Harry Bushkar
{{Short description|American athlete (1925–2008)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
Harry Bushkar Jr. (April 9, 1925 – September 1, 2008){{cite web |title=Harry Bushkar |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=bushka001har |website=Baseball Reference |accessdate=16 February 2019}} 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. He was well known for officiating college and high school sporting events, and was commissioner of the western Virginia Football Officials Association.{{cite news |last1=Doughty |first1=Doug |title=Tech sports standout considered players' ref |url=https://www.roanoke.com/webmin/sports/tech-sports-standout-considered-players-ref/article_51a7f7c7-3615-53c2-a5a7-7b64ea20c4c6.html |accessdate=16 February 2019 |newspaper=Roanoke Times |date=September 8, 2008}} He was elected to the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.{{cite news |title=Bushkar to become Tech Hall of Famer |newspaper=Radford News Journal|page=9|url=https://pclibs.newspaperarchive.com/radford-news-journal/1986-06-22/page-9/ |accessdate=16 February 2019 |date=June 22, 1986}}
Early life
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.{{cite news|title=Frosh Rule Good To Tech And Spiders|date=February 1, 1943|newspaper=Daily Press|page=5|agency=AP|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28721602/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2019}}{{open access}}
College basketball career
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. A {{convert|5|ft|8|in|m|adj=on}} guard,{{cite news|title=Tiny Cage Players Shine Back East|date=January 19, 1944|newspaper=The Daily Oklahoman|page=12|agency=AP|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28727117/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2019}}{{open access}} he was named Virginia's college basketball player of the year by the Associated Press (AP) in 1945 despite playing on a losing team.{{cite news|title=Tech's Bushkar Is Chosen State's Best Cage Player|date=February 26, 1945|newspaper=The Evening Leader|page=5|agency=AP|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28721309/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2019}}{{open access}} Bushkar ended his career by being named Virginia's Player of the Year and making the All-Southern Conference team in 1945–46. He was named to the AP all-state first team for the third straight season.{{cite news|title=Five Colleges Represented On All-Virginia Court Team|date=February 21, 1946|newspaper=The Evening Leader|agency=AP|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28721062/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2019}}{{open access}} He also made the Southern Conference All-Tournament Team. He was captain of the 1944, 1945 and 1946 Tech teams.{{cite book |title=Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Media Guide |date=2018–19 |page=150 |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/vatech.sidearmsports.com/documents/2019/1/24/vt_2018_19_mbb_media_guide_1_24_19.pdf |accessdate=16 February 2019 |archive-date=23 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823060354/https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/vatech.sidearmsports.com/documents/2019/1/24/vt_2018_19_mbb_media_guide_1_24_19.pdf |url-status=dead }}
College baseball career
College football career
Bushkar played college football on VPI's freshman team, and scored four touchdowns on the undefeated team. The school did not field a football team in the following two years.{{cite news|title=Families On Virginia Tech Football Squad|date=August 2, 1945|newspaper=The Evening Leader|agency=AP|page=9|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28721238/|accessdate=February 22, 2019}}{{open access}} In June 1945, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business administration.{{cite news|title=Bushkar Signs With Norfolk|date=March 10, 1946|newspaper=Daily Press|page=2B|agency=AP|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28720865/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2019}}{{open access}} Enrolled at VPI as a post-graduate student in fall 1945, the fullback Bushkar was the lone non-freshman on the varsity team.{{cite news|title=Tech To Have Ten Freshmen Starters|date=October 4, 1945|newspaper=Daily Press|agency=AP|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28721179/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2019}}{{open access}}
Baseball career
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.{{cite news|title=Future Yankee|date=March 21, 1946|newspaper=The Lead Daily Call|page=1|agency=AP|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28723913/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=February 22, 2019}}{{open access}} 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.