Gregg’s legacy rooted in community
As a young boy, Bob Gregg was taken by the towering home runs he saw hit during the Pony League World Series in the late 1960s and the early 1970s.
“I saw them hit them over the light pole in left field,” Gregg recalled. “I was like, ‘Wow.’
“Then when I started working (broadcasting) games and knowing what a great event it was, I just felt not enough people knew about it.”
Through his broadcasting efforts, a volunteer pledge in 1984 to “help with publicity” of the Pony League World Series, 33 years as the president and director of Pony World Series Tournaments Inc., the fundraising and organizing arm of the annual event, and countless years of sincere and diligent effort, Bob Gregg has brought the Pony League World Series to the world.
“After offering to help with the publicity, I found myself going to lunch (with Adrienne Guelker), then the treasurer of Tournaments Inc., to talk about the World Series. I had no idea what was involved,” Gregg said. “My life changed.
“(L. Anthony) Sonny Spossey was president of Tournament Inc., then. He told me to take a lot of notes. In 1985, I spent the entire time taking notes, what we needed to improve, what was going well. To see this kind of change now, is amazing.”
It’s amazing because of the special person who commands the World Series ship and sets an example that one can only marvel and simply follow the lead.
Gregg has managed to push the Pony League World Series into the fast lane: television, online broadcasting, live streaming, music, entertainment, community involvement and pride, and most important, high-level youth baseball on the world stage.
Gregg, a 1978 graduate of Washington High School, studied communications and broadcasting at the University of Miami then at Geneva College.
His only professional employment has been at WJPA radio in Washington, where he currently serves as director of operations. He has broadcast games since 1976. He has worked many WPIAL, PIAA and NCAA championship games. His preparation is unrivaled. His commitment to his audience is impeccable.
As director of Tournaments Inc., Gregg has been associated with Abraham Key, president and of Pony Baseball and Softball International.
The two grew up in practically the same neighborhood. They were a few years apart at Wash High. Their lives and careers have been intertwined.
While they haven’t always seen things the same way, a final decision was made with the best interests of the Pony World Series, youths and community in mind.
“Bobby has been the voice and the face of the Pony World Series for a long time,” Key said. “He is the voice of youth and amateur sports in Washington County, Western Pennsylvania and beyond.
“He has done so much work for the World Series and in his broadcasting career a number of championship games. He’s been behind the microphone for so many special moments that mean so much to so many people. What a special opportunity for all of us to have someone like him and someone as committed as he is to bringing quality broadcasts to all of us for so many years.
“Bobby Gregg is exceptional at what he does in all facets of what he does. I believe he is completely committed to doing the very best job for WJPA, the Pony World Series, for youths, for student-athletes and his church. He’s just a great person,” Key said.
Gregg credits the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, Washington County Tourism, the Washington County Commissioners, Dick’s Sporting Goods and many other financial supporters and volunteers for helping Tournaments Inc., lift the Pony World Series to new heights.
“Without them, the World Series would not be in Washington,” Gregg said. “Without the many volunteers we have, this could not happen. When Dick’s got involved ahead of the 2015 World Series, it changed so many things. Really it is incredible.”
With it all, the hours increase, the workload is heavier and the time moves faster.
“I’ve joked – sort of – to some of our board members that time goes faster as you get older,” he said. “There is a mathematical explanation for it. It’s true. There’s a different percentage left of your life between older and younger people. So it is going faster. More has to be done and that is wonderful.”
Gregg said the financial support of the three previously mentioned contributors was more than the first budget he worked under in his first year as director of Tournaments Inc. He points to the $20,000 to resod Lew Hays Pony Field.
“It was important to do the work,” Gregg said. “The look the field has right now is important for us. What the field needs to look like is to look the way it does right now.
“We are showing everyone around the world just how beautiful it is. It’s a dream.”
Anyone who has the pleasure to work with him on a broadcast or listen to his calls, understands what he brings.
Guy Montecalvo has had various degrees of associations with Gregg. The two are friends, have been broadcast partners, and had an announcer-coach relationship for many years.
Montecalvo said Gregg’s enthusiasm for broadcasting, attention to detail and commitment to bringing the game to the audience is what sets him apart.
“I have been involved with Bob since 1980,” Montecalvo said. “Over three decades, he covered the teams I coached and the teams I was serving as an athletic administrator.
“I have a first-hand knowledge of his preparation for broadcasts of football, basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball – even track and field.
“And his preparation for a game reaches beyond the local teams he covers as he reaches out to opponents, whether it be a school in Beaver County or from Dubois or a team in Philadelphia. Bobby works so hard to bring the best possible broadcast to the audience as he can. He leaves no stone unturned. He spent countless hours watching film, or video with my staffs in preparation for a radio broadcast. He is just tireless in his preparation.”
One of Gregg’s most unique moments in his broadcasting career involved Montecalvo’s Wash High Prexies football teams.
In 1983, Gregg visited Washington Hospital to tape that night’s Coach’s Corner segment, which begins WJPA high school coverage each week, because Montecalvo’s wife, Marie, was in labor to deliver their second child, Suzanne. He also has done play-by-play from the sidelines of a high school football game.
“I will never forget Bobby coming to the maternity ward Friday, Nov. 11, 1983,” Montecalvo said. “He sat with me and taped the show. He always asked pertinent questions, which gave insight to the game for his listeners.”
Perhaps the best decision Gregg made was leaving the University of Miami after six months, coming home, then starting his career at WJPA and in broadcasting.
“I was chasing a baseball dream in Miami, thinking I was Willie Stargell or something,” Gregg chuckled.
Gregg’s accomplishments as director of Tournaments Inc., are impressive. His contribution to broadcasting in Western Pennsylvania and the state are indelible. His legacy is one of success and passion.
“He broadcasts with an imagery in a most professional manner,” Montecalvo said. “He brings his best to his followers and his audiences. His contributions to athletics and his community are obvious. He exudes professionalism and has great personal pride.
“He just doesn’t spend his time doing it. He invests his time. He seeks out information. He’s shown a willingness to venture out and be a risk taker in broadcasting. He learned from a guy (the late Pete Stanton) who loved sports and kids. Bobby’s the same way. In my opinion, Bobby Gregg is an icon in Southwestern Pennsylvania sports broadcasting.”
Gregg knows that at some point, he will have to walk away from his current post with Tournaments Inc. The hours get longer and the organizing effort continues to build.
John Sacco writes a bi-weekly column on local sports history for the Observer-Reporter.