Pittsburgh Morrys | |
---|---|
Nickname | "The Second Story Morrys" "The Morry Five" "The Morry Big Five" |
Founded | 1920 |
The Pittsburgh Morrys were a professional American basketball team in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [1] The Morrys were cited by the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph as one of the greatest quartets in the eastern United States. [2]
The team was founded in 1920. [3] The team was sponsored by Morry Goldman, who was a Pittsburgh haberdasher. [2] The team was nicknamed, "The Second-Story Morrys" due to Goldman's store being on the second floor. [4] The Morrys were often known as "The Morry Five" and "The Morry Big Five". [5] They were said to be from Braddock, Pennsylvania early on. [6]
The Morrys picked up wins in the 1920-21 season over Gallagher [7] and were beaten by The Coffey Club for the title in the 1921 Independent Basketball Championship of Allegheny County [8] [9]
The Morrys began preparations for the 1921-22 season in November 1921. [10] Bill Campbell, Dave Mervis, Mickey Gross, Fidler, John Pearson, Lew Mervis, Joe Goldman and Jack Goldman were selected for the team. [11] The Morrys met The Coffey Club again in the title game of the 1921-22 season [12] and The Coffey Club were victorious again. [13]
The Morrys were title contenders again in the 1922-23 season. [14] They signed Moon Klinzing and were able to defeat The Coffey Club twice to win the 1923 Independent Basketball Championship of Allegheny County. [15]
The Morrys lost the Pittsburgh Independent Title to The Coffey Club in the 1923-24 season. [16]
The Morrys won the 1924-25 Western Pennsylvania Championship [17] and were champions again in 1925-26. [18]
The Morrys had a strong 1927 season, winning 26 straight games, which was a local record. They went 52-7 and 36 of the games were Central League games with the others being exhibition games. Five of the losses that season were under 5 points. [19] The Morrys won the Central League title in 1926-27. [20] [21]
The Morrys players were signed to The McKeesport Cyclers during the 1928 season in the Allegheny County League. [22] [23] They defeated the Cleveland Rosenblums, The Seneca Indians and The Fort Wayne Knights, which earned them a shot at The New York Celtics for the league title. [24] [25]
Fred J. Miller and Meyer Goldenson were trying to put games together for former Morrys players in October 1928. [26] The Morrys were reunited in 1929 with former players making up some of the squad [2] [27]
Morry Goldman later opened a new clothing store called "Fintex Clothes" which sponsored a Pittsburgh Fintex/Morry's Fintex team which featured Morry Five players. [28]
There was also a Pittsburgh Morrys soccer team. [29]