The Ellwood City Area Historical Society hosted a lively ceremony to dedicate the new Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission roadside marker on Woodside Avenue (State Route 65) honoring Ellwood City-born Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Lewis Robert “Hack” Wilson on Friday August 25, 2023 at the Lincoln High School Baseball Field in Ewing Park.
The celebration began with the “Play Ball” call given by Master-of-Ceremonies Bob Morabito after the National Anthem was played by the Lincoln High School Blue Band directed by Mr. Lee Caldwell.
Special guests attending the ceremony were recognized: Lawrence County Commissioners Brian Burick, Loretta Spielvogel, and Dan Vogler, Pittsburgh Pirate Historian Jim Trdinich, Chicago Cubs representative Jason Carr, Heinz History Center Program Manager Robert Stakeley, and Lawrence County Historical Society President Andrew Hendley.
source: https://twitter.com/FaberCollegeMBA
Mayor Anthony Court, a former baseball star with the Wolverines in the mid-seventies, welcomed the approximately 100 guests to Ellwood. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commissioners, State Representative Parke Wentling and Dr. Andy Masich from the Heinz History Center, spoke on the importance of the Marker program in the state as a tool for recognizing our history and how appropriate it was that this marker was placed to honor the record-breaking power hitter Hack Wilson.
Morabito then introduced the featured speaker from the Society of Baseball Research, Chicago Attorney John Racanelli, who is a leading expert and writer on Hack Wilson’s baseball career. Racanelli fascinated the crowd with his detailed accounts of Wilson’s antics as a hard-hitting, hard-drinking, and pugnacious professional athlete.
After a rousing rendition of “Take Me Out To the Ball Game” by the attendees and the Blue Band, current Ellwood City Baseball player Lucas Bleakney unveiled the marker to everyone’s delight.
Morabito then brought in the “closer,” Ellwood City Area Historical Society Past-President Everett Bleakney who outlined the Society’s next event at the Connoquenessing Country Club on September 11, 2023, a dinner honoring Ellwood City’s rich baseball history. He then thanked all who attended. The festivities concluded with many guests taking pictures standing near the marker that is now available for public viewing.
Chapter member @phitter72 was the keynote speaker at Friday’s dedication of the Hack Wilson historical marker in Elwood City, PA. pic.twitter.com/axHsV6CjH0
— SABRChicago (@SABRChicago) August 26, 2023
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