Inductees

Constance Applebee is best known as having introduced field hockey to the United States. She was co-founder of the American Field Hockey Association and was the athletic director at Bryn Mawr College for 24 years. In the autumn 0f 1901 she embarked on a tour of women’s colleges in Northeastern United States introducing Field Hockey and giving coaching instructions. In September Applebee established an annual three-week camp for Intensive field hockey instruction at Mount Pocono. PA On the camp of Tegawitha. The camp was in business For more than 70 years. She died in 1981 at the age of 107.

John Quinn was a pitcher that played for eight teams in three major leagues ( American, Federal, and National), most notably as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive American League pennants from 1929 to 1931 and won the World Series in 1929 and 1930.
He got his start in professional baseball in a strange way. As a fourteen year old, he was watching a semi-pro game in Connellsville from the stands and caught a foul ball, he threw it back to the catcher, hitting his mitt right in the middle. The visiting manager from nearby Dunbar was so impressed He offered John a contract. He spent 12 years in the minor leagues and made his major league debut in 1909. Quinn made his final major league appearance with the Cincinnati Reds in 1933 at the age of 50.

John Breslin graduated from Mt Carmel High School and Bucknell University. He played football and ran track in high school and ran track for four years at Bucknell. His desire to teach and coach got a big break in 1934 when he began a 39- year stint as track and cross country Coach at Mt Carmel High school. Always trying to elevate the sport; he organized the Susquehanna Cross Country
Conference, the Southern Division Track League and the Mt Carmel Relayd`now the Jerry Breslin Relays). As an official he was active from 1934 to 1971 in football.

Paul Boltz was President Emeritus of The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, having served as its president from 1975-1979 and again from 1981-1985. He was inducted into The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1986 for his lifelong achievements in athletic administration and management.

Paul touched the lives of countless military athletes and recreational professionals who have participated in over 150 Army and Armed forces events as well as Army Leadership Conferences which he organized.

He pioneered the inception and development of women’s sports at the Army and Armed Forces levels, hosting the first Army and Armed Forces Championships in both Women’s Basketball and Women’s Softball at Fort Indiantown Gap.

With more than 60 years behind him as a player, coach, and administrator, Fiore was an all-sport standout at Old Forge High and later East Stroudsburg University. He coached football and basketball teams at Old Forge before moving to Scranton Tech. He was West Scranton High’s first football coach and later served at West Scranton’s St. Patrick High. He also served at the University of Scranton. A top-rated football and basketball official for many years, he served as president of various chapters of both groups. He was Commissioner of the Big 11 football conference and was named to the University of Scranton’s Wall of Fame. Fiore was honored for 50 years of service with the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials.

John was a three sports standout at Dickson City High and attended George Washington University where he played football, basketball and baseball, Following a three- year stint in the US Marines in
World War II, he was a 1945 draft choice of the Washington Redskins and played in 1945 and 1946 to 1948.

Mike Lucci spent one year at Pitt and three at the University of Tennessee working between the lines as a middle Linebacker. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1961 and played there for 3 seasons. In 1965 he was traded to the New York Giants then, in the same deal, the Giants traded him and two others to the Detroit for Quarterback Earl Morrall. Lucci coverage abilities earned him a total of 21 career interceptions, returning four of these for touchdowns, with Detroit. He was voted by the players the Lions’ Defensive Most Valuable Player from 1969-1971. Lucci was also All-NFL in 1969, NFC All-Conference in 1970-1971 and named to the Pro Bowl in 1969. He retired following the 1963 season and worked as the color analyst on radio for the Lions from 1976 to 1978.

