I was sad to learn that Jack Toback passed away recently.
We were teammates on the Schuylkill Valley American Legion baseball team in 1959.
Jack was a pitcher, and I was catcher that summer, the team’s first season.
His obituary in the Republican Herald said he had a try-out with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Too bad he didn’t go on to play professional baseball. In my opinion, he had what it takes to be in the big leagues.
Jack had a good fast ball, and a curve that broke downward and to the right. It was murder for right-handed batters.
More than once, though, I had to dig into the dirt behind the plate to find the ball. Most of the time, not all, I was successful.
I moved out of the area, so I hadn’t seen him for much of his adult life.
But when I moved back to New Philadelphia about a dozen years ago, I’d see Jack now and then at McMullin’s Market.
We’d always talk about old times. In parting, I’d say to him: “Jack, don’t forget, practice at 4 p.m. today in Middleport.”
He got a chuckle out of it.
I’m not sure why he didn’t end up in the majors. Thinking back, though, things were a lot different when we were growing up.
Before the New Philadelphia Little League started in the early 1950s, the Cumbola kids organized their own games on a field at the edge of town. There were no adults as coaches or umpires.
We picked sides, used cardboard for bases and got hand-me-down bats and balls from the Cubs, the town’s adult team.
When the Cumbola Cubs and the New Philly Tigers got together, there was bound to be some broken bats. And, possibly, some broken bones.
By the third or fourth inning, there was usually an argument and, now and then, a brawl.
As batboys, we’d be given the broken bats. Sometimes, repairing them was just a matter of using some electrician’s tape. Other times, we’d use screws to repair the break, then wrap it in tape.
The same with baseballs. When the stitches broke, we fixed it with tape.
The older boys ran things. Disputes were settled, mostly by who was biggest and strongest. Diplomacy was not one of our strong points.
That changed when American Legion posts in Cumbola, New Philadelphia and Middleport formed the Little League. The New Philadelphia Legion sponsored a team. So did McDonald’s sporting goods, Bassler’s beer distributor and Cumbola Fish & Game.
Some of us were already 9 or 10 years old, which meant we had the benefit of coaching for only a couple years.
After Little League, there was no teener league in the Schuylkill Valley. Players had to go to Tamaqua or Pottsville, which was not always possible.
There was no American Legion baseball team in the valley until 1959, when the team was organized in Middleport. Again, it was the American Legion who organized it.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the Legionaires from Cumbola, New Philadelphia and Middleport who gave us a chance to play organized baseball.
Angelo Mack, Cumbola, was elected president of the Schuylkill Valley Junior Legion Baseball Association, the Pottsville Republican reported on March 9, 1959. Edward Vaz, Middleport, was vice president. Chester Kraska, Cumbola, was secretary.
Rudy “Tutty” Stefanek, Middleport, and his brothers Rusty and Chaz comprised the coaching staff.
On June 12, 1959, the team’s first season was launched with a parade that included representatives of the three sponsoring Legion posts, the Republican reported. The first game was played against Pine Grove.
Jack Toback played left field in that game, and had one hit for two times at bat. Pine Grove won 7-2.
The new field on which the first game was played is still in use 66 years later.