Tony Zonca’s Back Spin

All Tony Zonca's Back Spin Stories

Long-time sportswriter Tony Zonca reflects on stories he wrote while covering the Philadelphia Phillies, Eagles and 76ers, the Reading Phillies, and on local Berks County sports.

Long ago, Willie Pegram helped deliver Reading High’s first district three-peat

Mar 9, 2023

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor The current group of Red Knights became just the second big-school team to capture three straight District 3 basketball championships. The first? Coach Bill…

Lonnie Walker IV had a front-row seat to see The King make NBA history

Feb 21, 2023

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor Before Lonnie Walker IV became a basketball icon for Reading High, before he began setting scoring records and establishing himself as the best player in the state, he was…

How Dick Bavetta went from Teeing up Tony Zonca to the NBA Hall of Fame

Jan 19, 2023

It was January 1973 and I found myself sitting on the bench with the Hamburg Bullets in some ancient, ill-lit gym for a weekend Eastern Basketball League game. That's all I remember about the occasion. I was there as the team's…

Pete Carril: A scholar, a charmer, a character right out of a Tolkien story

Dec 6, 2022

(This story was first publish in August, shortly after Pete Carril's death.) By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor When it was announced Monday that the legendary Pete Carril had died at age 92, we lost more…

Are Lonnie and the lagging Lakers better off without LeBron?

Nov 15, 2022

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor Reading High basketball legend Lonnie Walker likely felt he was making an upgrade when he signed last offseason with the Los Angeles Lakers. After all, the Lakers are one…

Bryce Harper and Phillies have finally extinguished the ghost of Chico Ruiz

Nov 9, 2022

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor To the rest of Major League Baseball in 1964, Chico Ruiz was an obscure outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds. To the Philadelphia Phillies he became a harbinger of doom. …

Phillies final game at Connie Mack Stadium turned into a horror story

Sep 14, 2022

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor In 1968 a movie carrying the title "The Night of the Living Dead" became an instant classic among the horror genre. The film, a zombie apocalypse, was shot outside Pittsburgh…

Dutch, Vuk, Stoney and Bo made for some fun times around the Phillies clubhouse

Jul 25, 2022

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor It was March 1995 and the Phillies were winding down spring training at their Clearwater, Fla., site. Everybody was itching to head north. Rookie reliever Ricky…

The Phillies’ ‘Stone Age’ quickly turned into a lot of rubble

Jun 28, 2022

How certain was the Phillies organization prior to the 1985 season that swift rookie outfielder Jeff Stone was destined to be the next best thing? So certain that the PR department dubbed the season The Stone Age. This after he…

Phillies ‘Wall of Shame’ would be built on solid foundation of draft busts

Apr 27, 2022

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor The Philadelphia Phillies hold the distinction of being the team with the most losses in Major League Baseball history. All you have to do is look up their list of…