Bobby Ervin

One of the top amateur pitchers in Berks County during the 1940s and 1950s. Sportswriter Doc Silva remarked that Ervin was “the best baseball player in Berks history never to make the majors.” As a youth, he led 11th and Pike to two county titles, compiling a pitching record of 12–1 under coach Max Missbach. While at Reading High School in 1940–41, the Knights went 27–2 in the East Penn League, winning the title both years under Hal Rock and Johnny Smith, with Ervin posting a 13–2 record. He played for the Gregg Post Legion team that won the state title in 1940 and finished runner-up in 1941, recording an 11–2 pitching mark. Ervin also starred for Clover Farms in the 1940s and East Ends in the 1950s under coach Joe McLaughlin’s Dairymen, going 10–0 in 1946 as the team finished 32–0 and striking out 177 batters in 1944, averaging 12 per game. From 1941 to 1948, Clover Farms compiled a 160–66 record, with Ervin contributing 57–14 of that total. He briefly played in the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system in the early 1940s for Johnston, coached by Branch Rickey, Jr., and for Brownsville, North Carolina, in the Appalachian League, earning a 13–5 record in professional baseball before injuries sidelined his career.

Deceased