Bill OBoyle: Stegmaier clock needs to come home
Jan. 22—Some say that in life, timing is everything.
Probably true in may cases, but keeping time, I can tell you, is essential and always must be done correctly.
Back in the day, the Wilkes-Barre Barons was a team in the Easter Professional Basketball League, which featured players that could easily be on NBA rosters today.
I got to see a lot of those games in the Kingston Armory, having played for the Junior Barons for three seasons in the mid-1960s.
There are many memories — all good — of high level basketball, competitive games and big crowds that would generate a large cloud of smoke that hung over the court.
Through that cloud of smoke, the Stegmaier game clock hung high at one end of the armory, making it a bit difficult to see the score and how much time was left in a quarter or a game.
The storied clock was taken down from its perch at the armory a few years ago and taken to the West Side Career & Technology Center in Pringle. The clock, I think, is still there. I'm waiting for a call back for an update on its "repair" status.
For decades, high above the floor of the Kingston Armory, the Stegmaier clock hung like a watchful guard. It was also the game clock for our Junior Barons games.
I can still see the lights of red and green and the yellow tone of the face of the clock. If I try hard enough, I can hear the sound of the horn as well.
Apparently that old, reliable clock had stopped working. And now it was up to a teacher and his class to make it better.
I did get to see the clock a few years ago at the school. It had been dismantled and I was told that the clock is being worked on and one day it will be repaired for game shape. There was an issue with securing the parts that were needed to repair the clock.
The Stegmaier Beer Time Clock is historic. It deserves to be refurbished and re-hung in its proper place.
I did find a little information about the clock on the internet:
"Pictured is the unique Stegmaier basketball scoring clock at the Kingston Armory. Though the Eastern Basketball League, along with the Barons, folded in the late 1960s, this old time scoreboard still exists. Another testament to its age is the two digit scoring lights. During the games, the gold neon 'Stegmaier Beer Time' would be visible for all of the fans to see."
Fast forward to today. The authors of the book "Boxed Out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League," are working to to adapt the book into a documentary.
The book, written by Scranton natives Syl Sobel and Jay Rosenstein, is the fascinating story of what was the next-best pro league after the NBA for more than 30 years.
They are preparing to adapt the book into a documentary, and along with the funds needed to produce a documentary, they need Eastern League game film and TV interviews from the late 1940s to the late 1970s.
"To do a sports documentary that's interesting and packed with action, you need a lot of footage," Sobel said. "We do have some film that fans shot with handheld cameras back in the 1970s, but we definitely need more. That's why Jay and I are reaching out to newspapers and TV stations in Eastern League cities to see if they'd be willing to help us try to find old game film."
So, if anyone has Eastern League game film or is otherwise willing to help, contact Syl Sobel at — syl.sobel@gmail.com — or Jay Rosenstein at — rosenstein4@verizon.net.
Back to the Stegmaier clock.
I can still remember walking into the 109th Field Artillery Armory back in the mid 1960s when the Barons were the class of the Eastern Basketball League.
The Stegmaier clock was there — always.
To this day, every time I walk into the Kingston Armory, I get goosebumps. I remember seeing, meeting and talking to great Barons' players like Boo Ellis, Bob Keller, Cowboy Krieger, Sherman White, Lavern Tart and many more who donned the Barons' uniform and delighted the crowd night after night.
And I always looked up to stare at the Stegmaier clock and remember those days.
Like most people that remember those days, I will feel a lot better if the old Stegmaier clock returns to its place high above the armory.
Even if it isn't able to keep time — maybe it could just light up and our memories can take it from there.
The Stegmaier clock belongs at the Kingston Armory — if for no other reason than historical perspective.
Return it to its home — it's time.
Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@timesleader.com.
