Part I covered Bilko’s big league, minor league, Panamá Canal Zone, and Cuban Winter League career, plus favorable impressions from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania (PA) native Duane Ford and Bloomsburg, PA’s Paul Hartzell, born November 2, 1953, 25 years after Bilko’s November 13, 1928, birth. Part II covers Bilko’s Puerto Rico Winter League (PRWL) seasons with Ponce Lions; Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) stint with the Escogido Lions; Hall of Fame inductions, plus infielder Al Cihocki, Bilko’s cousin. Bilko passed away at 49, on March 7, 1978.
Al Cihocki in Winter Ball
When 16-year-old-Bilko debuted professionally with Allentown in 1945, his cousin Al Cihocki—from Nanticoke—played his one big-league season with the Cleveland Indians, at age 21. He was a player-manager for Sabios de Vargas, Venezuelan Winter League, part of 1948-49, managing Dan Bankhead and Don Newcombe. Cihocki became a likeable PRWL infielder and player-manager with 1950-51 Aguadilla Sharks and 1951-53 Mayagüez Indios. In 1950-51, the Sharks’ second-best hitter (40-for-146, .274 BA) after Canena Márquez (78-for-277, .282 BA). With 1951-52 Mayagüez, he posted a .273 BA and became player-manager after Earl Naylor was fired and infielder Joe Atkins served as interim manager. Historian Jorge Colón Delgado noted that Cihocki was retained by the Indios for 1952-53 and dismissed with the team 18-22. Cihocki and the team’s Imports lived in Mayagüez’s brand-new Darlington Apartments. Ponce picked up Cihocki post-Mayagüez; he played solid defense at 2B, going 19-for-78 (.244 BA). Lions (36-36) were swept by Santurce in the semis, three games to none. Cihocki played two summer seasons in the DR, with 1953 and 1954 Escogido. He was 8-5 as their 1954 skipper and went 38-for-155 (.245 BA). In 1953, he had fifteen hits/56 AB (.268 BA). Escogido teammates included Ray Dandridge, Pepe Lucas, José “Pantalones” Santiago, and Bob Thurman.
Martiniano García, Ponce’s owner, hired George “Tubby” Scales to manage his ballclub in the 1940s, when the Lions won five PRWL crowns, aided by outfielder Pancho Coímbre and pitchers Raymond Brown, Rafaelito Ortiz, “Pantalones,” Tomás “Planchardón” Quiñones, Luis “Tite” Arroyo, John Wright, Juan Guilbe, etc. By 1954-55, Ponce was the worst PRWL team, 26-46, managed by Joe Schultz, known as Jim Bouton’s 1969 Seattle Pilots skipper, via Bouton’s Ball Four book. Ponce voodoo practitioners, including Doña Lala—a friend of Ponce native Luis Rafael Cabrera, Santurce Crabbers ace, 1939-1949—attributed Ponce’s 1950s “slump” to Martiniano trading the beloved Juan Guilbe to the 1948-49 Aguadilla Sharks.
