Jun 11, 2026 By Rob Burchianti 7 min read

Masontown native John Kolar may have been one of the great high school baseball players in Fayette County history.

He never had the chance to find that out, though. Masontown High School at that time didn’t have a baseball team.

Even so, Kolar managed to make his mark in Fayette County in the sport he loved.

An outstanding player in the local Big Ten league as well as in the Fayette County Baseball League, Kolar played minor league baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles.

Kolar was good enough to be inducted into the Big Ten-Fayette County Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

He’ll join another Hall of Fame on June 19.

Kolar, who died in 2020 at the age of 83, is part of the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026. His son, Chris, discussed his father’s impending induction on Hall of Fame co-founder George Von Benko’s Sports Line Talk Show on WMBS Radio recently.

“It was a great honor to hear that he’s to be inducted,” Chris said. “I know if my dad were here he’d be so appreciative.”

Chris pointed out his father was playing organized baseball as a young teenager in highly competitive leagues.

“At 13 he was the starting shortstop for the Legion team,” Chris said.

Kolar played in the Fayette County Baseball League for two years and, at the age of 15, played shortstop for Pal’s Club in the Big Ten in the final year of that league’s existence. Pal’s Club was talented enough to defeat the Homestead Grays in an All-Star game.

“So much talent back then, and a lot of those guys played pro ball but a lot of them were making more money working in coal mines I believe from what I’ve been told,” Chris said.

Kolar graduated from Masontown in 1954. Although he wasn’t big in stature at 5-10, 165 pounds, he drew interest from major league teams and was 19 years old when he was signed into the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Pie Traynor and George Sisler were at the tryout.

“If you had a tryout it was by invitation,” Chris said. “That’s what happened. He went to try out at Forbes Field. Actually he and (Bill) Mazeroski graduated the same year and Maz played one year of minor league ball ahead of my dad.”

Chris pointed out that Traynor had told his dad they moved Mazeroski, who was a shortstop at the time, to second base to make room for Kolar to play short.

“Dick Grote was playing in ’52 but Dick Grote left the next year to play in the NBA and then he enlisted in the military because he thought inevitably he was going to get drafted during the Korean War which was going on at that time, so ’53, ’54 he wasn’t around,” Chris explained.

Neither Traynor nor Sisler were certain Grote was going to play baseball upon his return.

“So they’re grooming my dad to play,” Chris said.

Tragedy struck Kolar, however.

“First game of the year of the minor leagues with the Pirates he slid into home plate and he busted up his leg so badly he only got to play 40 games that year,” Chris said.

Kolar batted just .194 with one home run and two doubles playing for Class D Dublin of the Georgia State League in 1956.

“That’s why his stats were so low,” Chris said. “He hobbled around. Then they ended up releasing him. Sisler called him and said what are you doing home, they had orders not to release you but the manager (Bobby Clark) released him. The next year he was fortunate enough to get picked up by Baltimore.”

Fayette County native Bob Nichols was a scout for Baltimore and had Kolar do a workout. Baltimore signed him. Kolar was sent to Class D Fitzgerald of the Georgia-Florida League in 1957 and batted .251 with 23 doubles, six triples and two home runs while playing under then player/manager Earl Weaver.

“He told me about mid-season he was batting about .270 or higher, he cracked his shoulder in batting practice,” Chris said.

Weaver was set to send Kolar up to Class AA Knoxville but, due to the injury, decided to keep him at Fitzgerald.

“He said he couldn’t swing the bat properly,” Chris said of his dad. “His average declined, but he could still field and throw, so that’s why they kept him on because he was a great defensive help to the team. But after the season was over they thought he had an injury that was going to plague him forever and he was never called back.”

Done with professional baseball, Kolar spent 18 months in the Army and worked in Chicago for one year before returning to Uniontown.

“I remember the great Bobby Locke, he played nine years minor league and nine years major league and he played a lot with my dad,” Chris said.

Locke also is a member of the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame.

“Back then they came right from high school,” Chris said. “When Bobby Locke was done playing he drove a truck for Frito-Lay. My dad when he was done drove a truck for Stroehmann bakery for 30-some years. They didn’t have educations but they started to have families and responsibilities. Great father.”

Kolar continued to play the game he loved.

“He played baseball as long as he could and then softball,” Chris said. “I was 6-years old so I only saw him play maybe five, six years. I think he quit when he was 37 in the old Coolspring League. Phenomenal talent. I’d love to go in there as a kid. I still run into the guys that are still around, what great talent came out of that area.”

Kolar, who went on to become an avid golfer and retired in 1986, had no ill will about his time spent in the minor leagues.

“He was never bitter about it,” Chris said. “He was such a humble man and very soft spoken. I never heard anyone say a bad word about him. He was just an easy-going guy. But what a fierce competitor when he got on the field. I heard stories, nicest guy off the field you ever met but on the field he was there to compete.”

Chris recalled his dad’s induction into the Big Ten-Fayette County Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

“It’s ironic, Ron Fudala, who’s also being inducted in this year’s class, was inducted that same year with my dad into that baseball hall of fame,” Chris pointed out. “Here they are getting inducted again into the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame. That was a great time. He enjoyed that so much, got to see some of the guys he played with years before and hadn’t seen in years.

“A lot of fun. He was a good person.”

Kolar will be well represented at the Hall of Fame induction.

“I have a brother coming in from Wake Forest, North Carolina, and I have a sister who lives in Pittsburgh and a brother in Morgantown, a couple of nephews,” Chris said. “So we’re going to try to have a good showing for him.”

Tickets are sold out for the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame luncheon/social and the annual golf outing, which will take place on June 19 at Pleasant Valley Golf Club.