Deep Dive: Meadville natives in professional sports

Jun. 28—Ah summer, the season with the best weather, but the least amount of sports. A fair trade off.

With fewer sports to cover, I went down a rabbit hole the other day into professional athletes from the Meadville area.

I'm here to share them with you so that I don't feel like I wasted my time.

It's no secret that western Pennsylvania grows a lot more corn than pro athletes, but I managed to scrape together more names than I thought.

This list will include professional athletes that I found in the four major North American professional sports leagues; the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB.

My criteria for this list was players who were either born in the Meadville area, or attended high school at either Meadville, Conneaut, Cochranton, Cambridge Springs, Saegertown or Maplewood.

So no Titusville players like the currently active JJ Bleday or James Conner, who went to McDowell High School in Erie.

I also only included players who played at least one game in the pros. I didn't include managers or coaches either.

I'm sure someones grandma will call in and let me know that I forgot Ernest "Ernie" Hippobottom who played in 1863. But this is just for fun.

We can breeze through two leagues right off the bat; the NBA and NHL as the Meadville area has yet to produce an athlete in either league.

My hockey skills only got me as far as the high school level, just shy of winning the Stanley Cup on Sidney Crosby's right wing. Sorry, folks.

I'm not sure if the lack of basketball players is a result of no NBA team in Pittsburgh or coach Kyle Krepps ruining all the top prospects.

For baseball, we have 10 players, thanks, in part, due to the MLB's absurdly long history.

Going in chronological order we start all the way back in 1896 where Sal Campfield (full name William Holton Campfield) made his MLB debut on May 15 at 28 years old. Campfield was born in Meadville in 1868 and is buried at the Saegertown Cemetery after his death in 1952.

His MLB career spanned just six games in the 1896 season with the New York Giants, where he played pitcher and had a .500 record.

Jumping ahead a year, John "Jack" Joseph Dunn who was born in Meadville in 1872, made his MLB debut on May 6, 1897 at the age of 24. Unlike Campfield, his career was much longer as he lasted eight seasons, playing from 1897 to 1904 for a total of 490 games.

He was a right handed pitcher, third baseman and shortstop for the Brooklyn Bridgegrooms, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles and New York Giants. The most interesting thing about Dunn was that when he was 9 a boxcar ran over his left arm. After he declined amputation he was unable to move his left arm over his neck, but still managed to make it into the MLB.

In 1901, George Albert Grosart, a Meadville native, made his MLB debut on June 7. He played in seven games that season with the Boston Beaneaters at left field. He was tragically killed at the age of 22 in 1902 in Pittsburgh. Grosart is buried in Greendale Cemetery in Meadville.

The next Meadville area player, William "Bill" Orange Forman also had a short career. Forman, who was born in Venango, played just two games in 1909 with the Washington Senators as a right handed pitcher. His debut was on Sept. 20, 1909, when he was 22 years old.

Edward "Eddie" Joseph Onslow, who was born in Meadville in 1893, made his MLB debut on Aug. 7, 1912, at the age of 19. He played in 64 total games with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators as a first baseman. He batted .269 in his four-year career.

Guys Mills native Henry "Eddie" Edson Matteson debuted on May 30, 1914, at 29 years of age for the Philadelphia Phillies. He played 15 games as pitcher for the Phillies before leaving the MLB, likely due to World War I, before he returned in 1918 to play 14 games for the Washington Senators.

Finally, we get into the "modern age" of baseball, where the Meadville area produced the Jones brothers in the late 70s. At 28, Meadville native Darryl Lee Jones made his debut on June 6, 1979, playing outfield for the New York Yankees.

Darryl's career lasted 18 games, but his brother Lynn tops this list as the most tenured Meadville-area MLB player.

Lynn Morris Jones debuted on April 13, 1979, at 26 years old and played outfield. His career spanned from 1979 to 1986 for a total of 527 games over eight seasons. He played for the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals. In 1985, he won a World Series title from the Royals.

Although not born in Meadville, Todd Michael Erdos went to high school at Meadville before he made his MLB debut on June 8, 1997 at 23 years old. Pitching for the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, Erdos played in 63 games over five seasons from 1997 to 2001.

Finally, Jay Weldon Tessmer is the most recent Meadville man to make it pro. His debut came on August 27, 1998, when he was 26. Pitching for the New York Yankees, Tessmer played in 22 games over four seasons.

For football we have just two names.

Louis "Bill" William Daddio, who was born in Meadville in 1916 and went to the University of Pittsburgh before he played in 25 games at the NFL level.

He played left end for the Chicago Cardinals and Buffalo Bison in a three-year career that spanned from 1944-46.

Meadville-born Wade Manning was also a wide receiver and defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos from 1979-82. He played in 34 games and caught a total of six passes in his career.

So, I'm not sure what this proves, but it was fun to research. It's pretty neat that Meadville has its own World Series Champion in Lynn Jones. I'll make sure to update this list once my little brother, Chase, makes the list in 2035.

Owen Krepps can be reached at 814-724-6370 or at owenk@meadvilletribune.com.