Pantalones was 75-51 in eight Ponce seasons (1946-1954), before going 4-9 in 1954-55, lacking run support. Tite Arroyo faltered to 3-11. Bob Kelly (10-9) and Dave Cole (8-12) fared better. Hard-throwing 25-year-old Ryne Duren (0-2, 6.97 ERA), and 25-year-old Moe Savransky (1-2, 6.23 ERA) were released. Savransky’s only 1954 big-league experience came with Cincinnati. Duren achieved 1958/1959 AL All-Star status with the New York Yankees, repeating as a 1961 Los Angeles Angels All-Star. He was Bilko’s 1961/1962 Halos teammate. Pantalones pitched one game for 1954 Cleveland, AL Champions, after post-1948 New York Cubans—now considered a big-league ballclub—and seasons with the 1950/1951 Class-A Wilkes-Barre Indians of the Eastern League: 12-7 in 1950, and 21-5 in 1951, league-leading 1.59 ERA and twenty-one wins. “Bilko was one of our better [Ponce] hitters,” recalled Pantalones. “He knew that I pitched for Wilkes-Barre, very close to Nanticoke.” Wilkes-Barre, the county seat of Luzerne County, is seven miles northeast of Nanticoke; the author attended meetings/concerts in Wilkes-Barre in the late 1980s/early 1990s while residing in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Sam Jones, 1954-55 PRWL MVP with Santurce, was Pantalones’s 1950 Wilkes-Barre teammate. Jones, Rubén Gómez, and Bill Greason were the Crabbers formidable 1954-55 rotation. Bilko and company occasionally got the best of them. In an early season game at Sixto Escobar Stadium, home to Santurce and San Juan (SJU) Senators, Ponce was losing 5-0 to Gómez, when they tied it in the ninth, propelled by 19-year-old Frank Robinson’s three-run homer. Ponce won it, 9-7, in ten innings. The following week, Gómez beaned Frank Robinson, who departed to the States after going 9-for-36 with one HR. Ponce’s regulars included: Hobie Landrith-C, Bilko-1B, Wito Conde-2B, Frank Malzone-3B, John Kline (or Howie Phillips)-SS, outfielders Pete Whisenant, Erv Joyner, and Oscar Rodríguez. Teams were allowed 10 Imports—Stateside players. Dominicans played as Natives in the PRWL until the 1955-56 LIDOM season.
Pantalones Santiago, 1955 Cleveland Indians. Credit: SABR Bio by Edwin Fernández Cruz.
Malzone, a Boston prospect, played the entire 1954-55 season. “I roomed with Hobie Landrith, who, fortunately, was a good cook,” noted Malzone. “Two years later [1956-57] I played shortstop for SJU, under Ralph Houk—helped me become a better third baseman with Boston.” Landrith tried a different stroke in an attempt to gain confidence in his hitting. It worked—Landrith’s BA was .327 by the time he left Ponce. “My wife had given birth to our son on November 18 [1954], and at Christmas, with the owner’s approval, I flew at my own expense to Detroit to see them,” said Landrith. “After playing one game upon my return to Ponce, Martiniano released me and others.”
Mary and Steve Bilko, plus their toddlers, lived in Ponce’s brand-new Darlington Apartments. “We were the first American family to live in Ponce’s Darlington Apartments,” said Mary Bilko. “When the players had off-days on Mondays, wives took a público (jitney) and went shopping. We would eat at a small corner restaurant after the home games.” The traditional three-hour afternoon siesta was still the norm in Puerto Rico—stores were closed from noon to 3 p.m. Old-timers remember Bilko’s tape-measure blasts and recall him practicing Spanish with Native players and partaking in Martiniano’s Three Kings Day (January 6) parties. Bilko hit eight homers, and drove in twenty-three, with a .268 BA, in forty-three games. Third-place SJU hit a PRWL record eighty-four team HR. Table I has 1954-55 standings and BA leaders. Willie Mays (.395) and Roberto Clemente (.344) helped the Crabbers win the 1955 CS, hosted by Caracas, Venezuela, February 10-15, 1955. The author’s 1949-2024 CS book will have details on this CS, won by Santurce.
Table I: PRWL 1954-55 Team Standings and BA Leaders
| Team | W-L | PCT | GB | Player | Team | AB/Hits | BA |
| Santurce | 47-25 | .653 | Willie Mays | Santurce | 168/72 | .395 | |
| Caguas | 42-30 | .583 | 5 | Elston Howard | SJU | 122/45 | .369 |
| SJU | 38-34 | .528 | 9 | Canena Márquez | Mayagüez | 165/60 | .364 |
| Mayagüez | 27-45 | .375 | 20 | Roberto Clemente | Santurce | 273/94 | .344 |
| Ponce | 26-46 | .361 | 21 | Dixie Howell | Mayagüez | 227/76 | .335 |
Source: José Crescioni Benítez, El Béisbol Profesional Boricua, 1997.
