SP: Tell me about your relationship with Early Wynn.
GP:
Well, you know he died this last year
down in Florida. He was a wonderful pitcher up there in Cleveland.
In 1954, they had him, Lemon, Garcia, Feller. Wynn’s daddy and my daddy were
raised up together in Hartford, Alabama, and I went down to Samford, Florida,
to a baseball tryout school. I had about 6 or 8 of my buddies and we rode a
bus down there. Early Wynn was one of the instructors there and got me in
with one of the scouts and took me over to Orlando and I had a good showing.
They didn’t sign a whole lot of us. I was fortunate to be one of those that
did get signed.
SP: Was this a team tryout?
GP:
No, just a general tryout. I can’t remember
the name of the fellow that signed me, but he was a scout for the Cincinnati Reds.
Early Wynn introduced me to him and he carried me over to Orlando.
He (the scout) had a mitt with him, I don’t know if he was a catcher or what,
but he signed me and they sent me over to Muncie, Indiana, in the Ohio State
League.
SP: You only spent about a half season there?
GP:
Yes, after about a half season there, I came
back to Andalusia. Andalusia traded me the next year to Geneva. Then
Geneva traded me to Opelika (Georgia-Alabama League).
SP:
Did Muncie trade you or release you?
GP: They
released me. I’ve got no excuse, I was young and just didn’t take
it seriously enough. Of course I was kind of wild then too. I couldn’t
find the plate at times there. That’s when I came to Andalusia.
SP:
How did you make the connection to the Andalusia team?
GP:
An old boy that I played high school football
and baseball with, a fellow named John Hitson, he told the manager, Bob Engle,
about me. Hitson was Andalusia’s third baseman. His dead and gone
now, alcohol ruined his life. So, I went down there and pitched. Pitched
the opening game against Brewton one year and struck out 17 batters.
SP:
Were you traded to Geneva in 1948?
GP:
Yes, I was traded over to Geneva for Marcus Davis’ brother.
He was a big left hander, but he never did anything. In fact, he quit
playing that year and became a deputy sheriff or something like that. Let
me tell you an experience I had (with Geneva). In those days, the ball
parks didn’t have but one shower so after a game you’d go and get wet, then get
out and soap up while somebody else would get wet. Then when you were ready
to rise the soap off you get back in. We were playing in Dothan one
night at Rip Hewes Stadium. The shower was up under the stands, under the
bleachers and concrete above the shower had a big crack running across it.
I got wet and came out and was soaping up, and of course we were all as naked
as jaybirds, and I looked up and said, « God, y’all look at that snake up there! ».
There was a 6 to 8 foot snake up in that crack over the shower.
You talk about some naked boys getting out from under that shower! I remember
another thing that happened to me (at Opelika). There was this ol’
boy, named Billy Kilgore. He was a pitcher, then after playing baseball
he became a professional boxer. The way I first met Billy was he had been
in some trouble up in Birmingham, and he was out at Kilby prison. When I
played semi-pro ball, we used to go out and play the Kilby prison team.
He was as mean as hell, but he had a good heart. Anyway, when I got
to Opelika, he was there. He took me aside and told me, « You left-handed
bastard, don’t you ever tell anybody where you first met me ». I said, « I
ain’t gonna tell nobody where I first met you, Bill ». Well, we were
playing up in LaGrange, Georgia, one night and Billy was pitching. He was
quite a pitcher. I didn’t chew tobacco but I’d chew a lot of bubble gum.
I’d chew a piece and I didn’t wad the paper up and put it in my pocket,
I’d just throw it on the ground in front of the dugout. That night, ol’
Billy Kilgore didn’t have it and they knocked him all over that ballpark.
When he came in after pitching, he saw all those gum papers in from of the dugout
and said, « Who threw these all over here ». I said, « Well, I did ».
He said, « Well, that’s the reason I got knocked out tonight! ». You know
ballplayers are superstitious. A lot of them would come to the dugout
and wouldn’t step on that chalk line, they’d straddle it. Another time we
was playing up in Alex City (Georgia-Alabama league), and the field there was
poorly lighted. We had an outfielder named Buck Julian and he went back to
the fence to catch a ball and the ball went out of the park and hit a parked
car and bounced back in. Buck picked that ball up and threw the runner out
at third base. The umpire said that he thought it went out but because
the lighting was so bad, he could tell for sure, and that guy was out at third.
You know, they say it’s never over until it’s over. I was pitching
up at Lanette (Valley of the Georiga-Alabama League) one night and I was doing
real well. The score was 11-4, we were ahead in the ninth. Man, I
started to get wild and they started to hit me. They took me out and put Claude
Jackson in and then Billy Kilgore and they ended up beating us 12-11. We
were in the showers saying, « Lord, how did that ballgame get away from us like
that! ».
SP: So after Opelika, you just decided you’d
had enough?
GP: Well, I did go out to Kingsley,
Iowa, and played some semi-pro ball out there. Lot of ex-ballplayers would
play in that league. That was some fast baseball. It was
a little farming area out there. I went out there and played and that where
it (my career) wound up.
SP: How did you find out
about playing in a place like that when you were back in Opelika?
GP:
I think just from word of mouth. I made some good
money playing out there though.
SP: Was the money
as good as the pros?
GP: Oh, sometimes it was better
than pro. You know, the Alabama State League was some pretty fast ball.
In fact, I believe the play would be classed as « A », maybe ever « AA » ball
today. We all loved playing.
SP: So was it hard
to give up?
