Jim Pransky had thought he’d seen just about everything in his nearly 40 years around professional baseball.

After all, Pransky’s stops around the diamond included two years as the head coach of St. Bonaventure followed by close to 30 years as a MLB scout for three organizations.

But when he came across Mark Corey as a prospect in the mid-1990s, his story never quite left him.

So, when Pransky decided to begin writing about some of the players he’s scouted and coached over the years, Corey was an obvious choice.

That developed into “Austin Pa’s Major Leaguer,” a biography that not only traces Corey’s determined path to pitch in the big leagues, but also the role of youth athletics — specifically baseball — in the small towns in McKean and Potter Counties.

“I have always written about guys that I knew,” Pransky said. “Either those I drafted or those that I at least knew of their character. Also, guys that weren’t stars. I wanted to write about guys that nobody else would ever write about. Basically, I didn’t want to write about the (Derek) Jeter’s or the (Tony) La Russa’s that have tons of books.”

Pransky, a graduate of Otto-Eldred High School, has written biographies on other major leaguers such as journeyman catcher John Flaherty and former MLB pitcher Neal Cotts.

“It’s as if the celebrities have the only stories in this country,” Pransky said. “They may have a story, and it may be a good one, but they don’t own them all. I think we can open up our experiences to learn and be inspired from a lot of different people.”

The fascinating tidbits surrounding Corey’s life and his career led to the book practically writing itself, according to Pransky.

Corey became a sought-after prospect after dominating at Division II Edinboro in 1994. Pransky, scouting for the Houston Astros at the time, wasn’t just impressed with the right-hander’s arm — he also recognized the last name.

“I saw the last name of Corey from Austin, and I began to wonder,” Pransky said. “Sure enough, he was the son of Ed, who I knew since the 1960s.”

Ed Corey was a member of the Coudersport basketball teams that

Pransky’s Astros ended up passing on Corey — as did plenty of other MLB organizations — until the Cincinnati Reds selected him in the fourth round (122nd overall).

Nearly 60 players who were drafted before Corey never made it to the bigs.

“This guy is from Austin, PA,” said Pransky. “They aren’t supposed to be producing major leaguers.”

Corey graduated with just 18 kids, meaning opportunities were very limited for athletes at his alma mater. For baseball, Corey joined the Coudersport American Legion team to play in the summer — for just eight weeks a year.

Plenty of scouts were amazed that Corey had such limited time on the diamond, but they couldn’t ignore his talent, according to Pransky.

Corey’s MLB career hit several speed bumps, and although he was a closer at the minor league level, he was never afforded the opportunity to save games in the majors.

Despite that, Corey has never been bitter about his baseball career.

“In all of my conversations with Mark, he never was upset or blamed a manager for anything,” Pransky said. “He thought it was great to be in the big leagues and he didn’t want to complain about his path to pitching.”

Corey appeared in 81 games over four seasons with three different teams.

“A lot of guys don’t give it another year or an extra try, but Mark did,” Pransky said. “No matter the record of his ERA, he got there. He will have that forever.

Although Pransky set out to focus solely on Corey in the book, he soon began to realize that the rich history of PA baseball might have to change those plans.

A couple weeks into writing, Pransky also began to dive into the major league careers of Brian Stavisky (Port Allegany), Randy Cooney (Austin) and Josh Kinney (Port Allegany).

Pransky makes sure to give a disclaimer to readers when they open the book.

“I said right in the introduction that this will be something you’re not used to reading,” Pransky said with a laugh. “But nobody has told me they don’t like the format.”

While Pransky is sure that others have gone through similar experiences in small communities such as Austin, Emporium, and Shinglehouse all across the country, he wants sports fans — especially kids — to grasp just how unique it is.  

“There’s such a great history here and I think it’s important for young people to know that,” Pransky said. “The only thing new is the history you don’t know. Sometimes kids think they are the first people to accomplish certain things. And while that’s great, if you go back there’s usually someone who has done it too somewhere down the line.”

In addition to the biography being available for purchase on Amazon and the usual lineup of online retailers, Pransky also wanted his book to have a presence in the communities that he featured.

The book is available for purchase at local bookstores and business all across McKean and Potter Counties, including the Austin Historical Society building.

“It’s amazing how much athletes can give such a good feeling to a community, he said. “It brings the town together.”

“I just think it’s a feel-good story and I think we need more of those. There’s enough negativism around and I don’t see any need to add to it.”

Pransky, who now resides in Davenport, Iowa, said he is always looking for that next local story that those in his hometown can connect to.

“I really enjoyed writing this book,” he said. “I’m sure there’s plenty of feel-good stories around the area that I just need to become more aware of. I never plan on selling 100,000 copies of my books, and that’s not the point. These are stories that local communities can be proud of.”