1956-57 Ponce Lions
Ponce (18-54) finished last—Martiniano traded Canena to Mayagüez for Oscar “Junior” Rodríguez; released Bilko, Bob Speake, and hurler Jim Brosnan, among others; and, sold pitcher William de Jesús to Mayagüez. Quincy Trouppe, who once played for PRWL Guayama Witches and Caguas Criollos, managed Ponce. Tite Arroyo started for Senators skipper Ralph Houk. Pantalones was a mainstay for Mickey Owen’s Indios, who ousted SJU in the semis, and Santurce in the finals. Ponce’s regulars comprised: Billy Queen-C, Bilko-1B, Carlos M. Santiago-2B, Wito Conde-3B, Bill Harrell-SS, plus outfielders Carlos Bernier, Canena Márquez, Julio and Oscar Rodríguez, and Speake. Foca Valentín was a utility player. Brosnan (3-9, 3.77 ERA), Tom Cheney (6-6, 2.78 ERA), Queen, and Bilko found employment in the LIDOM. Barney Schultz (3-10, 4.25 ERA) persevered and in 1964 helped St. Louis win the NL pennant and Fall Classic, despite giving up a walk-off HR to Mickey Mantle in Game Three. Brosnan suffered from health and personal problems and was “relieved to be let go.” He, Queen, and Bilko traveled to Ciudad Trujillo and joined the Escogido Lions, managed by Red Davis. Cheney signed with the Licey Tigers, Escogido’s arch-rivals. Brosnan, on July 25, 1956, became the only big-league hurler to allow a game-winning, inside-the-park grand slam. Pitching for the Cubs, he faced Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente, who delivered this shot. Clemente won the 1956-57 PRWL batting crown. Table II has PRWL 1956-57 standings and BA leaders. Bilko hit .270 with five HR and 20 RBIs, in forty-two games. Teammate Carlos M. Santiago enjoyed conversing with Bilko.
Table II: PRWL 1956-57 Team Standings and BA Leaders
| Team | W-L | PCT | GB | Player | Team | AB/Hits | BA |
| Santurce | 43-29 | .597 | Roberto Clemente | Sant/Caguas | 225/89 | .396 | |
| Mayagüez | 41-31 | .569 | 2 | Ronquito García | Mayagüez | 284/94 | .331 |
| SJU | 40-33 | .548 | 3.5 | Orlando Cepeda | Santurce | 268/83 | .310 |
| Caguas | 39-34 | .534 | 4.5 | Félix Mantilla | Caguas | 270/83 | .308 |
| Ponce | 18-54 | .250 | 25 | Herb Plews | Mayagüez | 279/85 | .305 |
SAN: Santurce. Source: José Crescioni Benítez, El Béisbol Profesional Boricua, 1997.
Escogido Baseball Club—The “Red” Team aka “Equipo Escarlata.” Credit: www.deciclismoymas.blogspot.com.
1956-57 Escogido Lions
Bilko joined a second-place team that finished 31-21; swept Águilas Cibaeñas (AC) in the semis, three games to none; bested Licey, five games to two, in the finals. Licey, 35-17, was managed by ex-Yankees LHP Eddie Lopat. AC’s (29-23) working agreement with Pittsburgh resulted in Bill Mazeroski (.265 BA, two HR, 12 RBIs) playing for AC. Last-place Estrellas Orientales (10-44) were managed by Ben Geraghty, who managed Caguas, 1954-56, and led the 1955-56 Criollos to the CS hosted by Panamá. On June 24, 1946, Geraghty—one of six survivors—was involved in a serious bus accident when nine of 15 Spokane Indians passed away. The bus plunged an estimated 300-500 feet down the mountain over the Snoqualmie Pass on Highway 10.
By LIDOM season’s end, Escogido had Billy Queen catching and Bilko at 1B, Sparky Anderson-2B, Ozzie Virgil Sr.-3B, Andre Rodgers-SS, and an outfield—Felipe Alou, Bob Lennon, and Ray Shearer. Guigüí Lucas was Queen’s backup, and his 40-year-old brother, Pepe Lucas backed up Bilko. Pete Burnside (11-6, 1.71 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) was Escogido’s ace. Stan Williams, Connie Grob, and George “Garabato” Sackey were other mound contributors. Virgil (.312 BA, three HR, 32 RBIs) was their best hitter. Anderson posted a .239/.367/.301 slash line, and .668 regular season OPS.
