Kolar played in Pirates, Orioles systems
Fayette County baseball has a rich and storied history. Masontown’s John Kolar is a player who honed his skills on the sandlots of Fayette County and made it to the Minor Leagues.
“We didn’t have high school baseball at Masontown,” Kolar said. “I played two years with Masontown in the County League. I was 15 when I played there. I got to play one year with Pals Club in the Big Ten, the last year it existed.”
Baseball was the only sport that Kolar played, he graduated from Masontown High School in 1954.
“I started in the County League and the Big Ten was operating at the same time,” Kolar recalled. “The County League had two sections with 12 teams in each section. The County League was like a stepping stone to the Big Ten. The County League was a good brand of ball. It seemed like every town that had a coal mine like Lambert, Edenborn or Leckrone, they all had fairly decent teams and it was a pretty good brand of baseball.”
Kolar was a wiry 5-10, 165-pound shortstop.
“I remember when I was a kid 7 or 8 years old, my neighbors all played in the Big Ten and they would take me to the games and I was pleased to go with them,” Kolar stated. “That’s all I lived for was to play. They let me shag fly balls in the outfield before the game and I can remember that growing up.
“I played with some outstanding players on Pals Club, guys like Emil Jesso, Frank Kish, Bill Marovic and Mel Galich. Lou Jesso was instrumental in promoting it. We played the House of David and the Homestead Grays, as a matter of fact we beat the Homestead Grays in the 1955 All-Star game.
Kolar developed into an outstanding shortstop and scouts started to take notice.
“I was with Pals Club and Buck Grover’s dad was a bird dog for the Pirates,” Kolar said. “He had followed me and he sent my name into the Pirates and they sent me letters to come down for a tryout at Forbes Field. I went down one day, Pie Traynor and George Sisler were conducting the tryout. They hit me fungos for about a half hour at shortstop. Traynor comes into the locker room and he says, ‘Can you come back tomorrow? Sisler thought you were lucky today.’ I came back and they gave me a good workout. Traynor came into the locker room and said I would be hearing from them.
“A month later, they sent me another letter for another tryout. When I got done with that, Traynor had a contract for me up in the office. I was 19 years old when I signed.”
He reported to the Pirates’ Brunswick, Ga., minor league training base and was assigned the the Pirates’ Class D affiliate Dublin in the Georgia State League. Kolar played in 40 games and batted .194 with one home run and two doubles.
“It was all new to me,” Kolar offered. “When we played, the manager played. That was Bobby Clark. I slid into home plate the first game of the year and I hurt my leg. I played third base because the manager played shortstop. I was limping on a bad leg and still playing and they released me. Guys were coming and going, when the colleges started to let out, two guys would come in and two would go. It was such a rapid turnover.”
Kolar returned home and the Pirates wanted to keep him.
“When I came home, Sisler asked me what I was doing home,” Kolar explained. “I told him I was released by Clark. Sisler said, ‘He had orders not to because we knew you were hurt.’ But that’s what happened. A Baltimore scout wanted to see me play, so I went to the Beaver County League in Aliquippa and worked out. I got a job with J&L Steel and played there during the latter stages of the baseball season.”
Kolar was signed by George Mucci of Washington, Pa., the Orioles’ scout in Western Pennsylvania. Bob Nichols, the Fayette County product, who at one time played in the Baltimore chain, worked with Kolar before he was signed. He was assigned to the Fitzgerald (Ga.) Orioles of the Class D Georgia-Florida League.
“I played for Earl Weaver who was the player-manager,” Kolar stated. “Almost every manager played. I was playing real well at shortstop, I was hitting pretty high until July when I cracked my left shoulder in batting practice. Right before July 20th, Weaver told me he was going to send me to Double A Knoxville, but when I hurt the shoulder I couldn’t swing the bat properly, but I could field and throw. He couldn’t send me up. I finished the season there.”
Kolar batted .251 with two home runs, six triples and 23 doubles.
“When I came home I was done playing, I never went back,” Kolar said. “It was their decision, I just never heard from them. I guess they thought I had a permanent shoulder injury. It was very disappointing to have it end like that.”
Kolar was in the Army for 18 months, then worked in Chicago for a year and played out there. He returned to Uniontown and worked for Ward Baking Company and then Stroehmann Brothers bakery. He retired in 1986.
Kolar, 77, resides in Uniontown with his wife of 53 years, Carole. They had four children, three boys and a girl.
He played in the old Coolspring Softball League. Kolar was inducted into the Big Ten-Fayette County Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.