Michael Sauers
February 21, 2025
Modern life is very hectic and so very different from my beginnings. I’m 74 now. From 1950 until 1963 life mostly took place in McAdoo and the Southside. Just a small borough/area nestled in Pennsylvania’s Anthracite coal country, it was the center of the universe.
Land lines, American cars, ethnic diversity, working class, many churches, local schools, no technology, local politics, small grocery stores, pool halls, gambling, etc.. Of course there was sports. Baseball, Football, Basketball and Sally Grenauge.
From 1960 until 1964 I played sports for the Saint Patrick’s Shamrocks/Shillelaghs depending on a coaches preference. The loosely organized football league consisted of five teams; St. Patricks, St. Kunegunda, Kelayres, Tresckow and Grant Street. No helmets, no shoulder pads and no significant rules made for lively rough and tumble games. Mostly, we ran the ball and ground out yardage. I don’t remember ever losing a game. This league was strictly for bragging rights and we did brag.
Baseball was a two year stint in Little League. The teams were sponsored by McAdoo Bank, Fire Company, Lions Club, McAdoo Manufacturing and Veterans of Foreign Wars. I played for McAdoo Bank. My first year was a disaster filled with many humbling lessons. Year two was a great success. I was unbeaten as a pitcher. We won the league championship. I pitched the All-Star Game. I played with the Bogash boys. The coaches were pretty tough on us as they demanded we have “Moxie”.
Basketball was a part of a Catholic Youth Organization League. Seven, sometimes eight teams in a wildly competitive league with players ranging from fourth to eighth grades. I learned and practiced. By my eighth grade year we compiled a 16 wins-2 loses record but still managed to let the league crown slip through our hands. It was very disappointing. I earned the league MVP award and I still have the trophy. That may sound silly but, let me tell you, I had to work my butt off to earn it. As kids we all witnessed some nasty adult, ethnic misbehavior.
The greatest and most fun sport was Sally Grenauge, Buck Buck or Johnny Pony. We had a loosely knit league. One team consisting of five or six players would form a horse with a team captain against a wall. The other team, also with five or six players, would catapult themselves up onto the backs of the horse. The goal was to make the horse collapse. If it did you got another turn. If they held they got a chance to guess a number shown by the catapulting team. “Buck Buck, how many fingers do I have up?” (0-5) was the call. If they guessed the number the teams would switch. If not the horse stayed down. I loved this sport.
I learned a lot about people and organized sports through the above. Some good and some bad but all useful.