About This Inductee:

• Swoyersville High School-All-State football
• Washington and Lee University-All-American, played in Gator Bowl
• 1951 second round draft pick of NFL’s Cleveland Browns
• In 10 year career, won 5 division titles and 2 National championships
• Four-time All-Pro linebacker
• Head coach of USFL New Jersey Generals 2 years
• Head coach of NFL’s New York Jets 7 years
• Also coached Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders and a Super Bowl
• Inducted into PA Sports Hall of Fame in 1986

Walt began his football career at Swoyersville. From there he went on to star at Washington and Lee University. He went on to play for the Cleveland Browns where he helped to win five division titles and two national championships. The Browns selected Walt in the seventh round of the 1951 NFL draft where he became a four time all pro linebacker. He was voted into the Wyoming Valley Hall of Fame and was Head Coach of the USFL New Jersey Generals.

Joe stellar play at fullback and linebacker at VMI earned him All-American honors and the Eagles number one draft choice and second overall pick in the 1943 NFL draft. His entry into the NFL was delayed while he served with the U.S. Marine Corps Fifth Division as a First Lieutenant fighting at Iwo Jima, receiving a battlefield promotion, and assignment to the occupying forces in Japan. Returning to the NFL, he was known as “Joltin Joe” because of the impact of his blocks. As a wide-ranging linebacker and the lead blocker for Steve Van Buren and Josh Pritchard, he was often the forgotten man in the Eagles backfield yet was All-Pro in 1948. When they went to two platoon football in 1950 he was again All-Pro in “50 as a linebacker. He could easily have been the Eagles first “60 Minute Man” as he was often call on to do the punting and place kicking. He held the record as the Eagles all-time leader in punting average until 2013. The post-World War Eagles were a powerful amalgam of talent and the team most often looked to Joe Muha for inspiration and guidance. He was the unspoken pillar of strength for the squad that played for each other with an unsurpassed team loyalty. He designed the rings for their two consecutive NFL titles. When new ownership failed to deliver, Joe walked away on his own accord after the 1950 season. He returned to USC to pursue an advance degree and worked as an assistant at USC and later spent a year coaching the Chicago Cardinals. He made a full- time commitment to be a college professor and spent 15 years as an on-field official in the NFL.

Joe Paparella worked minor league baseball from 1933 to 1945. In 1946 he got the call to move up
to Major League Baseball’s American League. He worked in the American League from 1946 to 1965
and during his twenty-year career worked 3,142 games, four World Series and four All-Star games.

Sawyer was a minor league outfielder in his playing days and a rarity among baseball people of his era. Eddie had earned an undergraduate degree from Ithaca College and a master’s degree in biology and physiology from Cornell. He later taught biology in the off-season. He signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees and worked his way up to a player-manager position with the Amsterdam Rugmakers in the Class C Canadian-American League. Sawyer led the Rugmakers to a first- place finish and batted .369 with 103 runs batted in. In 1944 he left the Yankees for the Phillies and in 1948, while managing their top farm club the Toronto Maple Leafs, he got promoted to replace Philadelphia’s manager Ben Chapman. Concurrently, the Phillies were being transfused with young blood and Sawyer was an ideal choice to blend the youngsters with the veterans into a cohesive unit. In 1949, the Phillies enjoyed their first winning season since 1932. The rejuvenated Phillies charged into 1950 and didn’t stop until they won the National league pennant, their first since 1915. However, they were no match for the Yankees in the 1950 World Series. 1950 was Sawyer’s last winning season and after several hires and fires he resigned at the start of the 1960 season and remained in the game as a scout. His final record was 390 wins and 423 Losses.

Jack played tackle at Waynesburg College and appeared in the first televised game in U. S. history against Fordham at Randall’s Island, New York. He took a break from football, after graduation,
to serve in the Army during World War II, rising to the rank of captain. He came home from the services to play football for the Pittsburgh Steelers and coaches Jock Sutherland and John Michelosen from 1946 to 1950.
He left the Steelers in 1951 to take the head coaching job at his alma mater Waynesburg College (now Waynesburg University). After a four-year record of 22-9-1 at Waynesburg he left to become an assistant at Pitt, where he is credited with his two star recruits Mike Ditka and Marty Schottenheimer. He left coaching in 1961 to take a sales position.