Diamonds in the Coalfields: 21 Remarkable Baseball Players, Managers, and Umpires from Northeast Pennsylvania Review

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(More customer reviews)"Diamonds in the Coalfields" is a documentary of life in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. William Kashatus has done an excellent job of organizing the history of the mining communities, from a perspective of how baseball affected everyone's lives in those happy, glorious years. You can get an estimate of his effort by looking at his detailed reference notes and bibliography at the back of the book. He has devoted a huge amount of time in research and interviews in the writing of this book.
The accuracy of his descriptions is uncanny, for a person who did not "live it", except vicariously, through the eyes of others. My father pitched for the Glen Lyon Condors, in the 1920's. I lived through the era of Zig Najaka, Stan Pawloski, and Bob Duliba, at Newport Twp. High School. This is a personalized view of early baseball history, a meaningful picture for all baseball fans. My complments to William Kashatus for giving us such an accurate picture of those happy times in our lives. He has done a great job of documentation with an entertaining accent to this portrayal of life in the coal towns. I am purchasing additional books for my uncle, brother-in-law, and three sons, who also share an interest in the nostalgia for sports in the Wyoming Valley. (Pennsylvnia)

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Between 1876 and 1960, nearly 100 northeastern Pennsylvanians played, managed, coached or umpired in the major leagues. Many were the sons of immigrant coal miners and living and working conditions in America were quite different from what they had been used to. Baseball became an important part of the assimilation process and it thrived as a church-sponsored form of recreation and entertainment for the coal miners and their families.This work explores the childhood, and minor and major league experiences of Christy Mathewson, Stan Coveleski, Stanley "Bucky" Harris, Hughie Jennings, Ed Walsh, Nestor Chylak, Joe Bolinsky, Jake Daubert, John "Buck" Freeman, Mike Gazella, Pete Wyshner, John Edward Murphy, Steve O'Neill, John Picus, Joe "Lefty" Shaute, Steve Bilko, Harry Dorish, Bob Duliba, Joe "Professor" Ostrowski, and Stan Pawloski—21 players, managers, and umpires who exemplify the great talent, dedication, humility, and hardship that many northeastern Pennsylvanians experienced.