MLB.com, the official site of Major League Baseball, has noticed the theme of The Gibson Brothers’ recent Sugar Hill release. The title track, Iron & Diamonds, tells an autobiographical story of where the brothers grew up in Lyon Mountain, NY where pretty much everyone was involved in mining – and town baseball.
In a story by staff writer Doug Miller, the Gibsons are interviewed about the album, and growing up in a baseball tradition.
Eric and Leigh both played for the Lyon Mountain Miners out of high school and witnessed a juggernaut of a team, a perennial league championship contender with some serious Major League ties.
The local Kowalowski family, for example, had several players on the team, including Tom, who was signed by the Yankees, although he never made it to the Major Leagues.
“He coached my team and had tons of stories,” Eric says. “Like getting to catch Whitey Ford and hitting a home run off Don Drysdale, who yelled at him and knocked him down the next time he was up.”
Eric says there’s a local legend that the Yankees tried to get in touch with a few other Kowalowski boys for tryouts, but the mining company got the letter and never gave it to them.
“I don’t know how true that is,” Eric says, “but it’s still a good story.”
The article also makes note of how Bill Monroe was a great baseball fan, and how Eric and Leigh make a point to catch as many major league games as they can during teh summer touring season.
You can read the full piece at MLB.com.
