Northside sports author releases second book

By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

*Editor's note: The online version of this article features an additional paragraph which was removed from the print edition due to space limitations.

Following a strong positive reception to his 2023 “Pittsburgh’s Historic Ballparks,” Northsider Mark Fatla has released a sequel book, this time branching out from the sport of his first history piece.

Titled “Pittsburgh’s Historic Stadiums and Arenas,” the book examines the history of the venues for hockey, football, and basketball, as well as some baseball stadiums. Fatla said that he was inspired to write the book by fans of the first one asking him “what about hockey, football and basketball?”

This request did come with its own challenge for the author.

“The one difficulty is, I’m a baseball fan,” Fatla told The Chronicle. “I knew baseball, and while I’m a football, hockey and basketball fan to a degree, I wasn’t anywhere near as familiar with the particularly early history of the sports.”

This meant he had to do a “whole lot” more research and self-education to “get it right” for this follow-up book. However, this also meant he had more surprises to discover in the course of his research.

One such surprise was learning about Schenley Park Casino, which was built in Oakland in 1895. While often forgotten today, Fatla said the Park Casino was the first indoor artificial ice hockey rink in North America and hosted the first organized hockey game in Pittsburgh, and Fatla called it the “birthplace” of professional hockey.

Despite this impact, the building did not last long. A chemical leak in the freezing system caused the Schenley Park Casino to burn down on Dec. 17, 1896.

“It was very significant, but only had an 18-month life,” Fatla said.

The most challenging sport for the author to research was basketball. Fatla said there’s probably been “the least written about early basketball” compared to other major sports, and the early days were “chaotic, to say the least.”

Leagues formed and fell within a year or two, teams changed hands and names often, making research into early basketball very tricky.

However, Fatla did find one of his favorite stories of the book out of his research into basketball. It dealt with a basketball team in the 1920s owned by a haberdasher whose store was called “Second Story Morry’s.” Rather than being named after an animal or something associated with the city they’re from like most modern sports franchises, this basketball team was named after their owner’s business, therefore bearing the name “The Second Story Morry’s.” This bizarre title won Fatla’s appreciation.

“Nobody has ever heard of them now, but what a great team name,” Fatla said.

Overall, Fatla said his experience on the first book made writing his second easier, especially as he had gotten used to the format used by the publisher, Arcadia Publishing. Arcadia books are made up of photos with 50-75 word captions, rather than pages of text. Fatla said he tries to build a narrative out of this limited format, having photos tied into those around them to make it more like a story.

Fatla also has plans for future books, with two options potentially serving as his third work. The first would be a definitive history of the first decade of professional football. The other would be a pictorial history of Honus Wagner, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1897 to 1917.

In the meantime, “Pittsburgh’s Historic Stadiums and Arenas” can be purchased at several Northside businesses, including Sweet Time General Store, The Priory Hotel, Johnny Angel’s Ginchy Stuff, Mayfly Market and City Books. It can also be purchased at Barnes & Noble and online through Arcadia (arcadiapublishing.com) or on Amazon, though Fatla recommends readers "buy it at your local retailers, particularly on the Northside.”