Mt. Lebanon’s Happ hauls in the honors
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ addresses the crowd during his induction into his alma mater’s Hall of Fame. Happ entered the Mt. Lebanon Hall of Champions as a Distinguished Blue Devil.
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ was inducted into the Mt. Lebanon Hall of Champions as a Distinguished Blue Devil along with former Major Leaguers Josh Wilson and Don Kelly as well as baseball manager Eddie McCloskey. Happ is pictured with his former high school coach Patt McCloskey as well as Wilson and McCloskey.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Ian Happ celebrated his induction into the Mt. Lebanon Hall of Champions with his mother, Mary Beth, Carol. McCloskey, and his future bride, Julie Mazur.
Aside from the Houston Astros, few MLB players have had a busier November than Ian Happ from Mt. Lebanon.
At the start of the 11th month, the Chicago Cubs left fielder won his first Gold Glove. He was one of 14 first-time winners to capture the prestigious defensive award.
On the evening of Nov. 5, when the Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1, to win their second World Series in franchise history, Happ was inducted into his alma mater’s Hall of Fame. He entered as a Distinguished Blue Devil, along with two other MLB products .
The Cape Cod Baseball League came calling next, and on Nov. 20, Happ entered those hallowed halls.
While in Massachusetts, he played two summers with the Harwich Mariners. In his first season, he led the team in nearly every category: hitting .293 with seven doubles, five home runs, 22 runs scored, 22 RBI, 13 stolen bases and a .469 slugging percentage. In 2014, Happ finished ninth in the league batting at .329 with 12 doubles, four home runs, 26 RBI, 25 runs, and eight stolen bases. In 2014, while batting .329 with 12 doubles, four homers and 26 RBI, Happ led his team to a division title and was named an all-star.
Happ admitted it’s been a November, not to mention a season, to remember. In addition to his Gold Glove, Happ played in his first MLB All-Star game.
“It’s been amazing,” he said during the Hall of Champions ceremony. “I felt like I did a lot of things well but there is always room for growth and improvement. A lot of personal goals,” he added are yet to be achieved.
Though he was only five when his parents, Mary Beth and Keith, moved the family to Mt. Lebanon, Happ forged friendships that enabled him to accomplish many of his goals. Happ made sure to mention them all during his acceptance speech when he returned for his induction into the Mt. Lebanon Hall of Champions.
“There were a lot of people that had an impact on me,” he said.
For starters, there were coaches.
Ed McCloskey taught him the fundamentals by using a traffic cone with a rubber peg cradling an orange dimpled ball in the Wildcat batting cages at Seymour Field.
“I learned to hit from (McCloskey). He’s the best ever at it,” he said. “He taught me so much.”
Happ learned the art of switch hitting from Mike Wilson. The Mt. Lebanon resident coached at Duquesne University.
“That changed my life,” said Happ, who bats from the left side of the plate more often than not with the Cubs.
By playing for Mike Saghy’s Steel City Wildcats AAU baseball team, Happ gained exposure to collegiate scouts. He earned a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati where he batted .338 with 25 home runs and 107 RBI in three seasons. He also garnered an All-America acclaim, was a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist and gained Conference Player of the Year laurels for the Bearcats.
Happ also bonded with Patt McCloskey. The Blue Devils’ manager mentored him through a scholastic career that featured a .449 career batting average with 33 doubles, five triples, 12 home runs and 65 RBIs in four seasons, a top-8 finish in the PIAA state tournament as well as Almanac MVP honors to go along with all-section and all district acclaim. A two-time team captain, Happ was also nominated for the New York Yankees East Coast Pro Showcase/Area Code game in 2011 and received a 2012 Rawlings All-Atlantic Region honorable mention from Perfect Game.
As a youth, Happ admired McCloskey. As a man, he shares a brother-like relationship with his former manager and current confidant.
“It’s hard not to talk about Patt without getting emotional,” Happ said. “He was there with me as a kid, running and pulling sleds and doing the craziest stuff. I tried to do what he told me and tried to have his work ethic.
“Patt taught me what what it meant to really care about something and to believe in yourself and to have that mental toughness, especially when overcoming adversity. He was so far ahead of the game and what he was thinking.
“There is no doubt in my mind that if my family had not moved to Mt. Lebanon, I would not have gotten to experience having Patt as my high school coach and I wouldn’t be in the big leagues. There is no question in my mind that he is the reason I am there. He’s the difference.”
Former Mt. Lebanon players like Josh Wilson as well as Donny Kelly and even Anthony Paladino, made a difference in Happ’s career. Wilson and Kelly are former major leaguers who also were inducted into Lebo’s Hall of Champions as Distinguished Blue Devils.
Wilson played for nine different MLB teams while Kelly excelled with the Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins before becoming a bench coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wilson, who was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year his senior year, and Kelly were part of Mt. Lebanon’s 1998 PIAA state championship club.
“Their impact on me as a kid was tremendous,” Happ said. “At Mt. Lebanon, there’s an unbelievable precedent established here.”
Wilson also set a pattern that Happ follows today. He gives back as Wilson did.
