my folks and I sat on the third base bleachers and I recall big John playing third, never wearing a hat. Several Marcus followers saw Jimmy as one of the best young shortstops to ever play fastpitch at Marcus. Two fine players.
17. Bobby Bell- Bobby was a baseball/softball legend in the Olean area. I believe he managed the Olean Oilers in their opening years in the NYCBL college league and also managed the Bradners' team in the Alle-Catt league. I think Bobby played a lot of years of first base for several different clubs.
18. Jerry Attea- This name may be a stumper. My Babe Ruth coach, Ed Harrington, brought me down to watch a weekend tourney at Marcus. There were several Buffalo teams in the field and Attea played third. We watched from the first base side from mid-morning to the last evening game so I think I saw Attea play three games at third. I was 14-15 at the time and I marveled and later imitated his defensive actions. He had range, a strong arm, could make the play on the run, foiled any bunt attempts. I thought he was the Brooks Robinson of the tournament. I don't recall his at bats other than I know he was not an easy out. Jerry Attea- almost 50 years later and I still recall this cat.
19- Billy Darling- Darling's name arose several times, occasionally high in some viewers beliefs. Billy, many believed came over to the Muny League about the same time as Pat Atwell did. He may have caught for Pat when Atwell pitched for Bolivar after his baseball stint with Andover. Billy was also a college teammate of Pat's at Salem, one year behind Atwell. Prior to playing in Olean, Darling played fastpitch in Wellsville.
Darling caught and played third base in the Muny League and his plus speed helped make him a definite offensive threat. He was an excellent athlete.
20. Mike Martello was an excellent all-around athlete and again, was a player who was mentioned by many people who gave their opinion of some of the better MUNY players. Mike played a similar type of game in the Alle-Catt League. He was solidly built and powerful man with home run power, solid defensive ability and rarely went a game without making a contribution to help his team in some manner. If recalling correctly, Mike also pitched some in the Alle-Catt.
21- Mitch Simon- Mitch was a lefty hitter who played the little game well. He was a slash type hitter who had the ability to get down the line. One of those guys who could be a real pest at the plate. An outfielder and a good bunter.
22-24 Three players who I never saw play fastpitch, but were recommended by some observers were Johnny Greene, Herbie Elmore and Jerry Padlo. Johnny played Alle-Catt ball for Bolivar.
Johnny was remembered as a left fielder, Herbie in center, and Jerry in right.
25. Larry McCutcheon was a middle infielder. He hit from the left side, some thought he may have been a switch hitter. Another guy who was a ballplayer and that's always a high compliment. There are guys who have outstanding run, throw and hit skills, but they don't know how to play. McCutcheon knew how to play and, I believe he played both fast and slowpitch.
26-Terry Rider- Terry was an outstanding high school pitcher and had some college opportunities. He wasn't the hardest thrower of a bunch of Olean past and future pitchers, but had excellent breaking ball stuff.
Terry was involved in a car accident in the summer after HS graduation that left him with a scarred cornea and robbed him of a possible college career. He eventually bounced back and played shortstop in the MUNY.
27- Jay Weitzel- Jay spent 17 years as a scout in the Minnesota Twins organization. In March of 2017, the Salamance native was selected to be the head coach of the Olean Oilers, the area's summer college league team.
Jay said, "I am excited for the new opportunity and thankful to the team owners for bringing me on. There is not a whole lot to be said; this is a new year, we have new players. We are going to play old-school baseball with new school instruction throughout the season."
His brother, Brad, said, "The Oilers players will have a great experience. They will definitely learn a lot about baseball. What amazes me about my brother is how hard he works players and they still love him. Other than our dad, he's the fiercest competitor I have ever faced. No doubt that those loyal Olean fans will enjoy another summer of winning baseball at Bradner Stadium"
There was no doubt from Marcus fans that Jay Weitzel was a hard-nosed second baseman. Absolutely, no doubt. I saw Jay play several games, played against him once and would easily echo the voices of those who spoke of him as an outstanding, no-nonsense competitor- night in, night out.
28/29. Joe Duffy and Bail Kolkowski were called by several, "the legends of fastpitch in the area." Their era began in the 50's.
30. We have already mentioned Mark Stavish, Billy Darling, Jerry Perischini, Ron Wilson and Billy Welch behind the plate. another catcher who made the list was Mike Calabro.
