« Pete » Hammer
Clete « Pete » Hammer
pitched for Andalusia in 1947 and 1948. Pete’s a true gentleman
and delightful guy to talk to. Everyone knows Clete as « Pete »,
including all his former teammates, who misunderstood the pronunciation
of his name and called him « Pete ». The name just stuck
and he’s been Pete ever since. In July of 2000, we got together
for this interview.
SP: Tell me how you got started
in professional baseball.
PH: In 1946, I got out of
the service and I was playing in Crestview, Florida. My wife
was from there. At the time there was a guy named Lance Richbourg,
he used to play major league baseball, and he got a semi-pro
team started there and I played with them, and he said he could
get me hooked up with either the Yankees or the Cleveland Indians.
He knew the scouts, a guy named Hamilton with the Yankees and
Ivy Griffin with the Indians, and they were supposed
to come on a particular day and watch me. Well, Hamilton didn’t
show up so Griffin signed me. He sent me and Neil Cobb to Cordele,
Georgia and that’s where I started in 1947.
SP: That was pro ball?
PH: Yes, that was the Georgia-Florida
League. That was some fast ball. It was quick. Every team was
owned by a major league club. We were owned by Cleveland. I can’t
remember how I left there, but I left. We had a real bad team!
Spring training was great: We played against House of David and
I had good games against them, but I just didn’t do nothing so
I left and went home. I went back to Crestview, and a guy from
Andalusia who saw me playing semi-pro ball against them signed
me up. I played 1947 and 48 with Andalusia. 1948 was a bad year
and we had a terrible team. Nothing worked. After ’48, I quit
because the postmaster in Crestview told me he’d get me a job
as assistant postmaster if I’d play semi-pro ball with Crestview
again so that’s what I did. I stayed with them for a while, then
I started to get offers from other towns around Fort Walton Beach.
I must have played in 8 to 10 little towns around there like
Fort Walton, Bonnifay, and also Graceville. They’d pay me per
strikeout! It was good money: I would get $5.00 or so per strikeout
and if you got 8 or 10 a night or so, that was pretty good money.
SP: Were these teams in an
industrial league?
PH: More or less. These were
small towns and that was their entertainment. The town’s people
would dig in their pockets and pay somebody something to come
and play. You’d hit a home run, they’d pass the hat. You know,
after Andalusia I hurt my arm. With the teams I played on later,
friends would get me a job (pitching) just to make some money.
They really couldn’t use me, I wasn’t worth a flip. I think I
had a torn rotator cuff, but back then I didn’t know what it
was, but they’d give me a job and paid me $200 or $300 a month
which was pretty good money back then. After that came the post
office job, and after that I managed a bank. Before my pro career
had ended, I had also gone to Pensacola and they wanted to send
me to Miami but I told them « no ». I was married and
I figured that was too far to go, so that’s when I dropped out
of professional ball.
SP: Was your post office job
arranged for by the team?
PH: Oh yeah. I was assistant
postmaster. That’s supposed to be a pretty good job. People would
have killed me for it.
SP: You would get assistance.
PH: Yes, While I was in the
service, for instance, I would have people in Bonnifay drive
down to Eglin Air Force Base and pick me up, drive me back to
Bonnifay for the game, then drive me back. That’s a couple hundred
miles. That’s pretty nice of them! Most of them were businessmen
and just liked baseball. I was treated very, very well.
SP: Many of these towns had
pro and semi-pro ball competing with each other for fans. I get
the impression that pro sometimes lost out.
PH: Well, semi-pro was free.
People would walk in and if they wanted to donate they would.
It was fun. You can’t imagine the good people I met down there.
SP: Back to Andalusia, how
old were you when you first went there?
PH: 24.
SP: Already married?
PH: Yes. We moved to the area
and rented the basement of a house from the sheriff. The basement
might sound bad, but it was really nice. People in Andalusia
were so good to us: They’d give you you dry cleaning, groceries,
I mean they’d just give them to you.
SP: Tell me about the travel.
