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Tag: pratt and whitney

Sat. 05/24/25Sat. 05/24/25 by Weston Ulbrich

Farewell To Fonfara, Hall Of Famer, 101 Years Old

Walter J. “Gooch” Fonfara passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. The league sends our condolences to the Fonfara family. Here’s more on a GHTBL Hall of Fame player named Gooch:

Born January 6, 1924, on Alden Street in Hartford to Joseph and Agnes Fonfara, Walter Fonfara lived a life of service and passion. He served his country honorably in the United States Coast Guard, initially as a radar technician, during WWII. He was a multi-sport athlete, but his first love was baseball.

L to R: Ernie Hutt, Walter Fonfara, John Buikus and Nonny Zazzaro, Royal Typewriter, Hartford Twilight League, 1947.

Out of high school, Fonfara signed with the Philadelphia Phillies organization, but he quickly returned to Hartford to accept a job at Royal Typewriter and spot on their baseball team. He became a constant in the Hartford Twilight League and Hartford Industrial League. A tall, right-handed hitter, he starred as a pitcher and outfielder on the skin diamonds at Colt Park. He manned several twilight teams including Hartford Machine Screw, Columbia Athletic Club and St. Cyril’s. The highlight of his career was playing for a Coast Guard team in 1943 as the only amateur in a lineup of major leaguers.

Fonfara pitches no-hitter for Royal Typewriter, 1952.

Fonfara’s final games came at two GHTBL Old-Timers Days in 1965 and 1968. His dedication to the league and his playing career earned him a Greater Hartford Twilight League Hall of Fame induction, Class of 1985. He later discussed his glory days with the Hartford Courant alongside a friend and fellow GHTBL Hall of Fame inductee, Tony DeDominicis. They spoke about playing backyard ball together as boys and then as men for Pratt & Whitney, Royal Typewriter and Underwood Typewriter.

Fonfara tosses gem against his former team, July 2, 1954.

“If you were a good ball player, they hired you,” Walter claimed.

DeDominicis and Fonfara, who picked up the nickname Gooch as a kid, met Mickey Mantle when they were working security at a downtown hotel.

Fonfara told Mantle, “You know, Mickey, I was a Hall of Famer too,”

“You should be proud of that,” Mantle told him.

“Oh, I am,” he replied, proudly. “I am.”

Walter Fonfara (top row, second from left), Hartford Twilight League Old-Timers Day, Dillon Stadium, 1965.

Fonfara’s second love was politics. While never pursuing public office himself, he was a loyal district leader working under the leadership of State Party Chairman John Bailey. He was especially proud of his role as a Connecticut coordinator for the presidential campaign of Senator Edmund Muskie. He was a driver for Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly and her son John, and they shared a lifelong friendship. Walter, who later named his own son John Fonfara, the current State Senator of Connecticut’s 1st District (Hartford and Wethersfield).

Walter Fonfara at Hartford Twilight League Old Timers Day, 1968.

Walter J. Fonfara inducted into GHTBL Hall of Fame, 1985.

Gooch, as he was known to many, was a lifelong Hartford resident. For over 30 years Fonfara served as Deputy Sheriff for the Hartford Police Department. His Polish heritage was a great source of pride that led him to lifelong advocacy. He was the President of the Polish Democratic Club of Hartford for over 40 years and a director of Hartford’s Polish National Home. He had many lifelong friends in the city and they would often meet at Corner Grinder Shop, Allegro Café or Casa Mia.

Walter Fonfara leaves his wife of 73 years, Stella, the rock of the Fonfara family, who let her husband pursue his vocation, as well as political and other endeavors which might have included a card game or a trip to the racetrack.

Source: https://www.farleysullivan.com/obituaries/Walter-Fonfara?obId=42533994

Fri. 04/04/25Wed. 04/09/25 by Weston Ulbrich

Hartford’s Chest Protector and Payphone Inventor

The list of innovators from Connecticut is impressive. Eli Whitney, Samuel Colt, Charles Goodyear and Igor Sikorsky stand out as famous figures, but the inventor who most influenced the game of baseball was Hartford’s own, William Gray. A mechanical genius, Gray originated patents for baseball’s first chest protector (1887) followed by the world’s first payphone (1889). His chest protector transformed the catcher position, and the invention gave Gray enough resources to advance telephone communications across the globe.

