Baseball lifer: Miscik still coaching in MLB after starring at Mount Pleasant, IUP
Submitted photo
Mount Pleasant graduate Bob Miscik is featured on a baseball card during his time playing for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League.
Submitted photo
Mount Pleasant graduate Bob Miscik was a coach in the Texas Rangers organization from 1997 to 2004. He’s currently in his 13th season with the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
If you are a follower of Mount Pleasant High School athletics the last name of “Miscik” will be a familiar one.
Bob Miscik and his older brother Dennis were both outstanding athletes for the Vikings during the 1970s. We are going to focus in this Memory Lane on the younger Miscik brother, Bob.
“I learned a lot watching older brother Dennis do his thing. Miscik stated. “I learned watching him. I didn’t follow in his footsteps necessarily because I had my own thing going on.”
Bob Miscik excelled at football and baseball at Mount Pleasant. He was a quarterback on Viking squads that posted records of 6-3 in 1973, 2-7 in 1974 and 4-4-1 in 1975. The Vikings played in the tough Keystone Conference during that period.
“We were in a tough conference,” Miscik said. “We held our own.”
Miscik tossed four touchdown passes for Mount Pleasant in 1973. He had four touchdown passes and scored one on the ground in 1974. During his senior campaign he had an outstanding season with 96 completions in 169 attempts for 1,297 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“For that era of football we ran a pro package,” Miscik said. “We had a pretty sophisticated passing program for the 1970s. It was all based on timing and we had a bunch of guys that I played with for a long time and we were seniors and we knew each other and it worked. My role in that was I was accurate, I didn’t have a big arm, but I was accurate.”
The 6-foot, 165-pound Miscik made the most out of his ability.
“I wasn’t a big talent,” Miscik said. “I think I had a feel for it. I was an athlete, limited talent, but I had a good feel for playing sports at the high school level.”
Miscik was fond of his old high school football coach Joe Arrigo.
“Joe Arrigo was our football coach,” Miscik recalled. “He passed away at a young age. He was a passionate coach and teacher and we all liked him and respected him. We had a great experience playing high school football for him.”
Miscik is proud of the fact that he was an All Keystone Conference selection as a senior.
“It felt good back then,” Miscik said. “I loved football, it was my first passion. Coming from that area if you were an athlete you played football. Becoming a conference All Star was a nice honor for a 17-year old.”
On the baseball diamond Miscik was a solid performer at shortstop for the Vikings.
“I liked all sports,” Miscik said. “I enjoyed the competition and I enjoyed trying to become the best you could be. Mount Pleasant had a great baseball history. In fact Mount Pleasant-Connellsville were the two big competitors and it was a big rivalry back then.”
Miscik remembers the great baseball rivalry with Connellsville.
“Coach Tom Sankovich was a tough baseball guy,” Miscik observed. “He was part of that rivalry for sure.”
The baseball coach at Mount Pleasant was Clarence Gorinski and Miscik holds him in high regard.
“Coach Gorinski was a great baseball coach,” Miscik opined. “For that area and the resources we had coach Gorinski gave that community a really good baseball experience. He was passionate about it and he knew the game. The things he taught us and the way we went about our business, I still use a lot of stuff he did today. Simple, but effective things that he did.”
Mount Pleasant played baseball in WPIAL Section 10 and was in the middle of the pack during Miscik’s sophomore and junior seasons. The Vikings went 13-1 and captured the section title when Miscik was a senior. They lost in the WPIAL playoffs to Penn Hills, 4-3.
“Winning the section was always the first goal for us.” Miscik said. “Winning the section my senior year was a proud moment for that group of players my senior year.”
When Miscik graduated from Mount Pleasant in 1976 he did receive some interest from colleges to play football.
“I was recruited for football, but not heavily,” Miscik explained. “I wanted to play Division-1 college football and I was disappointed that didn’t happen. When it came down to the end back then it was a lot different than now. Exposure back then was much more difficult, especially in baseball. Back then Indiana University of Pennsylvania was a good baseball school. My brother Dennis played there. I knew about coach Arch Moore and it was close to home and a real affordable college to go to. So I went to IUP to play baseball.”
Miscik was a four-year starter at IUP. The Indians posted records of 19-10 in 1976-77, 19-13 in 1977-78, and 13-12 in 1978-79 when Miscik was sidelined most of the season with an injury. In Miscik’s senior campaign he led the Indians to a 18-12 record and the PSAC Western Division crown.
