“Shaking in My Boots”
It was Harvey’s first major league game
Old-time baseball by C. Philip Francis – June 1, 2005
On August 26, 1942 manager Del Baker’s Detroit Tigers were playing a twi-night/night double-header with Philadelphia at the A’s Shibe Park. In the early game the Tigers won behind right-hander Virgil (Fire) Trucks who threw a complete shutout 1-0. The unlucky A’s thrower was Russ Christopher, and the game was over in 1 hour and 48 minutes. When it was time for manager Baker to write out his new battery (catcher and pitcher combination) for the night game he chose twenty-three pitcher Harold “Hal” White who had appeared in only four games the previous year, but now a member of the pitching rotation along with Schoolboy Rowe, Hal Newhouser, and Dizzy Trout. At the age of twenty, catcher Harvey Riebe who was making his major league debut.
Neither club had a chance for the pennant that season as the A’s were in eighth (last) place 371/2 games behind the Yankees, and the Tigers were in fifth place 28 games back.
Many years later I had written to Harvey for an autograph, and he responded with not only his signature but added a long hand-written letter. From then on for some five years we were in regular contact. During that time I surprisingly was able to find an actual A’s scorecard for that very game played in Philadelphia on August 26th in 1942 The original owner of the scorecard did not finish scoring it and was pretty messy although he had written enough so that we were able to identify it as Harvey’s first game scorecard. Here is Harvey’s debut game in his own words:
“I was informed a couple of days later that I almost set a record: Rookie catcher; first ever at bat, first pitch, and bases loaded. Shibe Park had a three-foot facing separating the upper and lower deck in left field and part of the center field. The ball I hit was fair by about three feet, and came within a foot of going into the lower or upper deck. I only wish it could have been a four-bagger, then you would really have a treasure. So don’t be doubting about that scorecard, it’s the real McCoy.
“I remember that Don Ross (Note: A Tiger player.) was in that game, it was his double that sent me and Rudy York home with our first two runs. Don Ross passed away in Arcadia, California in 1996.
“…needless to say I was shaking in my boots when our manager Del Baker said to me, ‘Son, you will be our catcher in the second game. You’ll catch Hal White.’ He went on to say, ‘Don’t be nervous, just act like you are still with Beaumont in the Texas League. After the game he said to me, ‘Hellava job, Son.”
Wearing number 9 Riebe doubled on the first pitch, and again doubled in the second inning. He was in 11 games that season hitting .314 with two RBI’s and no home runs, and he did not wear a Detroit Tigers uniform again until 1947.
The following day the New York Times reported, “In the nightcap the Mackmen (Note: Name comes from manager and owner Connie Mack.) broke a string of twenty-nine consecutive scoreless innings by getting two runs off Hal White in the first inning. The Tigers tied the count in second on Harvey Riebe’s double that send York and Ross home, and on to rack up the decision with single markers in the sixth and seventh. The double loss boosted Philadelphia’s defeats to seven straight.”
Some of the other players on both teams in that game were Philadelphia’s right fielder Czechoslovakian-born Elmer Valo, and Bob Swift who later caught for the Tigers for 11 years. It was Swift who was behind the plate when midget Eddie Gaedel was sent to bat by the St. Louis Browns in August of 1951. For the Tigers that August 1942 contest were Johnny Lipon at shortstop who was in his first year in the big leagues, left-fielder Barney McCosky who became one of the best ballplayers in the American League, and center-fielder Roger “Doc” Cramer who once set a record for twice going 6-for-6.
In August 1942 World War II was less than a year old, and soon many ballplayers would be called into military service including the young catcher and pitcher - Harvey Riebe and Hal White. Backstop Riebe served in the 66th Infantry Division, and won two Purple Hearts - one when his troopship was torpedoed in the English Channel on Christmas Eve of 1944, and when he received shrapnel in his shoulder after he returned to his unit.
Harvey rejoined the Tigers in 1947, and played in 50 games from 1947-1949 before leaving baseball. He became a purchasing agent for a brass and copper company, and retired in 1977 at the age of 57. The former Tiger continued to receive autograph requests, and would never accept money saying, “I can’t see how players can charge someone for autographs.”
Right-hander Hal White had his best season that year when he finished the season with 12 wins and 12 losses, but fell to 7 and 12 the next year. He then joined the United States Navy, and spent much of the next two years in the Southern Pacific. Like so many other big leaguers White became a recreation director at his base on Guam.
He was mustered out after the war ended in August of 1945, and was back with the Tigers for the 1946 spring training. As did Harvey Riebe, hurler White struggled after returnng from his Navy years and was able to win only 21 games with 25 losses from 1946 thru 1952.
In December of 1953 he was traded to the St. Louis Browns with Virgil Trucks and Johnny Groth, and then sent to the St. Louis Cardinals. White is only one of five pitchers who throw shutout wins in his first two starts. He retired from active playing early the following year. Hal sold cars, and served as a minor league pitching instructor.
The two Tiger ballplayers both began their major league careers with the same team just before World War II began, and both spent their best playing years in the military and both died within a week. Catcher Harold Riebe died on April 16, 2001 of cancer with teammate White following four days later due to a stroke.
Like the many major league ballplayers whose careers were in jeopardy because of their military service neither ever complained.