Born in December 1850 in Tariffville, Connecticut, Gray was one of five children to Scottish immigrants, Neil and Mary Gray. His father, a bridge builder, moved the family to Boston when William was young. As an apprentice at a pharmacy, William neglected his work and spent time carving wood and building models instead. Recognizing his mechanical inclination, his father found him work at a machine shop, where he thrived.

William Gray wound up in Hartford a few years later working as a polisher at Samuel Colt’s armory. Then he earned a new position at Pratt & Whitney, the leading manufacturer of interchangeable parts in precision machinery. Gray was head of the company’s polishing department for fifteen years and worked closely with ownership, Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney. He also found opportunities to tinker with inventions. Dissatisfied with the company’s belt shifter, he designed an improved version, which he patented and sold to Pratt & Whitney for distribution.

Yet his creativity extended beyond manufacturing as Gray was an avid “base ball” fan. In 1884, he patented a “Sand Handle Base Ball Bat,” and later sold the design to A.G. Spalding & Brothers Company. The patent was the first commercial attempt to sell bats with a built-in grips. The bats included a roughened covering around the handle section with granulated material firmly attached by shellac or cementing material. Though he profited from the improvement, the product was far less popular than his next invention.

After witnessing a bicycle tire being filled with air, Gray devised a padded, inflatable chest protector for catchers and umpires. His design shielded the catcher’s torso and groin while allowing flexibility. The rubber protector consisted of pneumatic (air-filled) ribs that the user could inflate or deflate. Gray was granted patent number 295543 in 1887 for a Body-Protector, known today as a chest protector.

Back in July of 1883, Hartford’s catcher Tony Murphy tested Gray’s protector in a professional game. Murphy was “unmercifully guyed” and chided for wearing the gear. Only a few years later, a catcher would be thought crazy to take the field without a wearable equipment. Another catcher named Charlie Bennett used a homemade chest protector that same year. Bennett and his wife designed a torso shield by sewing strips of cork in between bed ticking material.

But Gray’s design was more durable, repeatable and patentable than any other. As a result of, catchers began standing and squatting closer the plate than they had in the past. In 1884, the National League removed restrictions on overhand pitching, in part because catchers had greater protection from foul balls thanks to Gray’s Patent Body Protector.

After the chest protector proved to be successful, Gray sold his patent to Spalding for $5,000. Throughout the 1890s, Spalding’s Official Base Ball Guide featured full-page ads for “Gray’s Patent Body Protector,” as, “the most useful device ever invented for the protection of catchers or umpires.” Spalding claimed the gear rendered the wearer impervious to injury without interfering with range of motion. The ads emphasized the protector’s lightweight that was easily deflatable and rolled for storage. Spalding’s marketing worked, and despite a hefty ten-dollar price tag, the gear became a bestseller.

Gray sells chest protector to Spaulding, 1887.

Gray wasted no time investing in another venture: pre-paid telephones. By the late 19th century, telephones were becoming common in homes and businesses, but public access was limited—people could only make calls from booths staffed by attendants who collected fees. Seeing an opportunity, Gray developed a payphone that accepted coins, filing a patent on April 5, 1888. The concept quickly gained traction, and in 1889, the patent was granted. Southern New England Telephone Company installed the first coin-operated public phone inside Hartford National Bank on State Street.

Hartford National Bank, State Street, 1892.

In 1891, the inventor of the chest protector founded the Gray Telephone Pay Station Company. The concern grew into one of Hartford’s largest employers. Gray accumulated 23 patents related to payphone technology, and his company dominated the market. However his health deteriorated after a paralytic stroke in 1903, and Gray passed away five days later at his Hartford home, survived by his wife and four children.

