Slovaks and baseball
Stewart O. Seman
Dbut...@aol.com wrote:
>
> When my Grandfather Madiar was not working in the mines during the summer
> months one of his favorite passtimes was to coach a baseball team in Central
> Illinois. I hear that baseball was a popular form of entertainment which many
> Slovaks and other ethnic groups enjoyed. Does anyone else have some person in
> their ancestry who might have played on a team or coached?
My uncle, Cyril Wadzita, had the following to add to the discussion of
Slovaks and baseball. Unfortunately he isn't on line, and doesn't own a
computer yet.
A number of members of Austro-Hungarian families, primarily Slovak,
participated in hometown baseball and did very well for themselves as
professional or semi-professional baseball players. For many the
objective was to become a good athlete and escape the coal mines.
A sampling from South Central Illinois include: Andy Bednar Pittsburgh
Pirates, Frank Biscan St Louis Browns, Paul Chervinko Brooklyn Dodgers.
Mike Cvengros Pittsburgh Pirates, Jess Dobernic Chicago Cubs/White Sox,
Al Papai St Louis Cardinals. Minor leaguers included: George Chervinko.
Al Hanisko. Albert "Birdie" Havera, Johnny Poliak, Matt "Lefty" Stimac,
George Vavrek, Mike Wadzita, Paul Obregar.
Of course Central Illinois wasn't the only place to produce baseball
players of Slovak heritage. Elmer Valo born in Rybnik, Czechoslovakia,
played in the major leagues for 20 years for ten teams, but most notably
with the Philadelphia Athletics (1940-1954). Andy Seminick, a great
catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds, 1943-1957.
Andy was a West Virginia coal miner as a boy and an outstanding Slovak.
Stu Seman
sse...@mcs.net
Rich Custer
>with the Philadelphia Athletics (1940-1954). Andy Seminick, a great
>catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds, 1943-1957.
>Andy was a West Virginia coal miner as a boy and an outstanding Slovak.
>
>Stu Seman
>sse...@mcs.net
Boy Stu, it doesn't take much to become an "outstanding Slovak" --
Andy Seminick's father was a Rusyn from Z~egestiv (Zegiestow) in Nowy Sacz
County, Galicia (now southeast Poland) and his mother was a Rusyn from
Kalyniv, Zemplin County. Andy himself considered himself Russian and he
was Russian Orthodox to boot.
I guess I myself could be in the running for outstanding Slovaks, huh?
Rich Custer
Stewart O. Seman
Rich Custer wrote:
>
> Boy Stu, it doesn't take much to become an "outstanding Slovak" --
>
> Andy Seminick's father was a Rusyn from Z~egestiv (Zegiestow) in Nowy Sacz
> County, Galicia (now southeast Poland) and his mother was a Rusyn from
> Kalyniv, Zemplin County. Andy himself considered himself Russian and he
> was Russian Orthodox to boot.
>
> I guess I myself could be in the running for outstanding Slovaks, huh?
>
> Rich Custer
Oops! I should have said "an outstanding person whose maternal
ancestors were from the area now known as Slovakia."
Thanks for the correction Rich. The quote was my uncle's, but I knew
that the sharp-eyed Slovak-World readers would correct me if any details
were inaccurate. Even though my uncle is 100 percent Rusyn I can't
expect him to know everything about every person of Rusyn lineage.
Shame on you too for not also correcting me when I listed Mike "Lefty"
Wadzita and Cyril Wadzita in my earlier post on "Slovaks and baseball."
Both are Rusyn although Mike considered himself Slovak--he didn't have
access to the Carpatho-Rusyn American and other sources of information
on our heritage. Mike's dad, Michael Vadzita, --a Rusyn-- was a coal
miner in Coalton, Illinois having come to this country from Valaskovce,
Zemplin County, Austria-Hungary. His mother, Maria Dankovcik, also a
Rusyn, came from Kusin, Ung County, Austria-Hungary.
At this point I would like to wish Rich and all of the Slovak-World
readers a blessed Christmas.
Stu Seman
sse...@mcs.net
Rich Custer
Stu Seman wrote:
>Thanks for the correction Rich. The quote was my uncle's, but I knew
>that the sharp-eyed Slovak-World readers would correct me if any details
>were inaccurate. Even though my uncle is 100 percent Rusyn I can't
>expect him to know everything about every person of Rusyn lineage.
>
>Shame on you too for not also correcting me when I listed Mike "Lefty"
>Wadzita and Cyril Wadzita in my earlier post on "Slovaks and baseball."
>Both are Rusyn although Mike considered himself Slovak--he didn't have
>access to the Carpatho-Rusyn American and other sources of information
>on our heritage. Mike's dad, Michael Vadzita, --a Rusyn-- was a coal
>miner in Coalton, Illinois having come to this country from Valaskovce,
>Zemplin County, Austria-Hungary. His mother, Maria Dankovcik, also a
>Rusyn, came from Kusin, Ung County, Austria-Hungary.
Well, there are certain villages where it seems that even though the people
speak Rusyn, their descendants typically consider themselves Slovak,
Valas~kovce being one of them. And since it was your own family, I won't
quibble.
>At this point I would like to wish Rich and all of the Slovak-World
>readers a blessed Christmas.
Much thanks Stu, and I'll second the wishes of blessed Christmas -- Vesele
Vianoce! -- and pass it around to fellow Slovak-Worlders.
Rich Custer