“It ended up being a good choice,” Miscik said. “At first it was going to be a football and baseball type thing at IUP. Then I changed my mind on the football. I just went strictly baseball and I enjoyed every minute of it at IUP.”
At the plate, Miscik batted .308 as a freshman, and .340 as a sophomore. He was injured as a junior and slipped to a .285 batting average, but he rebounded as a senior and hit .408.
“I played third base my freshman year,” Miscik said. “Then I played shortstop the rest of the time. It was a proud baseball program at IUP.
“Looking back on it we didn’t have great facilities back then and in that area you are hampered by the weather and you are indoors a lot the early part of the year, but there was a proud baseball program there. It started with Arch Moore and the players that were there. For the PSAC, it’s a really good school. IUP had a lot to offer for somebody that was in my shoes.”
IUP coach Arch Moore had high hopes that Miscik was going to be selected in the Major League Baseball draft following his solid senior season.
“I was a passed-over player in the draft as a senior,” Miscik explained. “I got a call a couple of weeks after the draft. Branch Rickey, who was the great Branch Rickey Jr’s grandson, signed me. He was minor league director of the Pirates and he offered me a chance to play, and I jumped at it.”
Miscik played nine minor league seasons in the Pirates (1980-1986) and California Angels’ (1987-1988) chains. He spent 1983-1988 entirely at AAA but never made the majors. His career minor league numbers were a .266 batting average with 64 home runs and 411 RBIs.
“I took the minor league career as far as I could take it,” Miscik said. “Baseball is in my blood, it started in Mount Pleasant, it continued at IUP.
“When I got into pro baseball it was sort of like a natural thing. Except now I’m doing it every day and that was something that was actually a perfect fit for me. That’s what I wanted, I thrived with limited skills. I could do some things well, but I took what I had and used it and I played nine years. I took it to the Major League roster with the Pirates and that’s where it stopped.”
Miscik started his post-playing career in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization as a coach for the Frederick Keys in 1990. He managed in the Orioles’ chain from 1991 to 1996. Miscik was then the Texas Rangers’ Minor League Field Coordinator from 1997 to 2003 and the Rangers’ Player Development Coordinator in 2004. He also spent part of 2000 managing the Charlotte Rangers. Miscik was then the Cincinnati Reds assistant Minor League Field Coordinator in 2005-2006. After managing two years in the Milwaukee Brewers’ chain, Miscik was named roving infield instructor for the club for 2011.
“I played in Triple A in the Pacific Coast League for six years,” Miscik said. “I played it to the end. I was 30 years old when I stopped playing. I pushed it as far as I was going to push it. At Triple A you are exposed to a lot of things and I was in big league camp a fair amount at that point. People were talking to me about being a manager. I wanted to keep playing. My career came to an end and I went back to IUP and got a Master’s Degree in Ăĺ±±˝űµŘ Science. I made a couple of calls and then I took a job with Baltimore as a coach in the minors and then became a manager and it’s led to where I’m at right now. I’ve had a 31-year coaching career.
“I returned to IUP as baseball coach for a little bit. I had gotten married and took the IUP job. But I got a call to come back into pro ball and I decided to take it with the Texas Rangers. Now I’m with Milwaukee and it’s my 13th year with the Brewers organization.”
In nine seasons as a minor league manager Miscik posted a career mark of 606-652.
“I started out as a senior signed out of college and I’m still working in the game today,” Miscik said. “That’s 41 years later and I’m still working in the game of baseball and I plan to keep working.”
Miscik shows no signs of slowing down.
“I still enjoy being involved with the game and I still enjoy being on the field with the players.” Miscik said. “Because of all the experiences I had, I’m more at easy with a lot of things. Now I’m actually having more fun than I’ve had before.
“I’m going to do it as long as my health allows me to and as long as somebody wants me to do it. I feel like I’m still having an impact on the organization.”
Miscik was inducted into the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.
“It was an honor,” Miscik reflected. “I was the first baseball person inducted and I’m proud of that.”
Miscik, 62, is divorced and resides in Venice, Florida. He has a daughter, Natalie, who just graduated from the University of Florida.
Looking back on his career Miscik is pleased.
“My dad was a coal miner for 30 some years and worked his tail off,” Miscik said. “I’ve been able to work in a game I love for about the same amount of time. I feel like I’m blessed, and thankful and I would do it again.”
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Sunday editions of the Ăĺ±±˝űµŘ. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.