Brosnan, Burnside, and Grob each won a semi-final contest. Escogido’s team ERA was 2.13 with 0.83 WHIP. Bilko went 3-for-12, with three RBIs and a double, after going 8-for-30 (.267) toward the regular season’s end. Virgil slashed .500/.571/.750, with a 1.321 OPS in the semis. Lennon’s .583/.643/.833 slash line, plus 1.476 OPS helped. In the finals, Tom Cheney (2-0) won twice for Licey, but Escogido prevailed with Brosnan (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP); Grob (2-0, 0.47 ERA, 0.79 WHIP); Stan Williams (2-0, 1.06 ERA, 0.82 WHIP). Burnside went 0-2. In sixty-three innings, Escogido hurlers allowed thirty-seven hits, fanned 41; and walked 22; with a 1.43 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. Felipe Alou—10-for-23—was MVP with a .435/.458/.652 slash line, 1.110 OPS. Table III includes Bilko’s hitting stats in Cuba, the PRWL, and LIDOM. In 1960, Burnside was Bilko’s Detroit Tigers teammate when Bilko platooned at first with Norm Cash. “Steve could crush the ball,” said Burnside. “He was a good teammate and a fine human being.”
Table III: Steve Bilko’s Caribbean Hitting Stats in Cuba, PR, and the DR
| Team | Season | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| HAV | 50-51 | 70 | 255 | 26 | 68 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 39 | .267 | .332 | .435 | .767 |
| PON | 54-55 | 43 | 153 | 18 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 23 | .268 | .349 | .458 | .807 |
| PON | 56-57 | 42 | 141 | 15 | 38 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 20 | .270 | .415 | .440 | .855 |
| ESC | 56-57 | 7 | 30 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | .267 | .405 | .367 | .772 |
| Total | Four | 162 | 579 | 64 | 155 | 27 | 6 | 20 | 92 | .268 | .361 | .439 | .800 |
HAV: Havana Lions. PON: Ponce Lions. ESC: Escogido Lions. HAV games are an estimate. Sources: Jorge Figueredo, Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961 (2003); Rafael Costas, Enciclopedia Ponce Leones: 1938-1987 (1989); and Winter Ball Data (LIDOM).
One emblem of the Ponce Lions. Credit: www.noticel.com.
Eleven ex-Ponce Lions coaches, managers, and players are inducted in Cooperstown, including Frank Robinson, Bilko’s 1954-55 teammate, per Table IV.
Table IV: Ex-Ponce Lions Enshrined in Cooperstown
| Player/Manager/Coach | PON Seasons | Cooperstown |
| Rogers Hornsby> | 1950-51 | 1942 |
| Frank Robinson | 1954-55 | 1982 |
| Steve Carlton | 1965-67 | 1994 |
| Tom Lasorda | 1959-60 | 1997 |
| Hilton Smith | 1947-48 | 2006 |
| Raymond Brown< | 1941-42, 46-47 | 2006 |
| Goose Gossage | 1972-73, 74-75 | 2008 |
| Rickey Henderson | 1979-1981 | 2009 |
| Roberto Alomar | 1989-1991 | 2011 |
| Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez | 2008-09 | 2017 |
| Jim Thome | 1992-93 | 2018 |
>Hornsby managed Ponce. <Brown was Ponce’s 1946-47 pitching coach. Sources: Many.
