Intentional Walks

With the approach of youth baseball and softball drafts, I thought it would be interesting to look back at an incredible story from the early days of Greene County sports lore. Baseball was primarily a sandlot game for young people in the first half of the 20th century. Even early attempts at forming high school teams were sporadic and usually unsuccessful. Waynesburg’s team finally joined the WPIAL in 1935.

The first official Little League team wasn’t formed until 1939 in Williamsport, PA when a man named Carl Stotz raised $30 dollars to outfit and equip three teams. After World War II, Waynesburg had a four-team Junior Baseball League that included the East End Wildcats, the Northside Invaders, West Waynesburg, and a team from Dilliner. By the 1950s, official Little Leagues had reached the area. The county had 34 teams in six different leagues.

However, a once in a lifetime collection of young men amazed locals with their prowess on the diamond a decade and a half earlier. A man named Gail Lewis took his 12-yearold son George to the local fields to teach him the fundamentals of the game. George soon brought along some friends, and each day the group grew until it reached 17 dedicated boys. They took the game so seriously; Gail was determined to find them some real games. All the boys were either 12 or 13 years old, but displayed talent well beyond their years. The boys approached multiple businesses and asked for a $1.00 donation from each for uniforms and equipment. The response was overwhelmingly positive. The father of one of the boys worked for South Penn Telephone and donated the use of a company truck to take the boys to games. They called themselves the Little Pirates.

Jim Meighen and George Clelland, both well-known local athletes, volunteered to help Lewis coach. The team destroyed all competition close to their own age; therefore, they decided to schedule some adult teams. After winning most of those games, word got out about the phenoms. They started to travel the area to take on adult teams for a $35 gate guarantee. They defeated adult teams from Fairmont, Morgantown and Jefferson. When they arrived in Brave for a game, the fans began to boo as the team exited the truck. They felt they had been conned out of their admission fee when they saw the size of the boys. Lewis calmed the crowd by telling them he would return their money if they were not satisfied after three innings. The Little Pirates won the game 7-4. The adults even brought in three ringers in the final innings to avoid embarrassment, but the effort was to no avail.

Other notable games included a trip to Moundsville to play the prison team and a contest in Clarksville against a Negro League team. In the three summers they played, their record was 121-6. Pittsburgh Pirate Hall of Famer Honus Wagner read about the boys in the paper and invited them to his baseball school in Washington, where he gave them private lessons every other Friday night. He also gave them official Pirate patches for their uniforms.

Team members George Lewis and Dick Drury would go on to play in the Pirates’ minor league system. Boots Howard and Wilson George would also play professionally in the minor leagues. Bucky Murdock would go on to be a legendary wrestler and coach at both Waynesburg High School and College. Dave Clelland was also a very successful coach at both Mapletown and Waynesburg High Schools. Sherm Roberts was a revered youth coach for decades, and Jim Hook became a prominent attorney in the county. Other members of the team included: Don and Eddy McClure, Bill and Bob Phillips, Tony Russo, Charles Finch, Johnny White, Smitty George, and Ronnie Lemley.

By Bret Moore