Butler native, Sarver resident writing book about 1968 ABA champions
SARVER — Steve Vacendak, Charlie Williams, Jim Jarvis, Tom Washington ... those names would not register with most Pittsburgh sports fans.
They resonate well will Butler native and Sarver resident Mark Whited.
Those four were members of the 1968 ABA champion Pittsburgh Pipers. Whited, 65, remembers the team well and is in the process of writing a book about the team.
“They’re a fascinating story,” Whited said. “The Pipers ended that season with only four players they began the year with, yet they won it all.”
This book — which Whited hopes he finishes by spring — has been years in the making. He researched and found the 12 living members of that 1968 team, traveled to and met with each one of them.
The 50th anniversary of the Pipers’ championship season was May of 2018 “and it came and went without fanfare,” Whited said. “In terms of history, people in this region seem to have forgotten about this team.
“I’m a retired Marine and have been to a lot of places. I remember being in Norway and seeing a Norwegian soldier reading a book about the Steelers. There are Steeler bars everywhere. Books have been written about Pirates and Penguins championship seasons. Not much has been written about the Pipers.
“I decided to take that on,” Whited added.
The Pipers finished 54-24 in 1968. Their playoff run included a three-game sweep of the Indiana Pacers and best-of-seven series wins over the New Orleans Buccaneers and Minnesota Muskies. Their average attendance at the Civic Arena was 3,200.
Ironically, the Pipers moved to Minneapolis the following year — but not because of poor attendance.
“George Mikan was the ABA’s commissioner and lived in Minneapolis,” Whited said. “The Muskies moved to Miami after that 1968 season and Mikan wanted a franchise in Minnesota. Gabe Rubin owned the Pipers and Mikan bought controlling interest in the team and moved it.
“The franchise failed miserably in Minnesota and the Pipers returned to Pittsburgh the following year. They remained the Pipers for one more year before being renamed the Condors. Most people don’t know that.”
The late Connie Hawkins led the ABA in scoring, averaging 26.8 points per game for the Pipers during their championship season. Washington was one of the best shot blockers in the league and led the ABA in field goal percentage. Whited interviewed Hawkins’ grandson for the book.
Ira Harge was a center, Vacendak and Williams guards. The Pipers made numerous trades that season, the biggest being a deal that brought forward Art Heyman to the team. He was a former first-round draft pick of the NBA’s New York Knicks.
“Heyman was known as a flake, a wild type pf personality nobody could control,” Whited said. “(Pipers coach) Vince Cazzetta was somehow able to reel him in, got him to effectively play with his teammates. He was a big part of that team’s success.
“Barry Leibowitz was involved in the trade for Art Heyman. I found him in Fort Lauderdale. Dexter Westbrook played five games with the Pipers, was from Harlem, spent three years in prison because of drugs, the past 40 years as a counselor.
“We organized a reunion of all the living Pipers and Westbrook was able to come. The other players were thrilled. They had lost track of him,” Whited said.
Just as many have lost track of the Pipers.
“They’re a great story worth knowing about,” Whited said. “I’ve had the experience of a lifetime doing this.”
