The Spirit
PHILADELPHIA WEATHER

Speaking of Sports



 

 

With the most recent passing of Pete D’Ambrosio, I thought it would be appropriate to reprint an article I wrote about him five years ago. This is that column as it appeared in local newspapers. As the 1961-62 NBA season was coming to a close, so was the officiating career of long-time NBA referee Pete D’Ambrosio. He had been officiating in the league since 1954, and was now ready to hang up his stripped shirt and whistle.

Before the season ended, he had a few more games to officiate, and one of those games was in Hershey, PA on March 2.

“I left my home in West Philadelphia and drove to Reading to pick up Willie Smith, who was working the game with me,” remembered D’Ambrosio. “We then drove together to Hershey. When I worked in the NBA, there were only two refs for each game.”

What D’Ambrosio and Smith didn’t know at the time, was that after the game, they would be forever linked to perhaps the most noteworthy game in basketball history.

Pete D’Ambrosio (in the center), seen here on the Villanova baseball team, was one of two officials that, years later, referred the NBA game where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points.

Pete D’Ambrosio (in the center), seen here on the Villanova baseball team, was one of two officials that, years later, referred the NBA game where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points.

In that game against the New York Knicks, Wilt Chamberlain shot 36-of-63 from the field and a remarkable 28-of- 32 from the foul line for an unheard total of 100 points.

D’Ambrosio recalled, “Before the game started, I had felt that there was really nothing special about it. The season was almost over and the playoff spots had been decided. The only reason it was played was because it was on the schedule. The last thing anyone expected was basketball history.

“As we all remember, Wilt was a bad free thrower, but he started that game by hitting most of them. I then began to think that maybe he could have a big night. But 100 points, no way.”

Chamberlain’s last basket came after teammate Joe Ruklick passed him the ball for a layup. As Harvey Pollack remembered, “The ball went through the rim with 46 seconds left, the fans rushed on the court and the game ended there.”

“The game was a real pain in the neck to call, said D’Ambrosio. “The last three minutes of the game took about 20 minutes. It got a little bit chaotic there at the end. It was a problem. The Knicks were jumping on guys just to keep the ball away from Wilt. Then New York would get the ball, and Philly would foul.

“After the game, I remember everyone in the crowd ran out onto the floor when Wilt scored 100. I am not sure what happened next, but Willie and I went to the dressing room before they even got the floor cleared.

“Wilt was such a phenom that Willie and I took it for granted. When he scored 100, it was mentioned on the news and in the papers, but it wasn’t the kind of huge event that it would be today. That’s because we weren’t able to put Wilt into context like we can now.”

D’Ambrosio was lucky to be there, doing that game that night because a lot of referees are forgotten about real quick when they retire from officiating.

“Those 100 points have made people remember me for the past 51 years,” said D’Ambrosio.

D’Ambrosio was born and raised in West Philadelphia and began playing sports at the local playground.

“We all played at Sherwood Playground,” recalled D’Ambrosio. There was a guy from the recreation department by the name of Ed Panck who organized us kids.” At West Philadelphia High School, D’Ambrosio played basketball for coach Ben Stackowski and was a teammate of Art Spector, who was 6’7” and later played in the NBA.

In the spring, he was the shortstop on the baseball squad with teammate Max Patkin, who would later become the “Clown Prince of Baseball.”

D’Ambrosio remembered, “In our final game of the year, Patkin was pitching for us and had 16 strikeouts in a game against Overbrook.”

After graduating in 1939, D’Ambrosio continued playing baseball in the Industrial League and Class D baseball in the minors in West Virginia. However, because of World War II, his pro baseball career was cut short when he was drafted into the Army, where he served for the next four years.

After his discharge from the service, D’Ambrosio attended Villanova University where he played baseball for the Wildcats for two years.

“I always wanted to be a baseball umpire,” said D’Ambrosio. “So, I left Villanova, and in 1949, I began umpiring high school and college games. Then I became an umpire in the minor leagues and the International League, hoping to get to the majors, but it just didn’t happen for me.

“I went to Florida for spring training, but I guess they didn’t like the way I worked a game because I went back to the International League that spring.”

D’Ambrosio continued to umpire in the International League until 1964 when he retired from baseball.

However, it will always be Wilt’s game in Hershey that has made him a footnote in sports history.

“Willie and I were always amazed at Wilt’s performance that night,” recalled D’Ambrosio, “but I also remember a game I worked in Madison Square Garden where Elgin Baylor scored a then-record 71 points.”

“I got to know Wilt pretty well and he was easy to referee for,” explained D’Ambrosio. “People don’t realize it, but I worked one of Wilt’s games early in my career when he was in ninth grade.”

After a game in Hershey one year, D’Ambrosio and Earl Strom stopped at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant and the Warriors’ team was also there. In the parking lot, Chamberlain saw D’Ambrosio’s 1956 Plymouth station wagon and yelled with a smile, “Yo Pete, go get yourself a better car!”

“If I had your money, Wilton,” replied D’Ambrosio, “I’d have a better car.”

D’Ambrosio continued, “I really liked Chamberlain. He was a good kid.”

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