Hall of Fames (HOF)
Luzerne County’s Sports HOF-John Louis Popple Chapter inducted Bilko in 1986. Seventeen years later, Bilko, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Norbert, and Artie Wilson were four of twenty-one inductees in [2003] PCL HOF. Carlos Bernier, Bilko’s 1956-57 Ponce teammate, was a 2004 PCL HOF inductee. Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals in Pasadena, California, inducted Bilko on Sunday, July 20, 2015, joining Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Jackie Robinson, and Curt Flood in a traveling museum that parallels the National Baseball Hall of Fame but recognizes honorees as much for their impact on baseball as the way they played the game. “He was authentic,” said baseball historian Gaylon White, author of The Bilko Athletic Club: The Story of the 1956 Los Angeles Angels, who co-introduced Bilko’s induction into the Shrine with ex-sportswriter John Schulian. Steve Jr. and Thomas Bilko attended the ceremony. Steve Sr. also had a daughter, Sharon Bilko Santa, a former Nanticoke High School cheerleader. Table V lists some Baseball Reliquary Inductees, including Jim Brosnan, Bilko’s Ponce/Escogido teammate.
Table V: Selected Baseball Reliquary Inductees, Classes of 1999-2020
| Player | Class | Player | Class | Player | Class |
| Dick Allen | 2004 | Emmett Ashford | 2008 | Moe Berg | 2000 |
| Yogi Berra | 2007 | Steve Bilko# | 2015 | Jim Bouton | 2001 |
| Jim Brosnan | 2007 | Charlie Brown | 2017 | Glenn Burke | 2015 |
| Roberto Clemente | 2004 | Steve Dalkowski | 2009 | Dizzy Dean | 2014 |
| Rod Dedeaux | 2005 | Dock Ellis< | 1999 | Mark Fidrych | 2002 |
| Curt Flood | 1999 | Rube Foster | 2020 | Joshua Gibson | 2006 |
| Jim “Mudcat” Grant | 2012 | Pete Gray# | 2011 | Bo Jackson | 2016 |
| Shoeless Joe Jackson | 2002 | Dr. Frank Jobe | 2012 | Tommy John^ | 2018 |
| Bill “Spaceman” Lee | 2000 | Roger Maris | 2009 | Marvin Miller | 2003 |
| Minnie Miñoso | 2002 | Manny Mota | 2013 | Don Newcombe | 2016 |
| Lefty O’Doul | 2013 | Buck O’Neil | 2008 | Satchel Paige | 2001 |
| Max Patkin | 2020 | Jimmy Piersall | 2001 | Jackie Robinson | 2005 |
| Rachel Robinson | 2014 | Pete Rose | 2010 | Vin Scully | 2017 |
| Rusty Staub | 2018 | Casey Stengel | 2010 | Luis Tiant | 2012 |
| Bob Uecker | 2017 | Fernando Valenzuela | 2017 | Bill Veeck Jr. | 1999 |
| Maury Wills | 2011 | Kenichi Zenimura | 2006 | Don Zimmer | 2014 |
<Pitched for Ponce, 1979-80. #From Nanticoke, PA. ^Pitched for Ponce, 1963-64. >Pitched for Ponce, 1964-65. Source: The Baseball Reliquary, Whittier, CA.
Bilko interacts with a Los Angeles Angels PCL fan, circa 1956. Credit: www.calisphere.org.
Postscript
Bobby Grich, six-time AL All-Star, first-round draft choice of the Baltimore Orioles signed by Al Kubski, was the first player inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame (1988), preceding Jim Fregosi (1989). Bilko was Grich’s childhood hero, per Terry Cannon, executive director of The Baseball Reliquary. “His first professional game, he saw Bilko hit a home run,” said Cannon. “After the game, he got Bilko’s autograph. Because of that, Bobby Grich never turned down a kid’s autograph.” Per Bilko’s SABR bio, the AL Angels PR executive, George Goodale, later ranked Bilko with Nolan Ryan as baseball’s leading nice guys. Mary Bilko, age 93, passed away in Allentown, PA, on Monday, April 25, 2022. She was born on April 12, 1929—had moved to Allentown to be near her daughter.
Thanks to Mary Bilko, Jim Brosnan, Pete Burnside, Jorge Colón Delgado, Edwin Fernández Cruz, Duane Ford, Paul Hartzell, Hobie Landrith, Frank Malzone, Carlos M. Santiago, Pantalones Santiago, and Gaylon White. Jorge Colón Delgado did the editing and photo placements.
