The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 163

1 8 ZONE 6 NEIGHBORSTHE MORNING CALL. MAY It Mt v. This family has a different rooting interest .4 IH-I IPM lUl IP I UN NWmWII and that translates into a first-round draft TfJH A chanical Institute in Freeland, so that's what I did. "I'm sure he'd be proud of what Jay has gone on to do. We were always a very close family and continue to be close.

As for me, I grew up playing ball in mining towns near Hazleton where if you beat the home team you literally ran out of town or you'd get stoned by the hometown people. They took their baseball serious." Knoblauh's younger brother Jack married Rita Jean Owens of Easton and the family soon relocated with Jack's job to Houston where Jay was born. Meanwhile, Bernie's family, which settled in Bethlehem, was not without its own athletic success as his daughter, Susan, was a District II 500-meter freestyle swimming champ and a three-year letterwinner at Freedom High School. The athletic prowess of the family extends to Bernie's second cousin, Lisa Adams, who was a driving force on the Moravian women's basketball team the past few winters. Bernie Knoblauh follows all the developments.

After 30 years of working at the Bethlehem Steel before retiring in 1983, Knoblauh likes his new job as press gate man and does it well. In fact, when pop singer Whitney Houston spent 10 days choreographing her concert tour at Stabler last spring, Knoblauh didn't recognize her one day and didn't allow her through his post. "She laughed about it," he said. "I apologized to her, but she was real nice about it. Maybe it made her feel relaxed, like she was just one of the rest." Being busy at his press gate post and following his nephew's accomplishments certainly keeps Knoblauh feeling youthful.

"In my job, being around sports as I am, it does keep me young; it keeps me going," he said. "I know if Jay makes the majors, I'll go anywhere to watch him play. I'll go all over as long as I'm able to make it there. It'll be a real thrill for me." By KEITH GROLLER Of The Morning Call The city of Bethlehem is filled with college sports fans and naturally, most of them root for the local teams like Moravian and Lehigh, or national favorites like Penn State and Notre Dame. But at least one Bethlehem family has a very different rooting interest when it comes to college baseball.

The Knoblauh family at 3951 Washington Street hoots for the Owls of Rice University where Jay Knoblauh is not only the team's top offensive threat, but also one of the top baseball prospects in the country. Jay Knoblauh is the nephew of Bernie Knoblauh, the captain of the 1950 Moravian College baseball team and a four-year letterwinner in baseball and a three-year letterwinner in football during his Greyhound days. The older Knoblauh, who says he was "a steady .300 hitter but no long ball threat" in his collegiate days, still gets out to see his alma mater whenever he can and sees a lot of Lehigh University sporting events in his job as the press gate attendant at Stabler Arena. But when it comes to college baseball, Rice and his nephew are definitely No.l. "I'm a very proud uncle," he said recently, proudly wearing his Rice baseball cap.

"I went down to see him last year and the first time he came up to bat he hit a home run for me. He's the best athlete we've had in the family, that's for sure. "Plus, what's really nice about him is that he's a hustler; there's no hot dog about him. He's a real easy-going kid. Real down to earth." But while Jay Knoblauh's personality may be "down to earth" his numbers during his career at Rice have been out of this world.

He entered the '88 campaign as Rice's all-time leading hitter with a .340 batting average and the all-time leader in home runs with 28, including single-season records of 13 in both 1986 and '87. pick." Bernie Knoblauh reads just about every word written about his nephew. His brother, Jack, who lives in Houston, sends him clippings of Jay's games every week out of the Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News. If a story has something about Jay, Uncle Bernie will read about it. "I stay on top of what's going on with him and let people know what he's doing," said the older Knoblauh.

"In fact, when that Intercontinental Cup game was on the USA Network, I called all my friends and neighbors and told them to watch JayonTV." Knoblauh also tries to see his nephew play in person whenever possible. Last summer, he made a trip up to Massachusetts and got to see him play several Cape Cod League games. The Cape Cod League in recent years has been the breeding ground for such current major leaguers as Jeff Reardon, Ron Darling, Bobby Witt, Cory Snyder, John Tudor and Mike Pagli-arulo. Jay Knoblauh could be another proud alumnus of that league soon. "Playing major league baseball is certainly his fondest hope," said Bernie Knoblauh, "But he also knows that he's not going to play baseball all of his life.

That's why he's also a very good student. Most players spend the money as soon as they get it during their career and then don't know what to do when it ends. Jay won't be that way." Jay's near-certain journey toward a professional baseball career is certainly a long way from the lifestyle of his grandfather, John, a coal miner who labored hard for every penny he earned in Hazleton, where his sons Bernie and John, were born. "When I came to Bethlehem to go to Moravian, I felt like a coal region hayseed; I had never been out of Hazleton before," recalled Bernie Knoblauh. "My Dad worked hard in the mines.

