ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
BASEBALL IN PENNSYLVANIA

1. Student's
2 . Subject·s
3. Subject·s
a . date and place of
b. Present address
c. Present Occupation
4. Date of

Interview

Novem

Tru ck dri

ver

ber 17

5 . General Comments:

DO NOT WRITE BELOW THIS LINE

1

INTERVIEW WI TH MR. ROBERT McCLAY
FOR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA BASEBALL ASSIGNMENT

We are talking to today to Mr . Mcclay about his days in
baseball .
Q:
"Mr. Mcclay how long have you been playing baseball and been
involved in it?"
A: "Ever since I was a kid."
Q: "About how long is that?"
A: "That would be about forty-six years . "
Q: "You played when you were younger?"
A: "Yes . When we were kids , we would get some the kids together and
we would pick our teams and just play like that for summer and play
ball. "
Q:

"So you didn't have an organized league it was just . .. "

A:
"Yeah, not at that time.
No back in 'fifty-two it was
something for us to do . That's what we did . But in High School we
played in a league."
Q:

"So you played for New Wilmington in High School? "

A:

"New Wilmington High School, right. "

Q:

"How did you do there? 11

A:
"Oh New Wilmington , we al ways had a good teams at New
Wilmington. Cause, we were a farm town and we had nothing else to
do but play baseball when we didn't work on the farm during the
summer months . "
Q:

"Now you're involved in baseball now . You coach a team?"

A:
"Mercer Post 159 American Legion sixteen
approximate l y sixteen to eight-teen years old . "
Q:

leagues

of

kids

"Who do you play against, locally or .. "

A : "Local teams o.k. you got uh, you got Hickory, West Middlesex,
Greenville, Grove City , Farrel , we played against Quad A New
Castle. They came into our league last year as one of the larger
ones of Mercer County and I think Shenango was picked up.
There

2

were also four teams from Lawrence County picked up in the league.
That's most of the teams in the league last year. 11
Q: 11 You mentioned that, you had mentioned to me over the phone when
I called you that your son (Scott) was involved with coaching with
you helping you? 11
A: 11 Yes, he uh, he helped , he started last year along with Bill
Campbell he works at George Junior Republic, he helps me with
baseball over the last few years . They've all been a big help . One
person can ' t handle eight-teen kids 16 to 18 years old. You got to
as a coach have lots of help . 11
Q:

11

How old is your son? 11

A:

11

Twenty-three.

Q:

11

He' s not much older than the kids you coach.

11

11

A : 11 No , uh just approximately about five years older the kids that
we have on the ball team. 11
11
Q:
Do they
directions? 11

have

an

easier

or

tougher

time

following

his

11
A:
Well it was tougher for them to listen to him when he told
them something to do or pop off at the mouth because they felt he
wasn't much older than them, but Scott did have four years of
College over them in football and baseball, so he did have a lot
more experience and it was hard for them to take just because of
his age difference. There wasn ' t that much age difference. 11

Q:

11

How is your team doing? 11

11
A:
Well , last year we were Sixteen and two . We were figured to
win the League but we didn't do it . This year we came back with
everyone and won the Lawrence /Me rcer county championship this
11
year . 11
'
Wow , 11 I
said . ' 11 0h we had a real good year. That's we
all worked hard to win the championship and so did the kids. It
took us three years to win this. Cause these teams are rough ,
there's Quad A schools and Double A schools and we don't even have
a high school team at Mercer . That's the clincher . We don't have
a high school team they' re just kids that want to play baseball . 11

Q:

11

How do you go about getting the kids involved? 11

11
A:
Well the beginning of ball in summer baseball, I involve
Mercer area and Lakeview area which I have and the legion has an
area to pick kids from we had one kid from Greenville that could
make the other teams cause their roster was full so he'd come over
and play on Mercer County and Mercer legion team . We just go to up
to the kids when they're start playing high school ball. I went to

3

Lakeview, I'm allowed so many ball players from certain areas I can
pick for the Mercer sponsored team, and we just go over and pick
five kids from Lakeview each year. They come over and play.
They're allowed to play three years, sixteen to eighteen, depending
if they're fifteen, but I don't usually, I'd rather stay in the
senior division that's how we play ball in the summer months."
Q:

"How many hours do you put in?"

A:
"Well during the week O.K. you have your spring baseball, we
have to wait till high school 's over cause the high school kids can
not come out and practice with the legions because of playoffs and
it's against the rules. So our season starts approximately, our
season starts depending what teams, like if Lakeview was in the
playoffs, I can 't have them kids practice, but we start practicing
around about March. We get ready for our June first games and such
it takes too much to get the kids round up for practice any later. 11
Q:

"So it takes a lot of time?"