31/33. I had to add these fine players who made my fastpitch days enjoyable and gave us (A&J Subs) a pretty solid infield; Bobby Clarke at third, Sean Moran at short and Mike Carr at first. Good guys, good teammates. Thanks, guys
34/37. These four men were said to be some of the early pioneers of fastpitch softball in the area; Dutch Padlo, Don Doxey, Bill Bush and Herbie Elmore, who was mentioned earlier, but deserves to be named again.
38/39 Dave Andrews ran the Salamanca teams for years. (My Brothers Lounge, One-Eyed Jack and Salamanca Merchants). He was a catcher, first baseman. Dave's brother, Bruce, also played second base on Dave's teams.
40. Buzzy O'Neil- a left-handed hitter with good speed. Center fielder. Slasher-type hitter.
41-Mike Foster- Mike was a catcher for the Holiday Pharmacy during the 70's. His manager was Mego Anastasia. Some names remembered from Mike's team are;
Tom Carney
Roger Halftown
Seth Halftown
Frank Reilly
Morey Abrams
Wayne Abrams
Ivan Logan
Paul Thornbury
Mike often went with Tom Irons to catch him in tournaments. Mike coached and taught at Olean High before leaving in 1979 to become the athletic director and head football coach in Canandaigua.
42. Herb Niles-played for the Kendall Team from 1963-1965. Tom Irons pitched on that team and other Bradford players in the league included pitchers, Gene Fazio and Dude Luzzi. Other players included Don Raabe and the Mannings (Bill and Joe)
43. Bob Tucker- Bob broke in to competitive fastpitch in 1959 as a 17-year-old. His first playing exposure was with Frank Fitchben and the Blue Bird Bus. Bob was a teammate of Ron (Whip) Wilson during the 60's. The young catcher also was teammates with Herbie Elmore, Ray Padlo, John Kreydt and Tony Giunta.
The 60's, for many, was the Golden Age of Muny softball. Of course, players from each decade more than likely feel that way about the time span in which they played, but there's little doubt there were a lot of excellent players who began long and successful softball careers in those years.
Many of the top pitchers in MUNY history pitched in two, three and maybe even four decades, but their initiation in to competitive softball probably started somewhere in the late 50's or early 60's. Tucker was fortunate to have been able to catch Irons, Dornsife, Bob Golden, Jerry Goodman and Tom Carney at some period in the 60's.
44/46.-John (Tubber) Kreydt was recognized as one of, if not the best, position player in the 60's era. John played on both Icky's and Blue Bird Bus.
Bob Milgate. Bob was responsible for recruiting previously named players; Jon Baker, John Kreydt, Paul Lindamer and Bob Tucker to Icky's Cookies. Mike Abdo and Bob Davies, long-time sportswriters for the Olean Times Herald, often called the Icky's group the "Kiddie Korps."
Ed "Icky" Haut and Bob Milgate, with cooperation from Niagara Mohawk, the Chamber of Commerce and several fastpitch players, were instrumental in adding significant features (lights, billboards, broadcast booth, etc.) to make Marcus Park the place where hundreds of people played and hundreds of fans watched for over half a century.
Bob also recalled the contributions of " Gunder" Simon to the fastpitch scene.
Bob left the area in 1964, but remembers, "I actually got a couple of hits off Irons (Tom)." That's a fact to be proud of, definitely.
Dick Lindamer was another outstanding fastpitch player, but he was better recognized as one of the top baseball pitchers in the area. Dick later became one of the top baseball coaches in New York State and eventually won Allegany County awards for his umpiring career.
Dave Remington was another position player who kicked off his softball career in the 60's and was one of the top players in the area.
Bill (Pops)Keane, Jon Baker, Virgil and Seth Halftown and
Morrie Abrams were others recognized for their play during the 60's and 70's
NOTE- These position players and names are not listed in any type of order.
Chapter Nine
When and Why?
I did not realize the MUNY League had disbanded until a visit home a couple of years ago. I had been aware of the Alle-Catt's final days by accident, more or less, seeing a brief reference on-line.
The A-C's final season was in 2017. The league champion that year was Crosby. There were five clubs in the league. The following year only three teams showed any interest in being a part of the league and the decision was made to dissolve.
Every person I spoke to or gathered information from was asked when the MUNY league officially ended and what were the reasons it folded.
Most of the fastpitch fans asked were a few years on both sides of my generation and I found it interesting that no one seemed able to nail down the exact time of the closing season. It ranged from 2002 to 2017. It appeared as if, it was over now, it wasn't coming back and though everyone had lively memories it was time to move on. There seemed to be a calm acceptance that a community landmark had closed.
