When
one considers the glorious baseball history of Beaver Falls in the
1950s, Wib
Estermyer immediately comes to mind. Wib was an outstanding
player at Beaver Falls High School and was named to the section
All Star team his senior year in 1952. During the summers of 1951
and 1952, he played for the Beaver Falls junior legion team. In
1951, he was named to the Beaver-Lawrence County junior league
All Star team and repeated that honor in 1952, also being named to
the Pennsylvania All Star team. That year, in a game between the
Beaver-Lawrence All Stars and the Allegheny County-Pittsburgh
All Stars, Wib was named team MVP and voted the
outstanding player of the game. He even found time to play for Murphil’s of the Beaver Falls City League from 1950 to 1952 and then
in the Beaver County League the next two years for the
College Hill Wolverines and the West Mayfield Vets. In 1955, Wib played for Melbourne (FL) in the Professional Rookie
League. Later that year, he played for Jamestown (NY) and the next
season returned to Florida to play for Panama City. He entered the
Army in 1957 and continued his baseball career in Kaiserslautern,
West Germany. While leading the league with a .426 batting average,
Wib was selected Most Valuable Player and named to the All Star team.
That same year, he was chosen from among one million soldiers to
represent the Army as “Mr Average American GI”, which helped him
get bit parts in two films: “The Big Leaguer” with Edward G Robinson
and “GI Blues” with Elvis Presley. An outstanding golfer, as well, Wib assisted in giving numerous baseball clinics and
served on the Blackhawk Recreational Board and coached both Little
League and Legion baseball in Blackhawk.
When
one considers the glorious baseball history of Beaver Falls in the
1950s, Wib
Estermyer immediately comes to mind. Wib was an outstanding
player at Beaver Falls High School and was named to the section
All Star team his senior year in 1952. During the summers of 1951
and 1952, he played for the Beaver Falls junior legion team. In
1951, he was named to the Beaver-Lawrence County junior league
All Star team and repeated that honor in 1952, also being named to
the Pennsylvania All Star team. That year, in a game between the
Beaver-Lawrence All Stars and the Allegheny County-Pittsburgh
All Stars, Wib was named team MVP and voted the
outstanding player of the game. He even found time to play for Murphil’s of the Beaver Falls City League from 1950 to 1952 and then
in the Beaver County League the next two years for the
College Hill Wolverines and the West Mayfield Vets. In 1955, Wib played for Melbourne (FL) in the Professional Rookie
League. Later that year, he played for Jamestown (NY) and the next
season returned to Florida to play for Panama City. He entered the
Army in 1957 and continued his baseball career in Kaiserslautern,
West Germany. While leading the league with a .426 batting average,
Wib was selected Most Valuable Player and named to the All Star team.
That same year, he was chosen from among one million soldiers to
represent the Army as “Mr Average American GI”, which helped him
get bit parts in two films: “The Big Leaguer” with Edward G Robinson
and “GI Blues” with Elvis Presley. An outstanding golfer, as well, Wib assisted in giving numerous baseball clinics and
served on the Blackhawk Recreational Board and coached both Little
League and Legion baseball in Blackhawk.