Best in the Valley? Here they are

Don Bostrom

July 24, 2008

Q: Who are the best baseball players, position by position, who played in the Lehigh Valley over the past 30-40 years?

Tim Transue

A: I was covering the Phillies during that time frame, so I decided to turn this one over to former colleague Ted Meixell, who had the unique distinction of playing, reporting, coaching and umpiring games that featured the area's elite since 1965. I'm happy to note '' Teddy Ballgame'' is still cracking line drives and mirroring Bill Mazeroski with his second base play in a senior league in Florida.

Ted also leaned on the expertise of Blue Mountain League Hall of Famers Bob Zerfass, George Cobb and Punkin Miller for their input. His list is broken into three sets: (1) guys who made the big leagues; (2) guys who played some minor league ball; (3) amateurs. Ted listed only players from the immediate Lehigh Valley area that he saw personally since 1965 and offers apologies for anyone he may have overlooked in his area ''Dream Team.''

MAJOR LEAGUERS

RHP -- Best: Craig Anderson ( Mets, Cards, BML Hall of Famer).

LHP -- Best: Gary Lavelle (Giants, Blue Jays, Liberty High). Others: Dennis Kinney (Padres, BML and Tri-County League Hall of Famer), Jeff Mutis (Indians, Central Catholic, Lafayette).

C -- Best: Brian Schneider (Expos/Nationals, Mets, Northampton High).

2B -- Best: Pat Kelly (Yankees, Catasauqua High).

OF -- Best: Dave Schneck (Mets, Phillies, Whitehall High).

Two asides: Schneck and Lavelle went head-to-head on the mound when Liberty and Whitehall met for the District 11 crown. Also, after not playing baseball for 30 years, Schneck came out of retirement at age 50 to play one season as a teammate with his son, Corey, for the ICC Pirates in TriCo. He did hit a few dingers.

MINOR LEAGUERS

RHP -- Best: Jim Oplinger (Northampton High, BML Hall of Famer). Others: Mike Anderson (Rangers, Saucon Valley High, Craig Anderson's son), Dan Waelchli (Dieruff High, longtime area coach), Mitch Lukeivics ( White Sox, Liberty High, Penn State, currently high-ranking exec in Tampa Bay Rays' minor league operation), Ted Damiter (BML's all-time wins leader), Dean Lakatosh, Roy North.

LHP -- Best: Norm Koch (Dodgers, Liberty High). Note: According to Danny Ozark, then his manager, Koch was the ace of a Dodgers Triple-A staff that included future major leaguers Pete Richert and Joe Moeller. Ozark told me when he was managing the Phils and I was covering them for The Morning Call that had he not suffered a career-ending arm injury, Koch would have been the best of that bunch. Others: George ''Hooks'' Horwath (Phillies), Jim Miller, Dick James.

C -- Best: Blake Barthol (CCHS, reached Triple-A). Others: Horatio ''Ishky'' Fatzinger (Tigers, BML, TriCo Hall of Famer), Johnny King, Gene Sostarecz ( Red Sox), Matt McBride (current Indians, Liberty High), Anthony Recker (current A's, Catasauqua High), Denton Lakatosh.

1B -- Best: Nate King (Twins). Others: Earl Dreisbach (longtime BML manager, BML Hall of Famer), Tom Kostolsky (Dieruff High), Randy Seltzer (Parkland High).

2B -- Best: Tom Morgan (Phillies, Lafayette College, BML Hall).

SS -- Best: Greg Vogel (Reds, Northampton High, Penn State). Others: George Cobb (Easton, BML Hall), John Cole (Southern Lehigh).

OF -- Best: Andy Donatelli (Phillies, Freedom High, Uiversity of Delaware). Others: Al Jones (Easton), Paul Pavelko (Tigers, Liberty High).

AMATEURS

RHP -- Bob Zerfass (Liberty High, Moravian). An aside: ''Zerf,'' who played in BML into his 60s and hit home runs in that league in five decades and still manages Hellertown, was the best player Ted ever played with or against who did not receive a pro offer. A scouting travesty. Others: Jeff LaPorta (Saucon Valley High, La Salle, approaching Damiter's BML win record), Jim Murtaugh (Catasauqua High, Moravian), Troy Heffelfinger.

LHP -- Bryan Kostishion (Easton, Oklahoma State).

C -- Best: Bob Fatzinger. Others: Matt Merkle (Northern Lehigh High), Pete Radocha (Allen High).

1B -- Best: Ted Long (BML Hall). Others: Mike Stockley, Tom Stoudt Jr. (Dieruff High, Lafayette), Ted DeLong (Freedom High, Rider).

3B -- Best: Danny Santiago (BML, TriCo). Others: Mike Deschler (Freedom, Lehigh, BML Hall), Chris Mihalik (BML Hall).

SS -- Best: George Pitsilos (Liberty, Moravian, BML Hall). Others: Rick Cacciatore (Bethlehem Catholic), Mike Mihalik (BML Hall), Mike Freundel (Freedom, Rider).

OF -- Best: Dave Hemerly (BML Hall). Others: Jay Johnson (Freedom, Millersville), Fred Tomasko (Northwestern, sure to enter BML Hall), Mike Zuk (Iowa State), Tim Fisher (Liberty, BML Hall), Bill Sakovics (BML Hall).

donald.bostrom@mcall.com

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