Sometime in the 1920’s Metro Moreshonish told his son ”You can do anything you want if you play baseball, anything.”  Metro Morekonich came to the United States from the Ukraine and settled in Western Pennyslvania to work as a Coalminer.    Metro Moreshonish would have a son born to him in 1919, whose birth name was Charlie.

Charlie Morekonich would become a rising star in the County Baseball leagues, the papers couldn’t fit his surname in the box score, so they printed, metro, him new nick name was “Little Metro”, later he became  ”Charlie Metro”

Charlie Metro worked the summers in the a Western Pennsylvania Coal mine, after surving a gas explosion Metro said “The Heck with that” and never returned.

Metro played in the major leagues from 1943 to 1945 with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics. He managed for parts of two seasons, with the 1962 Cubs and the 1970 Kansas City Royals. He also coached the 1965 Chicago White Sox and the 1982 Oakland Athletics. Although he had far longer service in the minor leagues, he will probably be best remembered as one of the great scouts and teachers in baseball history.

Charlie “was very demanding, and he insisted that we play hard every day.”  Said Lou Piniella, who played for Metro as a member of the Kansas City Royals 1970.

While Metro was a player with the Oakland Oak’s of the Pacific Coast League, Billy Martin was a bat boy, and Metro and the young Martin struck up a relationship.

” I mentored him. My family didn’t come out in August to Oakland, and he was one of these kids who hovered around the ballpark. And the trainer befriended him to keep him out of trouble. He was always there when I’d go out at 3 PM for a night game, and one day he said, “Hey Big Leaguer!” And I look at him and say, “Kid, what do you want?” He said, “Big Leaguer, throw me some batting practice.” And Red Adams was the trainer, so I went in and got the bag of balls from him.

So anyway, he said, ”You throw to me, then I’ll throw to you.” And I think he was 15 or so, early teens. I threw the whole bag of balls, he hit them all over, and then I said, “Okay kid, now it’s my turn.” The balls were all scattered all over the outfield, and he pauses before saying, “Oh, Red is calling me and I have to go in and shine shoes.” Later in 1983, as manager of the Oakland A’s Martin would bring Metro on as a coach for one season; enabling Metro to have enough time served to recieve his pension.

Metros best years as a Baseball man came in the late 70’s. In 1976 Metro was was hired by Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager Al Campanis to be his right-hand man, as a scout and talent evaluator. He accompanied the Dodgers on three trips to the World Series, in 1977, 1978 and 1981.

Metro, 90 years of age  lives in Virginia with his wife.