William Gray’s coin controlled apparatus for the telephone, 1889.

“Be it known that I, WILLIAM GRAY, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Coin-Controlled Telephone Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.”
William Gray, Patent No. 408,709, Aug. 13, 1889.

Though he’s largely an unknown figure today, Gray’s ingenuity has lived on, far beyond his passing. His patented chest protector continued to be a staple in baseball, shielding catchers from injury. Coin-operated payphones became an essential part of American life for more than century. They provided convenience to the mainstream of society up until the advent of cell phones.

Gray’s payphone No. 2 , installed in 1889.

The Gray Telephone Pay Station Company, benefiting from exclusive patents, was extraordinarily profitable. By 1930, an original hundred dollar investment in the company would have grown to $12,000. Even the 1929 Stock Market Crash failed to slow its success, when the company reported nearly a million dollars in profit that year, while issuing two dividends. As Gray’s patents expired, the company eventually lost its competitive edge, and it was acquired by a rival.

As stated in the Hartford Courant’s June 6, 1924 obituary of William Gray: “There are few who would associate the prepayment telephone with baseball and yet the relation is remarkably intimate…by reason of the fact that baseball furnished revenue for the launching of the prepayment telephone business.”

That’s the story of Hayford’s great inventor, William Gray.

Sat. 04/18/20Thu. 01/02/25 by Weston Ulbrich

The National Pastime at Pratt & Whitney

Manufacturing firms bearing the name Pratt & Whitney have been global leaders in industries ranging from machine tools to jet engines. The original company was founded in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1860, by Francis A. Pratt and Amos Whitney, who supplied interchangeable tools, drills, mills, and lathes for firearm production during the American Civil War. Pratt & Whitney revolutionized machining while setting the standard inch as a measurement benchmark, but beyond technological achievements, the company also left a lesser-known baseball legacy.

Baseball gained popularity in Hartford circa 1860, as the agrarian city became more industrialized. To enhance publicity and morale, manufacturers, churches, and fraternal organizations sponsored athletic clubs. Pratt & Whitney Company established its first baseball team in the summer of 1866—nearly a decade before Hartford welcomed professional baseball. The P&W nine competed against crosstown clubs and teams from neighboring towns. In 1883, they ventured out of state for the first time, taking on a team from Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Pratt & Whitney executives Hartford, Connecticut, 1887 (c.) — Pratt & Whitney Co. executives, 1887.

Pratt & Whitney also pioneered indoor baseball, during the cold seasons of 1899 and 1900. The club took part in the Indoor Baseball League at Hartford’s Y.M.C.A. When warmer weather came back, P&W competed in Hartford’s Shop Baseball League, later named the Factory League. Their opponents included Colt Armory, Billings & Spencer, Hartford Electric Vehicle, Hartford Rubber Works, and Pope Manufacturing. Local fans eagerly gathered to watch these spirited matchups at Colt Park and Wethersfield Avenue Grounds.

Y.M.C.A. Building, Hartford Connecticut, 1900.

Pratt & Whitney, Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT, 1911.

By 1916, the Factory League had evolved into the Hartford Industrial League, popularly known as the Dusty League. As Hartford’s premier amateur circuit, Pratt & Whitney claimed the Dusty League championship in its inaugural season. The team featured Dutch Leonard, a hard-throwing pitcher; John Muldoon, a catcher later signed by the Hartford Senators of the Eastern Association; and Sam Hyman, a Hartford High School southpaw destined for a professional career. Most of the team, however, was comprised local talent, including Rex Islieb, an outfielder whose key contributions helped Pratt & Whitney secure another pennant in 1918.

By 1916, the Factory League had grown into the Hartford Industrial League, also called the Dusty League. As Hartford’s premier amateur circuit, Pratt & Whitney claimed the championship in its inaugural season. Standout players included Dutch Leonard, a hard-throwing pitcher; John Muldoon, a catcher later signed by the Hartford Senators of the Eastern Association; and Sam Hyman, a Hartford High School southpaw destined for a professional career. All team members were employees and local residents. Among them was Rex Islieb, an outfielder whose contributions helped P&W secure another pennant in 1918.

