Apr 25, 2016 By George Von Benko for The Hearld-Standard 5 min read

Bill Whiteko is another in a long line of outstanding baseball players to come out of the Brownsville area.

Whiteko, who is recovering from a stroke he suffered a year and a half ago, was able to conduct the interview with the help of his wife Chris.

Whiteko was a standout shortstop for Charlie Slick at Brownsville High School for four seasons. The Brownies struggled early on in Whiteko’s high school career, only winning two games in 1950 when the team tied Monessen for last place in Section 19.

Things turned around in 1951 as the Brownies battled for the Section 19 title with Monongahela, and it came down to the last game of the season. Manny Gayhart tossed a two-hitter to deny the Brownies the section crown. In Whiteko’s senior campaign in 1952, the team fell short again despite his great season, batting .485.

Brownsville — which had not captured a section title since 1941 — ended that drought a year later in 1953.

“We were competitive,” Whiteko recalled. “Charlie Slick was the coach and he was a character, but he knew the game and did a good job with us. I had a great relationship with Coach Slick.”

Basketball was another sport that Whiteko played at Brownsville. He lettered four years for the Brownies.

While toiling in the minor leagues he said this about basketball.

“I prefer baseball to basketball, that’s for sure,” he said.

Whiteko also was a part of the outstanding California American Legion baseball squad. He played in Pennsylvania American Legion All-Star East-West game in 1951 and the annual Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph All-Star Game at West Field in Munhall.

“We won the two straight Mon Valley Section Championships,” Whiteko stated. “We beat Washington to win the 25th district championship. We then lost to Mt. Pleasant in the American Legion tournament.”

Five players from the 1952 California team in the Mon Valley section of the Washington County Junior Legion League signed minor league contracts: Ron Forsythe, Wayne Campbell, Don LeJohn, Larry Papini and Whiteko.

Whiteko was also a standout for LaBelle in the Pigeon Creek-Wagner League.

At the age of 18 Whiteko was signed to a contract by the Philadelphia Phillies.

“A scout named Jocko Collins found me,” Whiteko said. “He saw me playing with Brownsville and came to several games. Cleveland scouted me as well, but my parents had already promised Collins that I would sign with the Phillies. I signed with the Phillies for $500.”

Whiteko started his minor league career playing for Pulaski in the Class D Appalachian League. He batted .304 in 127 games. During the 1954 season Whiteko was switched to second base from shortstop.

In 1954 he batted .343 in 73 games at Pulaski and in 11 games at Class C Trois-Rivioeres he hit .211.

Whiteko started the 1955 season with Class D Mattoon in the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League, batting .291 in 104 games. At one point Whiteko had a 19 game hitting streak. The Phillies moved him up to Class C Salt Lake City in the Pioneer League, and in 22 games he batted .261.

He was back at Mattoon in 1956 and in 34 games he hit .299. Whiteko suffered a broken ankle in a game in June that ended his season.

Whiteko like most players during his era had an off season job to make ends meet. He worked for the New York Central railroad near Brownsville as a clerk in transportation at the local office.

In 1957 Whiteko played for two Class B teams. He started with the High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms of the Carolina League. When the Hi-Toms got veteran Billy Ford back Whiteko was released despite batting .294 at the time. New York Giants farm team Danville of the Carolina League signed him and he finished the season batting .252.

Whiteko was with Danville in 1958 and hit .266 in 90 games. It was there that Whiteko reached a crossroads: continue playing minor league baseball or give up the dream?

“I liked playing minor league ball,” Whiteko said. “I was an Appalachian League All Star, I thought I would make the major leagues, I played with Dallas Green and Art Mahaffey and some other guys that made it. I just thought I don’t want to be a baseball bum.”

Whiteko became an accountant with Davis-Fetch Corp. and then got into sales with different contractors. He retired in 1996.

He continued to play baseball after coming back to Western Pennsylvania and was a key cog on some great Charleroi Merchants teams in the old Mon Valley League.

Whiteko, 82, resides in the Belle Vernon area with Chris his wife of 60 years. They have two sons Jeff and Joel.

Until the stroke Whiteko suffered a year and a half ago, he was an avid golfer at Nemacolin Country Club.

George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Monday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.