Pinch-Hit submitted by Craig Burley
Pennsylvania's rural Washington county, near the Ohio border, can put together a very thin but overall solid team. Washington County boasts the largest number of covered bridges of any county in the U.S., and two (soon to be three) Hall of Fame ballplayers. Thanks to the former, we're proud to introduce ...
The Washington County Covered Bridges
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star
Player's hometown in Washington County is listed after his name; yes, California is more than just a state -- it's a town in Pennsylvania.
Lineup
C George Lees, Bethlehem (.216 in 20 games, 1921)
1B Jim Spencer*, Hanover (146 homers, two Gold Gloves)
2B Milt Graff, Jefferson Center (.179, 1957-58)
3B Rich Rollins*, Mount Pleasant (.269 in 10 years)
SS Honus Wagner**, Chartiers (3415 hits, 722 SB)
LF Stan Musial**, Donora (3630 hits, 475 homers)
CF Ken Griffey*, Jr., Donora (.293, 536 homers, 10 Gold Gloves)
RF Ken Griffey(, Sr., Donora (.296, 2143 hits)
DH Eddie Lukon, Burgettstown (.236, 23 homers in four years)
Bench
C Joe Klinger, Canonsburg (.385 -- 5-for-13 -- in two cuppajoes)
IF Dick Gray, Jefferson (.239 in three years)
IF Butts Wagner, Chartiers (.226 in 1898)
OF Steve Filipowicz, Donora (.223, 1944-48)
OF Johnny Tyler, Mount Pleasant (.321 -- 17-for-53 -- in two cuppajoes)
UT Pete Knisely, Waynesburg (.235 in parts of four seasons)
Rotation
RHSP Bert Humphries, California (50-43)
LHSP Terry Mulholland*, Uniontown (124-142)
RHSP Steve Swetonic, Mount Pleasant (37-36)
RHSP Silver Bill Phillips, Allenport (70-76)
RHSP Ewart "Dixie" Walker, Brownsville (25-31)
Bullpen
CL-RH Bob P. Malloy, Canonsburg (4-7, 2 saves)
RH-SET Bruce Dal Canton, California (51-49, 19 saves)
LH-SET Joe Margoneri, Somerset (7-7)
RH-LONG Todd Erdos, Washington (2-0, 2 saves)
LH-LONG Leon Pettit, Waynesburg (8-6, 3 saves)
The last cut from this team -- Craig accidentally submitted a 26-man roster -- is IF Fred Hancock of Allenport, who hit .135 for the White Sox in 1949.
Burley concludes of this squad, "This team isn't better than the Canadian team, and it's certainly not better than the Mobile team that draws from about the same population base, but I have to say, that's one heck of an all-Donora outfield. In fact, shouldn't Bethlehem really be called Donora, and Donora called Bethlehem?
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20060112210548227