Then on September 22, 1918, Pratt & Whitney squared off against a 23-year-old Babe Ruth, only eleven days after winning a World Series for the Boston Red Sox. He barnstormed a benefit game at Wethersfield Avenue Grounds for the Bat and Ball Fund, donating baseball equipment to American soldiers fighting in World War I. Ruth hurled and batted third for a semi-pro club, the Hartford Poli’s. His Red Sox teammate, “Bullet” Joe Bush started on the mound for Pratt & Whitney with big leaguers Shano Collins, Joe Dugan and Herman Bronkie behind him. Though Ruth pitched admirably, he was outdueled by Bush’s two-hit pitching performance and Pratt & Whitney won, 1-0.

Babe Ruth & Joe Bush, Boston Red Sox, 1918.

Herman Bronkie, St. Louis Cardinals, 1918.

Joe Dugan, Philadelphia Athletics, 1918.

Building on their victory over Babe Ruth, Pratt & Whitney’s baseball team maintained their good form the following season. Thousands of spectators gathered at Colt Park to watch the team secure the 1919 Industrial League title—marking their third consecutive pennant. Pratt & Whitney capped off a remarkable season with a year-end celebration at the Hotel Bond on Asylum Street. While supporting the Allies in World War I, Pratt & Whitney’s company team had also established an elite reputation. Their standout player was a two-way outfielder named Jack Vannie, a Bulkeley High School graduate and a former member of the Hartford Poli’s.

As baseball thrived, the “Roaring Twenties” prompted expansion at Pratt & Whitney. In 1925, aviation engineer Frederick Rentschler partnered with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool to build new aircraft engines, thus beginning Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company. As the company made advances in jet engines, its workers built camaraderie and community around athletics, including bowling, tennis, basketball and football. The P&W baseball club of the 1920s contended in the Industrial League, but with limited success compared to previous years.

Johns-Pratt vs. Pratt & Whitney at Colt Park, 1923.

Pratt & Whitney Company, Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut, 1925.

When most businesses were stricken by the ill effects of the Great Depression, Pratt & Whitney thrived on federal contracts. Frederick Rentschler produced a thousand Wasp aircraft engines by 1929, but soon broke away from Pratt & Whitney. His division was spun off and merged with Boeing to form United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (a predecessor of United Technologies Corporation). As part of the agreement, United Aircraft retained the name Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and in 1930, they formed a new baseball club.

Frederick Rentschler, President, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, 1926.

L to R: Pratt & Whitney Aircraft executives George Mead, Fred Rentschler, Don Brown & William Willgoos, 1929.

United Aircraft & Transport Corporation, 1929.

Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, East Hartford, CT, 1930.

Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, East Hartford, CT, 1930.

The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft “Aircrafters” and the Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool “Toolmakers” produced a friendly baseball rivalry throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Both clubs were regulars of the Hartford Industrial League, the Public Service League and the East Hartford Twilight League. Though after antitrust laws broke up United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in 1934, a new firm emerged in United Aircraft Corporation (consisting of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, Sikorsky, Chance Vought and Hamilton Standard). President Fred Rentschler moved their headquarters to a giant complex in East Hartford, Connecticut, and the baseball team continued on as United Aircraft.

Hal Justin, Pitcher, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Co., 1932.

Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and Chance Vought plants in East Hartford, Connecticut, 1935.

Sikorsky S-42 Clipper with United Aircraft Hornet Engines, 1935.

In springtime of 1937, United Aircraft’s club entered the Industrial League and then they joined the East Hartford Twilight League around midsummer. That same season, they hosted an exhibition game versus an United States Marine Corps nine from Quantico, Virginia. The Aircrafters starred GHTBL Hall of Fame inductees Joe Tripp and Bill Calusine. A former Eastern League pitcher, Hal Justin, served as manager and guided them to the 1939 Industrial League championship.