A: "Well it takes ... we only get the field three days a week there
other teams who need the field. So we get the field Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Sundays.
And we usually stay at practice on the
first day out three to four hours."
Q:

"When are the games usually set up?"

A:
"We start our league in June that's our first game and we end
around August first.
Then we have the playoffs to see who goes
to regionals as we made the regionals down in Allequippa this
year ."
"That's great. You mentioned your son, how else is your family
involved in helping you?"

Q:

A:
"First to start with my wife, she gets the roster filled out,
gets the kids height weight; what they got, left or right .. , that
has to be on there and it has to be filled out and turned in a
certain time before the games start.
My daughter is involved ,
after that's done and we get the season going, if our games could
be ca lled off either rain or something like that she takes the
phone ca lls because we all work.
I work, my wife works and Scott
works and someone has to take the calls and give all the ball
players the cancel lati ons cause we have ball players who travel
eighteen miles just to come to Mercer just to play ball. It
involves my whole family really."
Q:

"So it's like a home team."

A: "It's like a family team yes. Right, because everybody knows my
wife, my daughter; they are he age now.
And so it involves the
family when you get into the legion.
That's about the only thing

4

I'd say about any coach involved in sports, i t would have to be the
legion because their the only ones in the senior division where the
family is involved with kids that age."
Q:
"During your years in coaching is there any special event or
occasion that you remember experiencing that you 'l l never forget ."
A:
"Ye s it would be the playoff game this year.
We had already
one loss we were in our second game and we were losing by ten runs
going into the last part of the seventh inning. And at the time, at
the time we were down ten runs like I said and we had two outs and
the game was tied and it was getting dark
the umpires called
timeout and said if this games ends in a tie we will have to play
it again tomorrow.
Well I had my pitcher Quinn Priester was
playing at the time, and we had two outs like I said, and after we
parted he said oh well the games going to be over after this
because I'm going to hit this over the right field fence . The kids
laughed and the umpires laughed and said well let's play ball . And
he did , he put it out over the fence, and that wasn ' t the only game
he did that in, there was another game where he called the shots.
That has to be the, in all my years in coaching, when you have a
kid that can call a shot like that and go on and help you pitch us
into the championship game and win it for you that has to be it.
That's something, and that kid I'll remember the rest of my life."
Q:
"Good,
present?"

who have been some of your baseball heroes past and

A:
"In the
Giants . Past
remember him
World Series
Title."
Q:

present it would be Barry Bonds ,
would be Bill Maseroski when I
hitting a home run in the ninth
Game to defeat the Yankees for the

who plays for the
was in the army I
inning of the 1960
World Championship

''Barry Bonds played for the Pirates, didn 't he? "

A:
"Right, because there wasn't enough money there so he went
where the money is and his Dad was in San Francisco so that where
he went ."
Q:
"Speaking of money, what do you think of the players when you
think of them striking this year?"
A: "I think they are getting enough money. Any player that can sit
down and get ten and twelve million dollars and play baseball
compared to what Larry Gogen and the old time players; Walt Carnie
for pennies , I believe they're getting enough money I don't believe
they need any more money."
Q:
"How do you think it has effected the kids today? These are
their heroes. This strike is it going to effect the way they look
at them now?"

5
11
A:
I believe the kids are going to look at it this way now, you
know Baseball, Football , Basketball and all those other sports you
play , you have because you fun playing the sport. They get the idea
now, they're not going to play this unless they get big bucks too.
I think it's is going to ruin it for the kids who make it into the
professionals, not a lot of kids around here do but they're going
to look at it that I'm not going to play just cause I'm having fun
and for the sport of it but because I want the money . Money is
going to be the big thing , the dollar signs are going to be a big
change in the young kids getting involved. I think , that's my
opinion . 11

11

Q:

So, you said it ' s going to ruin the game? 11

11
A:
I think it gives the young kids a poor image of the
professionals . Like I said kids think guys like Barry Bonds plays
the game because he likes baseball , no I think they just play
because they just want the money . That ' s my opinion. "

Q:

11

How do you think personally, baseball has effected your life? "

