AROUND TOWN: Scranton natives hope to make documentary on Eastern League

Sep. 10—Scranton natives Syl Sobel and Jay Rosenstein stirred a lot of passion when they published their book, "Boxed Out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League," in April 2021.

Now they're hoping they can drum up something a little bigger.

The pair have taken the first steps toward producing a documentary about the Eastern League, which packed the house at the CYC for well over a decade in the heyday of the Miners and Apollos.

It's just not that easy. The stumbling blocks would deter a lot of folks. Not Sobel and Rosenstein.

"We've been discussing this and trying to see what we could do and can't do for quite a while," Rosenstein said. "Unfortunately, there's the game film that we can't get much of, and the expenses involved in the production of a documentary."

In a perfect place, ESPN would swoop in, tell them, "You have a great idea. We'll handle it from here," and produce a 30-for-30

masterpiece.

"That would be a lot easier for us," Sobel said. "But the other alternative is just to raise money, hire a director and a producer and production crew, and then you've got to get rights to use the pictures and films. There's lawyer fees, distribution costs and the biggest thing is editing. You have to hire post production and graphics people. There are a lot of people involved in making films. And they all have to be paid.

"The other thing Jay and I have to decide is how much we want to be fundraisers. We're still hoping we can find a producer or studio who will handle the fundraising, and all we have to do is gather the materials and help shape the story, but not have to do much of the legwork that's involved in raising money, and coordinating a lot of moving parts."

Some of the moving parts they've already started on, and that's where longtime WBRE-WYOU TV photojournalist Joe Butash comes in. Long before starting his 43-year career, Butash, a Throop native, grabbed the family movie camera and headed down to the CYC with his uncle, longtime state Rep. Joe Wargo, and his cousin, Mike Yakacki.

Some of those game films and highlights still exist in Butash's library, in an 8-millimeter or Super 8mm format. Real film. No videocassettes or DVDs. Old school.

"I was just looking at them recently, and we were big Eastern League fans, number one," Butash said. "Boy, we were crazy for the Eastern League. We were just fanatics. That was our thing, to go to the Scranton CYC. No matter what the weather was. This was before the Red Barons and the RailRiders and hockey and everything, so it was the show. And for whatever reason, I took the camera.

"I don't remember too much about it, but I came across the 1978 championship game between the Lancaster Red Roses against the Wilkes-Barre Barons, and the game was actually at Martz Hall in Pottsville. To the best of my knowledge, I have at least three, maybe four games."

That's a big start, Sobel said, and they are hoping to cull more film from sources like Jean-Pierre Caravan, a former PR guy for the Allentown Jets, who has some vintage 8mm from the Jets playing the Camden Bullets.

"Between the two of them, it looks like we've got 30 minutes or so of footage," Sobel said. "That's something, but we want to get more. The more we can get, the more players we can identify, the better, and the more valuable the visual support we'll have for a documentary."

Other issues: When videotape did become available, some TV stations would reuse the tape, erasing one game for another sports highlight. Then there was the Hurricane Agnes flood, which destroyed the game footage at WBRE, Butash said.

"That was a shame," Rosenstein said. "Since then, I've researched with other TV stations, and nobody seems to have Eastern League films."

Butash thinks some may still exist at WYOU, which was then WDAU and was headquartered in Scranton. But where those films might be — that could take some digging.

"I'm highly confident there's probably some file footage, but TV stations anymore don't have film chains to transfer films to a digital format," Butash said. "It's kind of disheartening that there may be archival film, and that finding it, locating it, might take time, and then getting it. So when they found out I had some home movies, they were thrilled."

But just like basketball, the clock is winding down for Sobel and Rosenstein. While they still have 30-plus audio interviews they used for the book, players who could be interviewed are harder to find.

"I think it would be great to the extent this could be the story of the Eastern League, told in the voice of an Eastern Leaguer," Sobel said. "Sadly, time marches on and nature takes its course."

Richie Cornwall played in Scranton in the 1960s and '70s, and was very supportive of the book project.

"Jokingly when I interviewed him he asked how long is it going to take for the book to come out?" Sobel said. "I told him probably 1 1/2 to 2 years. He said, 'Well, you know none of us are getting any younger and we would like to be on this side of the earth when the book is published.'

"Poor Richie died literally weeks before the book came out So, yes, there's a sense of urgency to try to do this. There are so many people in the Eastern League who never really got the credit they deserved."

Sobel and Rosenstein hope to add another chapter to the Eastern League story, and are looking for anyone who might have something to share. To reach them, email sjmisobel@verizon.net and rosenstein4@verizon.net.

MARTY MYERS is a Times-Tribune sports writer. His Around Town column appears Sundays. Contact him at mmyers@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, ext. 5437; or follow him on Twitter @mmyersTT.

MARTY MYERS is a Times-Tribune sports writer. His Around Town column appears on Sundays. To contact him, email mmyers@timesshamrock.com, call 570-348-9100, ext. 5437 or follow him on Twitter @mmyersTT.