A Stroll Down Memory Lane
Russ
rubbed elbows with such diamond legends as Grove, DiMaggio, and Williams
Bygone
baseball: The unfamiliar, the
unusual, the dramatic
By
C. Philip Francis
Some
call it The Glory Years. To others
it might be The Game That Was. Chatter
from the Dugout calls it Bygone Baseball. Name
it what you will but it is still old time baseball as it used to be.
And could there be a revival of interest in the players and the game of
old? Those of us who enjoy a stroll
down baseball’s memory lane can pick up one of several new books written by a
player from the flannel uniform era.
Check out ninety year-old Elden Auker’s baseball memoirs, Sleeper
Cars and Flannel Uniforms, or
ninety-three year-old Bill Werber’s Memories
of a Ballplayer, he being the last surviving contact with the 1927 New York
Yankees. Or how about the Detroit
Tigers’ fine radio announcer, Ernie Harwell, who has just given us his new and
fourth book - Stories From My Life in
Baseball? And there’s even
more.
Russ
Kemmerer, a former Major League pitcher of the 1950’s and ‘60’s and a
regular reader of the Chatter from the Dugout, has sent us some of his favorite
memories that we are most pleased to share one with you.
Russell Paul “Russ” Kemmerer was born on November 1, 1931 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and began his baseball career in the Boston Red Sox organization. His big league debut was in June of 1954, and went on to compile a rookie record of 5 and 3. He had nine years in the “bigs” before retiring after the 1963 season.
Last February Russ spent quality time at some Florida golf outings where he again had the chance to see some of the great players from the 1940’s, ‘50’s, and ‘60’s, and stayed with a very good friend of his – Elden Auker.
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My only goal as a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was to become a major league baseball player. I signed with the Boston Red Sox after attending the University of Pittsburgh for one year on an athletic scholarship. I was invited to spring training with the Red Sox following my first pro season. I was still on the roster as we headed to Boston to begin the season, but soon optioned to Louisville of the American Association, Boston’s top farm club, when it became apparent that a young prospect need to pitch every fourth or fifth day. I began the following season with Louisville but was called up early in May. Leading the American Association with an earned run average of 2.08 had a lot to do with my promotion to the majors. That was the fulfillment of my childhood goal! I was a big league baseball player, on the same team as Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr, and Vern Stephens, just to name a few. It was the one tremendous thrill in my baseball life that was shared with four clubs: Boston, Washington, Chicago of the American League, and Houston of the National League. It was a career filled with ups and downs, but always grounded upon the fact that I had reached a goal, something that few people in this world are able to accomplish.
I
have often been asked if pitching a one-hitter in my first start was the
highlight of my career. Without
hesitation I can answer no! As I
look back and remember the years, I am most
pleased with one accomplishment - making the majors and able to play against the
best baseball had to offer for almost ten years. However, there is one special day that I will always remember
as long as I live. During my rookie
season with the Red Sox we traveled to New York to play the Yankees.
It was my first trip to the “House That Ruth Built”.
More importantly was the fact that it was a day declared as Old Timer’s
Day. Baseball stars of the past and
Hall of Fame players were invited back to take part in the ceremony.
The depth of it all suddenly exploded upon me, I was standing on the same
field as George Sisler, Bill Terry, Frank Frisch, Mel Clark, Gabby Hartnet,
Charles Gehringer, Pie Traynor, Lefty Grove, Joe Cronin, Carl Hubbell, Joe
DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Paul Waner, Jimmie Foxx, and Roger Hornsby.
I
stood there with tears running down my cheeks, unashamed!
It truly was a “Field of Dreams”, an experience and a memory that I
would cherish for the remainder of my life.
I have a baseball signed by seventeen Hall of Fame players that I can pass onto my grandchildren, but they will never be able to capture that day of glory I experienced. This was and always will be my biggest thrill.
A Stroll Down Memory Lane
Who
was the greatest hitter he ever faced?
Bygone
baseball: The unfamiliar, the
unusual, the dramatic
By
C. Philip Francis
Part
2
Right-hand pitcher Russ Kemmerer began his big league career with the Boston Red Sox in 1954, and was a starter and reliever for four teams during his nine-year career. He has sent us some of his favorite baseball memories that we are most pleased to share with our readers of Chatter from the Dugout.
*
I signed my first professional baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox in 1950. I was fortunate enough to pitch in the major leagues for almost ten years. The majority of those years I spent in the American League with Boston, Washington, and the Chicago White Sox. I joined the Houston club of the National League for the final two years of my career.
I believe that the late 1940’s, ‘50’s, and ‘60’s will be remember as the era that produced many of the greatest players in the history of baseball. Ted Williams, the DiMaggio brothers, Joe, Dom, and Vince, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Roger Maris, Brooks Robinson, Whitey Ford, Bob Feller, and Early Wynn are just but a few.
I have often been asked, “Who was the greatest hitter you ever faced?” My answer, without hesitation, has always been Ted Williams. He was unique in several ways. His tremendous eyesight permitted him to track the pitch from the time it left the pitcher’s hand until it made contact with the bat. His power to concentrate on each pitcher he faced, to remember his best pitch, and what he was most likely to throw in a given situation was phenomenal. I listened and learned. I knew that if you managed to get him out on a pitch with the count of two and two, not to throw him the same pitch again in the similar situation. I don’t ever remember watching Ted take batting practice without putting himself in game conditions. With him it was always the last of the ninth with Detroit’s Jim Bunning pitching, bases loaded, two outs, and a base hit needed to win. Ted would then proceed to attack the pitch.