And he was very strict. He was the law. What he said, you did. He wanted me to go to the Mining Me Bemie Knoblauh during his Moravian College baseball days As of May 1, he was hitting .360 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI in 53 games. Rice feels fortunate just to have Knoblauh around this year since he was drafted last year by the Oakland Athletics.

Instead of turning pro, however, Knoblauh decided to finish out his education and is a top candidate to make this year's USA Olympic team that will compete in Seoul. Among his many achievements thus far include being named Baseball America's top prospect at the National Baseball Congress World Series in '86; a first-team selection on The Sporting News ail-American squad last year and the stolen base crown while leading the U.S. team to a second place finish last fall in the Intercontinental Cup tournament played in Havana, Cuba. "There's no question he's one of the top kids," said Allan Simpson, editor of Baseball America. "We've heard that from from a lot of people.

He's one of the best three or four position players in America Bodybuilding: brains, brawn, hard work ethic plained that he never, ever gets angry and that he always finds time for them. "I try to help students understand how physical health relates to psychological health and vice versa. A good deal of cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease is stress related. So far, Amore has been able to take what looks like a stressful use of time and turn it into a productive, profitable and peaceful life. He's a bodybuilder with a heart of gold, a green thumb and when work's gotta get done, he gets it done.

hard, but Amore does have some steadfast rules. "My lunch hour is sacred," the soft-spoken, well-mannered man explained. "I try to fit in my training where I can." Amore has amassed a fine gym in his basement, but recently joined Gold's Gym on Catasauqua Road because he wanted to force himself to work out early in the morning. "One of the reason's I joined Gold's whose slogan is "The Mecca of Bodybuilding" is that I'm not at college during the summer, and after a day on the farm, I'm pretty exhausted. So I plan on working out early.

I stop by at 6 in the morning on my way to school, and I'll do it when school is over. "It's a great facility," he said of Gold's. "It's nice to have that kind of equipment, but the bottom line is expending the energy" Amore will compete once again in the fall, this time for Mr. North America, an AAU contest which will be held in Scranton. Next up on his agenda is a stint as one of the judges for the Natural Lehigh Valley contest, which is being sponsored by Gold's and run by Zebra Productions.

Amore is very much involved with the health aspect of taking care of one's mind and body. He has conducted several wellness clinics for the staff and student body at Allentown College. One student ex "I was still exercising, playing basketball two or three times a week and doing some light lifting. My 13-year-old daughter is doing some competing in beauty pageants and I thought it might be nice to get back into some competition." Amore did more than simply get back into competition, he blew it away. He stands 5-foot-7 and weighs a very lean 180-pounds for competitions.

He began competing again last summer and immediately won master's titles in the Natural Lehigh Valley, the Lehigh Valley Open and the Eastern States Championships before garnering the Mr. Pa. title at the Masonic Temple in Scranton. Most athletes are always pushed for time, either for training or for relaxation, but Amore thrives on making the most out of what little time he does have available. His greenhouses produce flowers for all the various holidays and he has about 10 acres and more greenhouses used for growing vegetables, selling produce and plants for backyard gardens.

He also has 90 acres of corn. "We grow about 90 acres of sweet corn," he said. "It's picked all by hand, seven days a week from 7 a.m. It's a ritual no ifs, ands or buts. We pick seven days a week from mid-July to mid-October.

"When it comes to training, I apply some of the same mentality." Trying to find time to train has been By GARY R. BLOCKUS Of The Morning Call Gregg Amore has worked on a farm all of his life. The 41-year-old owner of Gregg Amore's Farms and Greenhouses in Bath has a very simple, very farm-like approach to work. "If a job's gotta be done, you've gotta do it," he said last week. Amore has been able to apply that farm-sense to all areas of his life.

He holds a doctorate in psychology and is director of counseling at Allentown College, but that's only part of his story. You see, Amore is a top-notch bodybuilder, a combination of brains, brawn and the Puritan hard work ethic that helped mold the United States into a first class nation. He is coming off a fantastic year in which he captured all kinds of Masters Class titles, pretty impressive for a guy who gave up competitive bodybuilding about 10 years ago. He won the Mr. Lehigh Valley title back in 1973, then came back last summer to win the master's class of the same contest, the first person to do so in the event's storied history.

"In the last few years, they've added the masters class," Amore explained of his comeback, which saw him win the Mr. Pennsylvania title in Scranton late in March. "They didn't used to have them. 1 Gregg Amore poses during.