North Allegheny's Failla headlines newest WPIAL Hall of Fame class
Paul Failla's passion was football, but when Willie Stargell gives you his can of root beer and Andy Van Slyke offers a ride in his Porsche 911, baseball suddenly looked more attractive.
Playing both sports turned out well for Failla, leading him to Notre Dame, minor league baseball and, finally, to the WPIAL Hall of Fame. Failla, a 1991 North Allegheny graduate, was announced Thursday as one of 18 members of the Class of 2015, the league's ninth. Induction ceremonies will be June 12 during a dinner at the DoubleTree by Hilton in GreenTree.
Failla said he had no trouble balancing two sports in high school, college or even professionally when he played indoor football and in the now-defunct XFL.
“I never thought about it that way,” he said. “They were just the sports I always played in my backyard growing up.”
At North Allegheny, he played quarterback and threw for 2,576 yards and rushed for 844, winning WPIAL and PIAA championships as a senior. He also played shortstop, hitting .435 while winning Pennsylvania Player of the Year honors and two WPIAL titles.
Failla became drawn to baseball at a young age when his father, Jack, was the Pirates' team physician. That's where he met Stargell one day on the team bus.
“My mother had packed me a lunch, and I carried it onto the bus when Stargell sits down in the seat across the aisle,” Failla said. “He asked me what I had in the bag and offered to trade me his two A&W Root Beers for my potato chips. From that point on, he always called me P.C.”
Failla's family was close with several Pirates, many of whom were invited to dinner at the house. Stargell often threw batting practice to Failla at Three Rivers Stadium.
When Failla was a high school sophomore, he injured his knee and was laid up at home. Not long after that, Van Slyke showed up and offered him a ride in his sports car.
“We rode all over Franklin Park,” Failla said.
When Failla began to focus on baseball, he was drafted in the third round by the California Angels in 1994. He spent four years in the minors before going to IUP to play quarterback for his final season of eligibility.
The remaining members of the 2015 Hall of Fame class include: Upper St. Clair golfer Missie Berteotti; football players Jeff Christy of Freeport, Tom Tumulty of Penn Hills and Joe Lafko of Frazier; Monessen basketball player Gina Naccarato, Mt. Lebanon swimmer Kaitlyn E. Orstein-Fife; coaches Joe Hamilton, Ed Olkowski, Corky Semler and Dave Warner; the 1990 Penn Hills girls basketball team and the 1971 Kiski Area football team.
Also named for induction are New Brighton's Tito Francona, the Heritage Award winner; official Kathy Ridilla; contributor Howard Crawford; and Courage Award winners Jaime Vick Moran (posthumous) and Ellen Toy.
Jerry DiPaola is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
