A Roslyn native who played during the village's Golden Age of Little League baseball is seeking out his old teammates for a reunion in the village.

John Piltz, a Malvern, PA-based businessmen got interested in the idea when his own 16-year-old son began starring in local "senior" Little League competition. Mr. Piltz began telling his son about his own exploits in the Roslyn Little Leagues of the mid-1950s. Apparently, the teenager didn't believe his Dad, so Mr. Piltz did some research. He got in touch with Myrna Sloam at the Bryant Library who promptly mailed Mr. Piltz a handsome, 50th anniversary volume of Little League history in Roslyn. Published in 1992, it chronicled Little League baseball in the village from its inception in 1952 up until the early 1990s.

Looking through the clippings brought back fond memories. So Mr. Piltz is interested in forming a reunion of any Roslynites who played in 1956 and 1957. The reunion would be held in Roslyn, possibly at a location such as the Swan Club. Mr. Piltz said if he gets even one or two phone calls, the situation will take off with more people giving him more information that would allow for finding out the whereabouts of more ex-ballplayers.

Now, Little League baseball is popular in Roslyn. (All you have to do is read the sports page and letters-to-the-editor sections of this publication.) But in the mid-1950s, Roslyn held a unique distinction. According to Little League headquarters in Williamsport, PA (where the Little League World Series is played each year), Roslyn, in 1955, had the largest suburban enrollment of Little League players in the entire nation. Over 500 boys played in various Little League teams and leagues. Most of the games were played at Temple Beth Sholom Field, located in back of the temple on Roslyn Road.

But more than that, competitive baseball was played in Roslyn. Not every boy who tried out made the team. Tryouts were based on ability. Some kids had to be cut. And according to Mr. Piltz, players who performed poorly or disobeyed coaches' orders were put on the bench. "I was once benched by Teddy Feldman [his coach] for swinging at a 3-0 pitch when he wanted me to take another pitch," Mr. Piltz recalls.

Mr. Piltz played for a team called The Liberties. This squad won the league title in 1956 and came in second to the Red Sox in 1957. He also played on a Roslyn All Star team that came together once the regular season ended. In 1956, that team went all the way to the New York State semifinals. Here are some names that Mr. Piltz remembers from the past: Howie Cion, Mickey Targoff, Jackie Godson, Bobby Drummond, Steve Richter, Sammy Chetta and Steve Stelzer. There are many others, of course, but if you played in that era, Mr. Piltz would like to hear from you.

Mr. Piltz remembers many games as close, low-scoring affairs. Games were won, not by lopsided scores with football-type numbers, but by scores of 1-0, 3-2, 6-4. Mr. Piltz himself combined with Jackie Godson to pitch a 2-1 no-hitter over the Braves on June 26, 1957. "There were a lot of close games, good pitching duels with not many walks," Mr. Piltz recalls, "one or two home runs a game was a lot."

In addition to Mr. Godson, Mr. Piltz has fond memories of Howie Cion's throwing arm, one that the former pitcher declares was "better than [Mike] Piazza's." Or as Mr. Piltz adds, "How many guys can throw out baserunners while still squatting?" Mr. Piltz thought Howie Cion still owns and operates a body repair shop in Roslyn, but a check through the phone book did not turn up anything in Mr. Cion's name.

Another big star was Steve Richter, an outfielder who played professional baseball in the Yankee farm system, rising as far as Triple A in Greensboro, NC in 1965, where he was the teammate of future Yankee star Bobby Murcer.

"We played straight, intense baseball, that's what I miss," Mr. Piltz said. "Here [in Pennsylvania], they play and don't talk at all. There's no chatter. If you didn't make noise when I played, you ended up on the bench."

The 1950s were also distinguished by baseball's near-monopoly on the nation's youngsters. Neither professional football and basketball had yet come into their own, but most of all, the national pastime didn't have to compete with such sports as lacrosse and soccer, both of which were virtually nonexistent back then. Mr. Piltz also thought Roslyn was more of a blue-collar village in the '50s. From his research, he learned that no less than half the village's population worked on the estate of multimillionaire Clarence MacKay.

Back to the reunion. If you played Little League all those years ago and want to be part of the reunion, you may contact Mr. Piltz at 821 Cottonwood Drive, Malvern, PA or give him a call at 1-800-470-4670 or 610-6778. "If one person calls, we will hear about others," Mr. Piltz said. "Maybe the whole thing will snowball into something good."