A: "Well I raised two kids , I have a boy twenty-three. I never had
any problems with him while he was in school, he ' s going to college
playing football . Now you get kids who are, you get all kinds of
kids . I mean when you pick a high school team , I mean a legion
team . Like this they' re eighteen and all different , some will
listen , some won ' t . And it is hard to be a parent and know that
your kids , are almost the same age and yet you tell them what to do
and they look at you and deny you and just say well you can ' t do
this you can ' t do that to me and I ' m not going to do it. Well it's
hard to adjust to tell some other kid to teach that other kid well
you're just going to have to listen to me if you want to play ball
for me. I have strict rules and you do have kids who fight on this
and that's the hardest part of coaching. That age bracket sixteen
to eighteen they're in that stage r i ght now where they are in high
school right now and they are ready to get out and they ' re real
cocky and nobody's going to tell me what to do . But they listen ,
they l isten and that ' s all there is to it . 11
Q:
"You ' ve run into some troubled kids , have you helped them out,
do you think? "

A : 11 I think that my son, Bill Campbell, the other coaches the kids
when we first had them when they first came out they didn ' t want to
listen , I thought we were never ever going to have a ball team, but
as you have them for one season they learned that when you set your
rules you mean business .
They l ooked up to us and we feel good
that we never had any problems and none of our kids that I ' ve ever
coached in this legion I don't think has ever been in any trouble
out of legion ball. I feel they learn to grown up fast throwing
those balls and because we ' ve played against better teams and kids
their own age and we ' ve traveled and they ' ve learned to get along

6

and with other people and I teach them to be good sportsmen."
"Do you think sports, like baseball a team sport help further in
their lives, do you think that's a big help whenever they get out
of school and go on to work do you think team play is better?"

Q:

A:
" Well I think it helps anybody involved in sports you meet
different people you play against different people, and if you 're
a good sports man, I think they got a jump on other kids that don 't
get to meet people and be competitive and learn to lose and it's
nice to win but you gotta learn how to lose.
And later in life
when they go on to college and looking to make those big bucks and
to get out of college like my boy for example, he didn't get a job,
now he's working in a mill. They just have to look forward to the
good parts and the bad parts. Sooner or later, I think they
understand and I think they take it better, than persons who have
never been in sports in the competitive jobs. After they get out of
college.
Q:

"To become good sports?"

A: 11 Well they meet a lot of people, they meet other kids, it's new
all the time, they travel and meet other kids and learn what other
kids are like and what and they learn about themselves. I feel
that's a good thing to learn.
My ball team were always good
sports, when we lost we never wanted to fight, we shook hands and
we learned to live with it cause that's the way it will be when you
get out of college. You learn if you don't get the job you just
can't go out and be down on yourself you gotta look at the good
part. I have the education, somewhere down the line I'll be able to
use it."
"As a member of the tradition in Western Pennsylvania baseball ,
should if anything would you like to see happen locally or on the
whole towards baseball?"
Q:

A:
"Well it's hard to say. I'd like to see more teams in leagues.
And I'd like to see more kids get involved here the biggest part
of Mercer County , Lawrence County , and especially Mercer it hurts
a lot of kids that want to come out but it's too hard because both
parents are working and the kids have to get a job to get a car
they got ta pay the insurance, when you have to pay your own
insurance it makes a big
difference in playing in the summer
months rather than in high school. It cuts into working. They 'll
give up baseball before they give up their car . But still there ' s
kids that manage to do it, and they come out for baseball and they
get involved. Others come out for the summer from their high school
team, but Mercer don ' t, those kids have more time to pay and it
makes them better ball players. I just wish something could be done
that more kids could be involved in sports so kids wouldn't have to
get a job to pay for insurance or college. But I guess I'd like to
see the kids still come out to play and have a job for college

7

anyway."
" Do you feel there are enough teams , or rather sponsors for
teams? Or should there be more involvement with the community?"

Q:

A : " I think the community itself we have the legion that sponsors
us but they give the kids so much when we won the championship. We
took and spent our own money to by the coaches tee ' s and I buy the
plaques myself because the kids deserve to win it . Now we won a
hundred dollars in the championship, that goes to buy the trophy
and then we have a party. Now the coaches chip in and we have a
small party take the money out of their own pockets. Now the
sponsors we sell lottery tickets to keep the team going. It's
expensive to run a team . It costs approximately a to keep a team on
the field for the year to play ball in legion approximately $2,500.
Umpires, baseballs , now we just chipped in to buy the uniforms last
year cause the legion wanted to have enough money for balls and
bats to play with . So I would like to see more like in Mercer to
see more of the business especially in small towns like here in
Mercer, for the businesses to chip in and donate so much money to
keep the team on the field and to help pay for insurance, cause you
have to have insurance in all this before you can let the players
play you have to have insurance.