My best guess and I'm sure someone will kindly give me the exact year was that the league ended around 2012-2013.
The reason(s) why the league closed were more definitive in some ways, but also carried some variance. Slowpitch was the first word out of many mouths. That wasn't a big surprise. That was a similar response when I asked players, etc about the demise of adult amateur league baseball.
I recall when slowpitch began to grow in the area and it did take off and grew quickly. I'm sure there were some players who decided that was the only ball game they were going to participate in, but there still were many players who played both forms of softball with some just adding "the new game" to fastpitch or tacking it on to baseball. Some played all three.
The slowpitch vs. baseball and/or baseball and fastpitch comparison has been made for years. The difficulties or skills needed to play have been discussed endlessly. There's really no need to kick that around any longer, especially when I don't see that as the sole reason or the number one reason the other leagues ended.
I grew up in the area, but certainly do not have my finger on the pulse of Olean or the surrounding communities. Lots of friends back home, but I have not resided in the N.Y. Penn. locale for more than a quarter of a century.
Here's some discussion points.
1. Several people conversed about the need for leagues and/or teams to have a person(s) who are extremely dedicated to giving enormous amounts of time and willing to hear complaints from all directions to the point where no one seems happy with what's happening. You need some pretty tough skin. Many mentioned the role that Casey Jones played in getting fastpitch in to the limelight- setting up and organizing the league and teams, getting the field(s) prepared, making decisions about weather conditions, etc. Countless decisions to be made daily. It's a difficult and often thankless job.
2. Area populations are decreasing. Almost every city, town or village have seen their population reduced in the last 5-10 years. Some places (Bradford, Emporium..) have dropped dramatically. The central reason has to be lack of jobs. The number of businesses closed, companies closed or relocated are numerous. Shift work has always been an issue that affects the ability of some to play ball and now it's imperative a person takes what is available.
3. Those who are still involved in fastpitch are quick to say there is a real dearth of pitchers in the United States. Most of the elite pitchers are from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc.
4. Travel was always an issue in the Alle-Catt with teams in both Pennsylvania and New York. Olean playing at Galeton, Emporium playing at Friendship, Crosby at Allegany-all those are all day commitments and if there's a good chance you're not going to play much or at all, then a person is probably not going.
The same can be said for out-of-town weekend softball tournaments. What has affected that greatly is youth, travel-team baseball. We now have children from 7-17 being a member of some larger city select-type travel team. That team plays on numerous weekends often demanding a fee to be on the team, hotel and travel expenses weekend after weekend and little time to be a part of many usual summer, out-of-school activities. The days of playing 15-18 games in a hometown or nearby summer league has given away to many kids participating in 45 plus games in various parts of the country. The weekends where dad played in tourneys has changed to dad taking his kids to play out of town.
5. Obviously, the technology of today has changed aspects in almost everything we do. There are so many more options for people to spend their time and money. We all can use the phrase, "when I was a kid...." It's 2020.
6. The growth of fastpitch for women has grown dramatically and steadily, seemingly in most parts of the country. Here, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, the collegiate college signings for girls' fastpitch seemingly outnumbers baseball three to one, at least.
I guess this is all just food for thought and others will have more and most likely better reasons. I just believe it's more complicated than placing the blame in one place.
Epilogue
Many thanks to all the people who helped me put this essay together. I hope everyone understands this is nowhere near a comprehensive review of 50 plus years of MUNY fastpitch. Including the names included in some team shots, I think we posted at least something about 150 people. That was my central goal-just getting as many names out there as possible, former players, managers, etc. who would bring back more and more memories. The downside of that is I missed more names than I listed.
The research for a blog differs greatly than for a book. The one giant advantage about a blog is we can can add, delete, change names, stats, etc. immediately. It's definitely unintentional, but I'd be quite naive to think there are not numerous errors (probably more than when I played shortstop). Please message me with corrections and I can make the change almost immediately.
My other request is that if you know people who might find this piece interesting, please send it to them in whatever method is available.
Finally, thanks again to all those friends who took the time to talk with and forward me information. Covering 50 plus years of any subject is difficult and I know we only touched on the MUNY subject. Regardless, it was a lot of fun discussing and remembering some fun and memorable times.
NOTE: This blog is a continual process. Please feel free to send information, clippings, photos, etc. and we will keeping adding to the essay. I realize we have missed some integral parts to the MUNY League and Marcus Park experience and will always enjoy noting their accomplishments.
No comments:
Post a Comment