While their clubs presided over Hartford’s baseball scene, Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and United Aircraft made major contributions to the Allies of World War II. Both baseball clubs fielded professionals and aspiring prospects whose careers were interrupted by war. Aircraft’s workforce swelled to more than 40,000 employees, helping America build more planes than any nation. It was on the diamond at East Hartford’s Burnside Park where employees and fans retained a sense of normalcy.

United Aircraft boasted a minor league outfielder, John Chomick, and a tandem of brothers in the infield, Pete Kapura and George Kapura. Hartford’s hometown ace of the Negro Leagues, Johnny Taylor, pitched for the Aircrafters on several occasions. Meanwhile, Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool rostered one-time Boston Braves pitcher, George Woodend, as well as minor leaguers, Daniel Zazzaro, Jake Banks and Charlie Wrinn. The Toolmakers seized the 1942 Hartford Industrial League and the 1943 East Hartford Twilight League. On April 25, 1943, they faced off against the Hartford Senators of the Eastern League in an exhibition, losing only by one run.

United Aircraft, East Hartford, Connecticut, 1940.

United Aircraft, East Hartford, Connecticut, 1942.

Joe Tripp, Shortstop, United Aircraft, 1943.

George Woodend, Pitcher, Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool, 1943.

Jake Banks, Outfielder, Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool, 1944.

In 1947, United Aircraft made a bid at the Hartford Twilight League championship. Behind strong pitching from Iggy Miller Murawski, the team cruised by Royal Typewriter in the semifinals. In the final round against Lenny’s Yellow Taxi, the Aircrafters split a Saturday doubleheader, but due to unknown circumstances, the team was unable to field enough players and were forced to forfeit the deciding game of the series. (United Aircraft had reverted back to using the name Pratt Whitney Aircraft around 1945 and both names were used interchangeably.)

Pratt & Whitney Aircraft ad, Hartford Courant, 1945.

“Iggy” Miller Murawski, Pitcher, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, 1947.

John “Yosh” Kinel, Pitcher, Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool, 1949.

Charlie Wrinn, Pitcher, Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool, 1951.

In 1952, the Aircrafters claimed both the Hartford Industrial League and the Manchester Twilight League. The following summer, the team joined the Hartford Twilight League and captured the championship under the leadership of their manager, Johnny Roser. Professional scouts were impressed, leading the New York Giants to sign Aircraft pitcher Bob Kelley to a minor league contract. The team’s dominance continued in 1955 when they secured another dual championship, winning both Industrial League and Hartford Twilight League titles.

Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, Hartford Twilight League champions, 1953.

Bill Risley, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, 1955.

A notable campaign for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft came in 1957. That season, first baseman Dick Pomeroy won a Twi-loop batting title and the club’s ace and freshman at the University of Connecticut, Pete Sala, tossed his way to a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Aircrafters played their final Hartford Twilight League season in 1960. Around this time, Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft began to sponsor softball teams instead of baseball. When Aircraft opened a new division in North Haven, Connecticut, the company erected a softball field for its employees.

Mayor Cronin’s first pitch, Hartford Twilight League Opening Day, Colt Park, Hartford, CT, 1956.

Jimmy Griffin, Outfielder, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, 1956.

Pete Sala, Pitcher, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, 1957.

Pratt & Whitney first pitch, North Haven, Connecticut, 1957.

Although their contributions are largely unnoticed today, Pratt & Whitney greatly influenced and developed baseball in the Greater Hartford area. Teams representing the many companies of Pratt & Whitney competed in Hartford’s amateur leagues for nearly a century. Amid endless changes, innovations, mergers and acquisitions, baseball was one of few constants for manufacturing laborers – especially the men who toiled and tossed for Pratt & Whitney.

Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, East Hartford, Connecticut, 1980.

1930s Pratt & Whitney baseball uniform, Connecticut Historical Society, 2019.

Sources:

Hartford Courant, available at www.newspapers.com (accessed: 2020).
Pratt & Whitney, available at www.prattandwhitney.com (accessed: 2020).

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