Source: "Charleroi, The First 100 Years, 1890-1990, The Magic City." By George C. Martinet
"No history of baseball in Charleroi could be considered complete if it did not say something special about John "Scissors" McIlvain--"Mr. Baseball"..he was born in Donora on June 3, 1883. His family came to Charleroi not long after the founding of the city, where he was soon involved in the sport to which he was to devote so much of his long life. He started out as an infielder with a local sandlot team, but his lack of speed and weak hitting turned him to pitching. He became the best knuckleball pitcher to come out of our area. In his lifetime McIlvain played on every Charleroi team associated with professional baseball and played on or managed a score of independent teams, several which were named for him....Charleroi took its initial steps into professional baseball, the POM League and the first pitch in the new venture was thrown by "Scissors" McIlvain on August 6, 1906.
McIlvain stayed with Charleroi through the 1909 season...He was out of baseball for several years because of an illness which left him almost totally deaf. He delighted in recounting stories of how fans, after he resumed playing, would try to rattle him, not knowing that he could'nt hear a thing they were saying. In his early years in the minor leagues he hit a batter in the head resulting in his death. The tragedy affected Mac so much that his pitching suffered and, as a result, he never achieved the success that his talent merited.
McIlvain, along with "Ching" Jennings, local correspondent for the Pittsburgh Press, formed the first boys baseball league in Charleroi in 1916. He and Ewing "Grassy" Chalfant founded the Charleroi Magicians in 1958. He guided the team to district championships in 1958 and 1959... Mac was asked how he got the name "Scissors". He explained that in his early minor league days he weighed 155 lbs and was well over 6 feet tall; the motion of his long arms and legs in his pitching delivery reminded one of the managers of a giant pair of scissors, and that's what they called him. In 1971 he was named to the Mon Valley Sportswritters Hall of Fame. In the same year he was named in the first group selected to the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame. For many years later he was a talent scout for the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians. A favorite story he liked to tell on himself was that he could not recommend Donora's Stan Musial to the Detroit Team---as a pitcher.
He quit active play in 1959, at the age of 76, although he did briefly pitch in an old timers game in Fayette City in 1969. In 1960 McIlvain was named the American Legion Citizen of the Year in recognition of the great contributions he had made to the community over 60 years."
Source: "Charleroi, The First 100 Years, 1890-1990, The Magic City." By George C. Martinet
"No history of baseball in Charleroi could be considered complete if it did not say something special about John "Scissors" McIlvain--"Mr. Baseball"..he was born in Donora on June 3, 1883. His family came to Charleroi not long after the founding of the city, where he was soon involved in the sport to which he was to devote so much of his long life. He started out as an infielder with a local sandlot team, but his lack of speed and weak hitting turned him to pitching. He became the best knuckleball pitcher to come out of our area. In his lifetime McIlvain played on every Charleroi team associated with professional baseball and played on or managed a score of independent teams, several which were named for him....Charleroi took its initial steps into professional baseball, the POM League and the first pitch in the new venture was thrown by "Scissors" McIlvain on August 6, 1906.
McIlvain stayed with Charleroi through the 1909 season...He was out of baseball for several years because of an illness which left him almost totally deaf. He delighted in recounting stories of how fans, after he resumed playing, would try to rattle him, not knowing that he could'nt hear a thing they were saying. In his early years in the minor leagues he hit a batter in the head resulting in his death. The tragedy affected Mac so much that his pitching suffered and, as a result, he never achieved the success that his talent merited.
McIlvain, along with "Ching" Jennings, local correspondent for the Pittsburgh Press, formed the first boys baseball league in Charleroi in 1916. He and Ewing "Grassy" Chalfant founded the Charleroi Magicians in 1958. He guided the team to district championships in 1958 and 1959... Mac was asked how he got the name "Scissors". He explained that in his early minor league days he weighed 155 lbs and was well over 6 feet tall; the motion of his long arms and legs in his pitching delivery reminded one of the managers of a giant pair of scissors, and that's what they called him. In 1971 he was named to the Mon Valley Sportswritters Hall of Fame. In the same year he was named in the first group selected to the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame. For many years later he was a talent scout for the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians. A favorite story he liked to tell on himself was that he could not recommend Donora's Stan Musial to the Detroit Team---as a pitcher.
He quit active play in 1959, at the age of 76, although he did briefly pitch in an old timers game in Fayette City in 1969. In 1960 McIlvain was named the American Legion Citizen of the Year in recognition of the great contributions he had made to the community over 60 years."
Familienmitglieder
Blumen
Gesponsert von Ancestry
Werbung
Entdecken Sie mehr
Gesponsert von Ancestry
Werbung