GP: Well, I saw where I wasn’t going
to go up (to a higher level) so I gave it up and went to work. I wonder what
percentage of players make it to the big show. It’s got to be kind of
small.
SP: I saw a boxscore of a game you pitched
where the opposing manager stole home in the ninth to win the game. I think
it was Bob Benish.
GP: Bob Benish was the Troy
manager. He was a left-handed batter and I had his number pretty good.
He was a pitcher and quite a manager. Troy, I think, was a Detroit Tigers
farm team that year (1947). And of course Greenville was associated
with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
SP: What was it like
for you playing the the AFL. How were the living and travel accommodations?
GP:
It was rough, boy I’ll tell you. Getting
on that old bus and those bus rides got mighty old. It was a converted
school bus, no air conditioning of course. We’d put all our equiptment and uniforms
in the bottom part (of the bus) and tied it all up so it wouldn’t fall
out. I was making about $100 to $125 a month.
SP:
Did the teams stay in hotels?
GP: No, we’d never spend
a night out of town. We’d get about $1.00, $1.25 meal money for the day.
Course, a dollar was a dollar back then. But you know, we had some wonderful
times together.
SP: Greenville had a great
team arounf 1947 and 1948.
GP: Oh they had a heck
of a team. There were two brothers there, one played first and the other
catcher (Dick and Glenn Lindermuth). They had old Purkey (Bob Purkey) and
he’d just have to throw his glove on the mound to beat us. He was tough.
SP:
I noticed that when the Montgomery
Advertiser published the preseason schedule for the 1947 season, they had Andalusia
listed as the Cubs.
GP: I don’t know where
they got that from, I never heard of that. We were called the Andalusia
Arrows because there used to be an Arrow shirt factory there.
SP:
Here’s some players from 1947: Luther Brown.
GP:
Yeah, he died about a year ago. (Looking at list of
players) Manny Russo, oh boy. He got wounded in the service. He was
some kind of Hawaiian, or something (Russo was Italian), but he had a bad arm
from getting wounded in the service. But he could hit that ball, I ain’t
joking.
SP: I understand (from Bernie « Bubba » Donner’s
account) that Russo had been macheted during the war and had part of his
hand missing.
GP: Yeah, I think that’s what it was.
Part of his had and this part under here (points to lower forearm around
the wrist). He had a smaller arm up here. I think it was a machete.
He sure could hit. He managed a little later in his career.
You mention Bubba Donner, he played down there and he had a friend, still lives
in Andalusia, named Chick Earle. I think Chick played second and Bubba
played shortstop. We were playing in Andalusia one night, and Chick Earle
was coming into second base. You know, if you’re gonna slide, you’d better
slide. You’ve got to make your mind up one way or the other but don’t
be thinking about it. Chick couldn’t make his mind up and finally slid in and
broke his ankle or leg. He never did play any more baseball. He and
Bubba Donner were raised up together in Virgina somewhere.
SP:
Manny Russo also managed at Andalusia (1949).
GP:
And I remember a guy named Hal Fehrenbacher (Geneva 1948).
He was from somewhere in California. I’d like to know whether he’s still living.
He was a good manager and a good fellow.
SP:
Another guy who managed that year was Emory Lindsay (Dothan).
GP:
Oh yeah, I don’t know if he’s still living. He might have
died. He had a pawn in Dothan and I think he got shot. He was a
heck of a manager and a heck of a good catcher too.
SP:
Lot’s of player-managers in the league, like Frank Martin.
GP:
Oh yeah, he was a catcher, too. He was originally from
Birmingham. He was a mean guy! Lord, he’d block that plate and we’d
try to slide in there and he’d just knock us all over the place.
SP:
Here’s another teammate: Stan Strickler.
GP:
Stan was a pitcher. If fact, he was also a preacher.
He wouldn’t play ball on Sundays.
He lives down around Pensacola or Fort
Walton. Everyone called him « Strick ». (Looking at player’s
list) Here’s another guy, Scotty Byrne. He pitched at Enterprise that
year (1947). He came to the reunion (1999). He lives down around
Brewton. He was a sheriff down in Escambia county for quite a few years.
Here’s Wilbur Hester. When I was playing with Geneva, we went
to Greenville one night and he had a home plate wedding that night. He’s
originally from Greenville but he retired to Troy and worked in the Post Office
there. Here’s Chase Riddle. He’s living down in Troy. He
was quite a college player. He carried Troy State to the championships.
Bill Buchanan, he’s a good one too, a third baseman. He played in Geneva
when I was there. He’s originally from Oklahoma. He played football
at Oklahoma State.
SP: The Ozark manager was Dolly
Lambert.
GP: Yeah, he was a pitcher, too. After he
got through playing ball, he was an umpire in the league. Spencer Davis
pitched at Ozark. After he got through, he was a school principal and superintendent
in Georgia somewhere.
SP: The league seemed
to be a pretty interesting mix of old timers not able to give it up and young
kids just starting out. Doc Wingard has been a pitcher in the majors in the
twenties, and was in the AFL twenty years later.
GP:
I remember Doc. Boy, he sure could he chew a lot of tobacco.
SP:
What about the stadiums, were any outstanding or awful?
GP:
No, they were all just about equal.
In Andalusia, the ball park was next to the high school and that old principal
from the school would have to come out and quiet us down. We’d get loud out there.
SP:
How about attendance? Some places must
have been kind of small.
GP: Yes, sometimes you
had to wonder how they (the teams) made ends meet. I’ll tell you though,
we loved the game.