When you talk to old-timers who remember the Delco Baseball League of the late 1960s and early 1970s, they use words like “golden age” to describe the outstanding competition that the great teams of that era offered season after season.
The Eureka Red Sox from Chester have always had a strong lineup. Phil Damiani’s Media Bombers sent one of their best pitchers, Springfield High graduate Bob Gibson, to the major leagues.
Broomall/Oregon Sporting Goods, Olympic Sporting Goods and Tony Juliano’s Nate Ben’s Reliable have always fielded competitive teams.
For many seasons, it seemed as if the playoff championship trophy was either in the hands of Lou Soscia’s Tinicum AC teams or in the hands of Marple Newtown, coached by the man whose name now adorns that award, Charlie Kress.
The list of All-Star players from that era is endless. If you ask the old hands who was one of the best hitters of that time, the first name that comes up is Dave Wilson.
Wilson, a graduate of Upper Darby High, still talks fondly about the interception he made while covering Haverford’s Randy Grossman in a Thanksgiving Day football game. After attending Temple University, Grossman won four Super Bowl rings as a tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wilson was a three-time baseball captain at East Stroudsburg University. At the urging of his college teammate Lee Hunter, he began his career in the Delco League with the Broomall franchise. In 1973, he won the league’s triple crown and was named the Most Valuable Player award winner.
Two years after signing with Broomall – “it was 1974, 50 years ago this season,” Wilson said – he joined the Marple Newtown team that included stars such as Lee Speca, Mike Carlin, Ed Martini and Chickie Chiumento.
The team played its games on the Marple Newtown Junior High field. If you walked down the left field free throw line to the sidewalk on West Chester Pike and crossed the street to the other side, you would be in front of Charlotte’s Restaurant.
Those who were there still remember the day when Wilson hit a tremendous shot over the left outfield fence, which flew through the air, crossed the West Chester Pike and landed at Charlotte’s Restaurant.
“We had some great times in the Delco League,” Wilson said. “It seemed like it was always us and Tinicum, and we didn’t like each other.”
Over the years, Wilson developed a disproportionate number of health problems. He had 26 metal parts implanted in his body, including both shoulders, both knees, and his left hip. He also had a fusion plate inserted in his back. Both feet had to be amputated.
Still, he continues to play in baseball leagues for over-65s and over-70s. Last winter, he experienced one of the things at the top of his bucket list: participating in Phillies Dream Week.
At 71, he was the oldest participant in Dream Week. They called him “The Bionic Boomer.” His trainers were Juan Samuel and Mariano Duncan.
“Great guys,” Wilson said. “We had a lot of fun with them and guys like Aaron Rowand and Randy Wolfe. I was so excited to sign a Phillies contract to play there for those five days.”
“I hit the ball well all week, and then on the last day in the big stadium, I got caught in a pitch from Wolfe and the ball rolled all the way to the wall. What motivated me was to show that I could still do it when people were telling me to go to Dream Week. That was really special.”
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Former Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright and Hall of Fame professional football writer Ray Didinger will be among 12 people inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame at the association’s 2024 awards dinner. The dinner, hosted by the Delco Chapter of the PA Sports Hall of Fame, will be held Nov. 2 at the Drexelbrook Events Center in Drexel Hill.
Wright’s Villanova teams reached the NCAA Division I Final Four four times, winning the championship in 2016 and 2018. He won the John Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in 2018 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Didinger, a graduate of St. James High in Chester and Temple University, began his writing career in 1968 at the Delaware County Daily Times, then based in Chester.
He covered the Eagles for 25 years for the Philadelphia Bulletin and the Philadelphia Daily News and was named Pennsylvania Sports Writer of the Year five times. In 1995, his name was inducted into the Writers Honor Roll of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Also inducted into the Pa. Sports Hall of Fame are baseball players Mike Mussina and Jacob Daubert (deceased), golfer Carol Semple Thompson, football players Andre Reed, Bo Orlando, Mike Guman and Jim Braxton (deceased), basketball players David Popson and Bruce Parkhill and Paralympian Stephanie Jallen.
For more information, visit the Delco Chapter website at pasportshofdelco.com.
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Belated congratulations and best wishes to former colleagues Terry Toohey and Bob Grotz on their retirement from the Daily Times sports department.
Both spent more than 40 years in the profession, with Terry notable for his coverage of high school sports and athletics at Villanova University, as well as his work with the Daily Times Champs ‘n’ Charity softball tournament, which raised significant funds for cancer.
He was also a master at making the scoreboard pages of daily newspapers attractive and was one of the best when it came to compiling schedules of local events.
Even in retirement, he found time to attend the Delco Athletes Hall of Fame awards dinner in the spring and write a column about some of the inductees.
Grotz covered the Sixers before accepting the challenge of becoming the paper’s sports reporter for the Eagles. He also participated in covering local sports, including the state wrestling tournaments.
He sometimes tested the patience of the sports editors when they had to complete his stories before deadlines, but they all agreed that what he wrote was AGS – All Good Stuff!
We hope the two have many happy days where they don’t have to worry about story deadlines or internet problems.
