Harry Bushkar Jr. (April 9, 1925 – September 1, 2008)[1] was three-sport star at Virginia Tech (known then as Virginia Polytechnic Institute) in the 1940s, who went on to a short stint in minor league baseball.[1] He was well known for officiating college and high school sporting events, and was commissioner of the western Virginia Football Officials Association.[2] He was elected to the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.[3]
Early life edit
Bushkar was born in Russia in a small town near Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). His family moved to the United States when he was a small child and he grew up in Logan, West Virginia.[4]
College basketball career edit
In his first season at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) in 1942–43, Bushkar was promoted to varsity after the Southern Conference ruled that freshmen were eligible.[4] A 5-foot-8-inch (1.73 m) guard,[5] he was named Virginia's college basketball player of the year by the Associated Press (AP) in 1945 despite playing on a losing team.[6] Bushkar ended his career by being named Virginia's Player of the Year and making the All-Southern Conference team in 1945–46.[7] He was named to the AP all-state first team for the third straight season.[8] He also made the Southern Conference All-Tournament Team. He was captain of the 1944, 1945 and 1946 Tech teams.[7]
College baseball career edit
Bushkar played shortstop and pitched on occasion for the Gobblers.[3] He showed great potential on defense as a smooth fielding shortstop. Offensively, he could hit for power.[9]
College football career edit
Bushkar played college football on VPI's freshman team, and scored four touchdowns on the undefeated team.[4] The school did not field a football team in the following two years.[10] In June 1945, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business administration.[9] Enrolled at VPI as a post-graduate student in fall 1945, the fullback Bushkar was the lone non-freshman on the varsity team.[11]
Baseball career edit
In March 1946, Bushkar withdrew from his post-graduate work and signed a baseball contract with the New York Yankees to play with the Norfolk Tars in the minor league Class B Piedmont League.[9][12] He did not play any games for the Tars. His first game was with the Class D Chicago White Sox organization for the Appalachian League member New River Rebels.[1] He played 116 games for the Rebels in 1946, and sported a .336 batting average, hit 13 home runs, and had a .518 slugging percentage for the league champions.[1] In 1947, he moved to the Chicago Cubs organization, and up to the Class C Hutchinson Cubs of the Western Association league. He hit 10 home runs to lead the team, and had a .283 batting average.[1] His performance earned him a promotion to the Class B New England League in 1948, where he played for the Springfield Cubs. In his final full season of minor league ball, he hit .235 with four home runs.[1] He attempted a comeback in 1951 with the Roanoke Ro-Sox of the Class B Piedmont League where he played only 19 games and hit his final professional home run while compiling a .192 average.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g "Harry Bushkar". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ Doughty, Doug (September 8, 2008). "Tech sports standout considered players' ref". Roanoke Times. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Bushkar to become Tech Hall of Famer". Radford News Journal. June 22, 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "Frosh Rule Good To Tech And Spiders". Daily Press. AP. February 1, 1943. p. 5. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tiny Cage Players Shine Back East". The Daily Oklahoman. AP. January 19, 1944. p. 12. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tech's Bushkar Is Chosen State's Best Cage Player". The Evening Leader. AP. February 26, 1945. p. 5. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Media Guide (PDF). 2018–19. p. 150. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ "Five Colleges Represented On All-Virginia Court Team". The Evening Leader. AP. February 21, 1946. p. 10. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Bushkar Signs With Norfolk". Daily Press. AP. March 10, 1946. p. 2B. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Families On Virginia Tech Football Squad". The Evening Leader. AP. August 2, 1945. p. 9. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tech To Have Ten Freshmen Starters". Daily Press. AP. October 4, 1945. p. 10. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Future Yankee". The Lead Daily Call. AP. March 21, 1946. p. 1. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
