I Found A Baseball Game My Great Grandfather Played In During 1922

Being the passionate baseball fan and sports journalist I am, I decided to do some investigating roughly a year ago into my great grandfather, Walter Konareski. Walter was born on October 5th, 1907, in Schenectady, New York, to Polish immigrant parents. He would end up moving to New Haven, Connecticut, on an unknown date and would live on Hallock Street. 

I never met him, but from what I was told by my grandfather (his son) and my mother (his granddaughter), he was a semi-professional baseball player and was pretty good at what he did, but drinking would ultimately cost him any shot at a professional career.

So, I immediately began investigating, looking through old records, newspaper articles and any traceable game logs. I didn’t find too much, but that’s what I expected, as any baseball league that wasn’t Major League Baseball didn’t keep their records or game logs stored. Not even minor league baseball games logs can be found prior to the 1980s unless you find a sheet that was at the game itself – so newspaper archives or photos are widely the only way to go for information, especially pre-1930s.

Here's what I found:

(last updated August 6th, 2026)

Walter Konareski was in a newspaper from May 4th, 1922 in the Semi-Pro baseball section of the Times Union paper, which was based in Brooklyn, New York. That would have made him 15 at the time (born 1907), which is young but it was very common back then for teens to be playing semi pro baseball or even in unaffiliated non-MLB leagues. 

Konareski is misspelled as Konarski, missing the ‘e’, which was very common and a similar mispelling actually happened to my grandfather himself in the baseball section of his yearbook

A page out of the Hillhouse year book showcases my grandfather Edward Konareski on the Hillhouse baseball team -- his name is misspelled as "Konerski"

From what I found, my great grandfather played for Kenwood A.C Inc (Athletic Club), but there are no traces as to what exact league it was in. The game showcasing my grandfather was in the Amateur semi-pro baseball section of the Times Union Paper.

The Times Union Paper (dated May 4th, 1922) showcases a player named Konarski

Kenwood A.C was based in New Haven, Connecticut, during the early and mid-20th century.

-- I originally thought it to be a team from Kenwood, New York, as it's roughly a 15-minute drive from Schenectady, but all signs point this Kenwood team to be from Connecticut.

This team was known for participating in local leagues and was part of the rich baseball culture in the New Haven area.

Kenwood A.C. often played at venues such as Howard Avenue Grounds (Hamilton Park) and Yale Field, which were central to New Haven’s baseball scene during that time. Although it is unclear where this particular game took place

The newspaper shows him as a 2nd baseman, which was likely his secondary position, as he played primarily as a pitcher and had the nickname ‘Lefty Konareski’. According to the newspaper he went 0-3 with 1 run, and he was hit by a pitch during the game which Kenwood won over Hollywood A.C, 5-2.

Besides this game and this box score, I have hit 0-for-1,000 when it comes to any further attempts to garner more information.

No photos of Walter in his early/late teens exist, using a teenage facial photo of his son, Edward, who looked like him during his early years. I was able to make a rendering of what Walter possibly may have looked like during his early baseball days.

Walter would pass away in March of 1977, and my grandfather Edward Konareski Sr., would pass away in December of 2022. I do hope to find more information on my great grandfather Walter to add to this article in the future so my great grandfather’s legacy and memory lives on, while also allowing others to learn about his athletic background.

– If anyone happens to have the miracle of more information, please email it to dominickonareski@icloud.com

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