Early Years
Stanislaus Anthony Kowalewski was the youngest of five baseball-playing brothers in the coal-mining community of Shamokin, Pennsylvania. His oldest brother Jacob died serving in the Spanish–American War; his other brothers Frank and John also played baseball, but never reached the major leagues. His older brother, Harry Coveleski, later won 20 games in a season on three occasions during his major league career.
Like many his age in the Shamokin area, Coveleski began work as a "breaker boy" at a local colliery at the age of 12. In return for 72 hours of labor per week, Coveleski received $3.75, or about five cents an hour. "There was nothing strange in those days about a twelve-year-old Polish kid working in the mines for 72 hours a week at a nickel an hour", he later recalled. "What was strange is that I ever got out of there". Coveleski was rarely able to play baseball as a child due to his work schedule.
Nevertheless, he worked on his pitching skills during the evenings, when he threw stones at a tin can placed 50 feet away. When he was 18 years old, Coveleski's abilities caught the attention of the local semi-professional ball club, which invited him to pitch for them. "When it came to throwing a baseball, why it was easy to pitch", Coveleski recalled. "After all, the plate's a lot bigger than a tin can to throw at". His baseball career in Shamokin was short-lived; after five games, Coveleski relocated to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Read more about this topic: Stan Coveleski
Famous quotes related to early years:
“I believe that if we are to survive as a planet, we must teach this next generation to handle their own conflicts assertively and nonviolently. If in their early years our children learn to listen to all sides of the story, use their heads and then their mouths, and come up with a plan and share, then, when they become our leaders, and some of them will, they will have the tools to handle global problems and conflict.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)