Ron Necciai (L) & Ken Barbao
Two Mon Valley Guys
Donora Historical Society, 2014
Marc Pawelec is a contributing writer here to both the ongoing story of Ron Necciai and the Donora (PA) Historical Society. As you readers probably recognize, Donora, PA is the birthplace of Stan Musial, Ken Griffey, Sr. and Ken Griffey, Jr. the famous hard ball heart country that beats with the stories of baseball players who have hailed from Pennsylvania’s Monongahela Valley for as long as these place have existed over time. The passion for the game in that area of the country remains high in 2014, as it was in the regal days of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers and their “Steel Curtain” brand of baseball fan distraction. In The Valley today, it is our understanding that fans are just as likely, if not more so, to recall and ruminate over the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates “We Are Familee” club – or even more so the image of a long fly ball to left at Forbes Field off the bat of one Bill Mazeroski – or even the Pirates of yore that came marked for Mo Valley memory as “Big” and “Little” Poisons.
Pawelec notes that Ron Neccia followed his 27k no-hitter for Bristol on 5/13/52 with another incredible outing in his very next start. Here he comments briefly on what Ron Necciai next did – and then he offers much more on the heartbeat of baseball in Donora and the Monongahela Valley.
Thanks for writing, Marc! ~ The Pecan Park Eagle.
And our apologies to the readers that most of Marc’s references to people in the background photos will be impossible to see in the small size of the largest photo copy that we can produce here.
Neccia’s Next Game Also Awesome
By Marc Pawelec
As The Pecan Park Eagle described his performance yesterday, Ron Necciai’s 27ks in a nine-inning no-hitter game for the the Bristol (TN) Twins on May 13, 1952 was quite awesome. While striking out 27 batters is very impressive, what’s equally impressive in my opinion is that he followed that up with 24 K’s in his next start. 51 K’s in back-to-back starts is nothing short of awesome, even if it did happen to a young man pitching at the time in a Class D baseball league.
Please check out the two men in the photo at the top of this article page.
In June, 2014, Gallatin (PA) native and local baseball legend Ron Necciai (left), along with Donora native and accomplished baseball player in his own rite – Ken Barbao (right), stopped by the (Donora Historical Society) Smog Museum to share their experiences of growing up in the Mon Valley and playing professional baseball. Necciai is best remembered for the unique feat of striking out 27 batters in a nine-inning game which he accomplished in the Class-D Appalachian League on May 13, 1952 while pitching a no-hitter. He is the only pitcher to do so in a nine-inning professional-league game. The baseball used in that game is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Necciai also played for the hometown Pittsburgh Pirates in 1952. Barbao and Necciai started in the minor leagues together and once pitched and won games in the same doubleheader. Barbao also once roomed in the minors with a young future Pirate Bill Mazeroski, and his father, Joe Barbao (seen in some of the Dreisbach photos to the far right), was an early baseball mentor to Stan Musial.
In the framed panoramic picture in the above picture features Donora’s first baseball who played for the Brooklyn Superbas – Bob Coulson, The photo is from 1912 and is opening day against the Boston Braves. Below that picture is memorabilia of the Griffey’s – Ken Sr. and Ken Jr.
What’s interesting about Joe Barbao is that he immigrated from Spain with his family and then became a good baseball player. Spaniards immigrated to Donora because they were experts in the zinc process used at the local mill. Joe was good enough to teach a young Stan Musial about the game.
The Donora Historical Society, along with Donora native and writer Wayne Stewart, will be presenting Stan “The Man” Musial at the Heinz History Center on June 13, 2015 as part of their Saturday speaker series.
For more information on the Donora Historical Society, the Smog Museum, and how it got its name, please check out the group’s website:
https://www.sites.google.com/site/donorahistoricalsociety/gallery
The Pecan Park Eagle 
November 14, 2014 at 2:46 pm |
Great article Bill.