For example, Wilson gave Happ an Easton glove that he used throughout his entire high school career. Happ also swung a 34-inch bat for no other reason than Wilson did that too. Today, Happ donates his time, money and equipment to the Mt. Lebanon baseball programs.
According to McCloskey, Happ showed what it means to be a distinguished Blue Devils when during the 2020 pandemic he set up a Zoom call with the 10 seniors who had their season canceled. He talked to the players for over an hour as if he was one of them. “He told amazing stories and the kids hung on his every word,” McCloskey said.
Happ then followed up the conversation by sending a package of gear from Under Armour to all of the seniors. “No-one asked him to do it. He just did it,” McCloskey said.
Happ took the No. 8 for no other reason that it reminded him of Mt. Lebanon. Since he was a kid he donned the jersey digit because Anthony Paladino wore it.
“I think of him every time I put it on in the big leagues,” Happ said. “Those are the things and why Mt. Lebanon is such a special place to me. It’s because of the people who care so much. I’m so proud to be a Blue Devil,” he added.
Happ is also pleased to be a Gold Glove winner. At the beginning of the 2022 campaign, he appeared on the highlight reels for his defense almost every week. Midway through the year there was talk about him being a candidate, not to mention an all-star.
Of the distinction, McCloskey said that it was “neat” to see because the knock on Happ early in his career had been his defense.
“They said he could play all the positions but we wasn’t good at any of them,” he said. “So to emerge as a dominant player on defense is another way that he showed that he is good no matter what anybody said about him along the way.”
Happ said he worked on his defense. Plus, he settled into his permanent slot in left field for the Cubs. Some of his defensive achievements included: eight assists, which ranked him third among MLB outfielders; 14 runs saved and a career-high 1,233 1/3 innings in left field to ranked second in the league.
Happ, who played shortstop throughout his scholastic and collegiate career, acknowledged a permanent position and his consistent work ethic produced this cherished honor.
“It’s really cool,” he enthused. “I feel like all the work I put in defensively was rewarded.
Happ said he remembered how McCloskey put together an ‘amazing’ video for the players to watch. It was all MLB plays with plenty of infield shots to keep Happ’s attention but some outfield ones as well
“I was shortstop at the time but watching all those plays, thinking how cool they were. To be able to now have a golden glove and be in that company is special,” Happ said.
“I think,” he added, “that I improved because I finally got to play one position. I bounced all over. I played six, seven spots. So just really having one spot and be out there and learn and I felt I was improving day in and day out. I always believed that I could do it. I just needed the opportunity and to capitalize on it.”
Happ always capitalizes on his chances to come home to Mt. Lebanon. He said he was honored to return for his induction.
“It’s awesome to be back and see so many faces and people that have been important to me. I remember seeing the Hall of Champions and Hall of Fame in school and seeing my brother’s picture and his trophy there because he had won a WPIAL championship. That was so much motivation for me.
“It’s such a real honor and one of the coolest things is that I went in with other great baseball inductees. Guys like Don and Josh set the precedent and Eddie is an absolute legend. So to be able to celebrate with them is the most important thing to me. I have so many special memories here.”
In 2023, Happ will continue to make more. Next November promises to be even more memorable, too. Happ will wed his fiancé Julie Mazur that month.
“I’m super excited about that,” Happ said. We’ve been together for a while, so it’s exciting. Julie has been completely supportive of my career. She’s been there every step of the way. I can’t say enough about how much that means.”
Ian Happ, Don Kelly, Josh Wilson and Coach Eddie McCloskey were not the only inductees into Mt. Lebanon’s athletic hall of fame.
Former coaches Mike Agostinella (cross country, track), Dick Black (basketball) and Joe Herschel (football, track) joined the foursome as Distinguished Blue Devils.
Former athletes Meghan Gannon Anderson (track, soccer) and Hannah Russell (cross country, track) also were honored as Distinguished Blue Devils during a ceremony held Nov. 5 at the St. Clair Country Club.
The 2022 football, basketball and baseball teams entered the Hall of Champions by virtue of their WPIAL championships. The football team also captured a PIAA title.
Eighteen athletes joined the Hall of Champions. Criteria for entry is being a WPIAL or PIAA champion or gaining accolades such as first-team All-State or All-America honors.
Among the 2022 individual inductees were:
• Reagan Murdoch – girls lacrosse All American
• Addison Murdoch – girls lacrosse All American
• Luke Stout – WPIAL and PIAA winner in wrestling
• Mac Stout – WPIAL wrestling champion
• Lindsey Powanda – WPIAL girls golf winner
• Sylvia Roy – WPIAL champion in swimming for the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke.
• Ashleigh Connor – All-State basketball
• Jenna Gorecki – All State softball
• Elizabeth Kubancek – All-State softball
• Deirdre Flaherty -All-State softball
• Eli Heidenreich – All-State football
• Joey Daniels – All State football
• Alex Tecza – All State football; All-American boys lacrosse
• Kade Capristo – All-State football
• Will Harvey – All-State football
• Joe Gibbons – All American boys lacrosse
• Charlie Pellegrino -All American boys lacrosse
• Logan St. John Kletter -All State cross country