In 1960 I was with the Chicago White Sox when we traveled to Boston to take on the Sox for a weekend series. I started the Friday game. By the end of the seventh inning we were up 7-0, and I had managed to retire Ted his first two times at bat. When he came to the plate in the eighth he worked the count to 2 and 2. I took a moment to reflect on how I had gotten him out in the other appearances. I decided to throw him a slow breaking ball, something I had never thrown before. He hit the pitch about forty rows up into the right field bleachers. As he rounded third base he laughed and said, “I got ya in my book.”
The next day I was hitting balls to the outfield during infield practice. Ted was warming up to take infield. I heard him taunting me in his boyish way, “Hey, Bush, I got ya in my book.” I looked back and said, “I haven’t thrown you a slow breaking ball in three years, yet you hit it as if you knew it was coming.” Williams responded, “I did, you changed something in your delivery at the top of you windup, and I knew you were going to throw me an off speed pitch.”
Concentration, dedication, and the determination to be the greatest hitter of all time along with the great God given talent made Ted Williams one of the greatest hitters of all time.
*
Epilogue: The following underscores Kemmerer’s words regarding Ted Williams who once said that hitting a pitched ball was “the hardest single feat in sports”, but is the last player to hit .400 when he had .406 in 1941. In his 19 playing years, all with the Boston Red Sox, the great hitter had three Triple Crowns, and finished his career with 521 home runs and a batting average of .344. Ted gave almost five years, some of his best playing years, to military service in both World War II and the Korean War. In addition his baseball accomplishments include 18 All-Star games, six American League batting titles, and two Most Valuable Player awards. Ted’s final at bat in his illustrious baseball years was home run number 521.
Next week: More memories from Russ Kemmerer
A Stroll Down Memory Lane
Russ
introduces us to a most memorable character
Bygone
baseball: The unfamiliar, the
unusual, the dramatic
By
C. Philip Francis
Part
3
This is our final stroll down baseball’s memory lane with Russ Kemmerer who pitched in what he called “the era that produced many of the greatest players in the history of baseball.” Russ now tells us of a “most memorable character” from that time, a player perhaps not on that list, but one to remember nevertheless. .
*
A Most Memorable Character
By Russ Kemmerer
Every major league player will certainly attest to the fact that every team in baseball has its character, and Clint Courtney, “Old Scrap Iron”, was one of the most beloved originals. Players of that time kept a variety of equipment in their locker such as several pairs of shoes in various stages of broken in - a couple of gloves, sweatshirts, shorts, and such. The rule for most players was to change sweatshirts, shorts, and shoes following batting and infield practice, but Clint was an exception to that rule. Seldom, if ever, did he change anything. He also had the reputation of taking the quickest shower in the league. When you consider the summer’s hot and humid weather, add Courtney’s style to it, you don’t have to allow your imagination to wander too far before reaching the conclusion that the odor hovering over him could get ripe.
Les Moss, a former major league catcher, was our bullpen coach. He was a prankster of the utmost degree. One day he decided to give Courtney a taste of his own medicine. He unlaced Clint’s only catcher’s mitt, pulled out some of the padding, stuffed it with Limburger cheese, and laced it. The temperature soared into the high 90’s. The heat plus the pounding the glove took during pre-game and infield caused the cheese to slowly ooze through the stitching. By the time the game moved to the third or fourth inning it had reached the top of the scale for Limburger cheese odor.
Ed Runge was working the plate that afternoon. The Sox took the field in the top of the fourth as Umpire Runge called “play ball” as he settled in over Courtney’s shoulder. Suddenly the smell hit Ed. He jumped up and called “TIME”. He then rushed over to the Sox bench and in no certain terms gave manager Al Lopez a piece of his mind regarding the odor surrounding Clint. Al suggested that perhaps it was Ed’s own aroma he was smelling and not Courtney’s.
Runge returned to his post behind the plate, but a few pitches later he again called time and once more approached the Chicago dugout with real anger in his eyes. “Al, if you don’t make him change shirts between innings, I am going to throw him out of the game!”
Once more the arbitrator was persuaded by Al’s direction and the taunting of the bench to get on with the game. It just so happened that it was one of those long innings with a few full counts and foul balls so it wasn’t long before the smell engulfed the hitter as well as Runge. By now the cheese was flowing freely from the glove and it suddenly dawned on Ed that it was the mitt and not Courtney that was the source of the smell.
The umpire escorted Courtney to the bench and in no uncertain terms demanded that a new glove be found the catcher. Since Clint had only one glove he borrowed one from Les Moss, and it didn’t take long for the story to reach the other team’s bench. Everybody had a long laugh that added a little inside humor to a hot afternoon in Chicago.
*
Epilogue: After he left baseball Mr. Kemmerer finished his college degree at the University of Indiana, worked as a park and recreation director, taught high school, and coached baseball and football. He is an accomplished artist. With encouragement from his family, Kemmerer is now in the process of writing a book regarding his life in baseball.
Clinton Dawson Courtney was born in Hall Summit, Louisiana in 1927. He was the first catcher to wear glasses, a fierce competitor, and was with the St. Louis Browns when one of baseball’s most famous brawls occurred in 1953 that included Billy Martin, Gil McDougald, and Phil Rizzuto of the New York Yankees. Teammate Satchel Paige called the belligerent Courtney “the meanest man I ever met. I’m glad he’s on my side.” Old Scrap Iron competed with everyone at everything, usually lost (especially at cards), but was soon back for more. His eleven years in the majors with five teams covered the years from 1951 thru 1961, and died in 1975 at the age of 48.