PH: It was the most fun! That
’47 team had the best guys. We got along and there was no fighting
or arguing. It sounds corny buy we’d sing on the bus. Going to
a game, we’d see a watermelon field and we’d pick out a spot
where the big watermelons were. When we’d return that night,
we’d swipe some watermelon! We stopped one night to get some
mellon and I was way back in the field with some big ones, so
big we could hardly carry them. We got them on the bus and cut
them open and they were all green. Couldn’t eat any of them.
Another time we were coming back from a night game and we stopped
at a little restaurant and a Hav-A-Tampa route salesman was there,
with his truck parked right near where we parked our bus . This
guy was trying to make out with the waitress. We all ate and
when we left he was still trying to make it with her. We went
out to the bus and everyone reached in his truck to grab some
candy and cigarettes. The guys just grabbed and ran into the
bus. When we were on our way, we realized that all we had gotten
was snuff and chewing tobacco. We weren’t very successful thieves.
We did have fun though. We used to have towel wars on the bus.
We’d take our towels with us to the games for our showers. We’d
get back on the bus and the towels would be soaking wet. One
night, we got in a group and we were throwing towels at Keltys
Powell and Manny Russo. They were up front and we were just wadding
them up and throwing ’em at them. Finally we ran out of ammunition.
They had them all up front. Keltys wound up to fire one back
at us and caught that bar the runs from the floor to the ceiling
of the bus behind the driver. He just crumpled in pain. There
was no towel wars after that.
SP: Sounds like a fraternity.
PH: I’ll tell you what, if
I had told them then what I feel about them now, they’d have
whipped me, but I loved those guys. You could count on them for
anything.
SP: What was you impression
of the level of play in the AFL? Was it harder than you thought
it would be?
PH: It was pretty slick ball,
but I had played some military ball so I had had some pretty
good competition: Ted Williams and those guys.
SP: Did you ever get a chance
to pitch against Ted?
PH: I did, and nobody knew
this until two or three years ago. My mother kept this newspaper
clipping and I ‘ve got it. I pitched against him and he hit into
a game ending double play and we won. I never told anybody because
they might have thought I was bragging.
SP: Well, you could say that
Ted Williams went hitless in his career against you.
PH: Yeah, but I’ll tell you,
that ball he hit for the double play was a screamer! He had hit
it to the outfielder and the guy made such a sensational catch
that the running on second just took off and he was doubled easily.
It was interesting talking to Ted Williams. After the game, they
had a meeting in the gym at Eglin Air Force Base and there was
probably 30 or 40 people there. He was a nice guy. He wasn’t
great with fans or newspapermen, but other players he treated
well. He told us that in ’41, when he hit .406, Tom Yawkey, the
owner of the Red Sox, offered him a $2500 bonus. He refused it.
I doubt that many others know this except those guys who were
present, but he said he refused it and said he wanted $5000.
We asked, « What did you do? », and Ted said, « I
got the $5000! ». He had good years and bad years, and in
the bad years he’d give himself a cut in salary. They were paying
him $100,000 back then and that was terrific money. He told us
that one year, before 1944, he felt he had a bad year and cut
his own salary $25,000. You know, he married a girl from Milton,
which is near Crestview. I had an opportunity one time to go
to a bird hunt over near Milton and I couldn’t go. Needless to
say, one of the guys there was Ted. I could have kicked myself.
SP: Were there any players
in the AFL that you thought should have made it that didn’t?
PH: Luther Brown was one.
He was quick like a deer. Another guy was John Hitson. He batter
over .300 and it was all infield hits, he was so fast. Another
one was Bubba Donner. I just told him this in the last year or
so, but I said, « Bubba, you reminded me of Marty Marion ».
He was the same size, lanky. He weighed only about 160 pounds.
He was good! The Phillies finally bought him and he deserved
it. You know, I often wondered what happened to Bubba. I went
almost 50 years without knowing where he was, then I think Marvin
Walker gave him my number.
SP: Bubba said he weighed
190 when he came down here and 160 when the year ended, it was
so hot.
PH: I tell you something:
I weighed around 165 and when I pitched, I might lose 15 pounds
in one game. Then I drink some beer or water and get it all back.
SP: Who do you remember as
being a tough character in the league?
PH: Perry Roberts. He was
a heck of a hitter. He hit close to .400, and I had my luck with
him. In fact, I could get two strikes on him pretty fast, but
that third strike was tough to get by him. On a particular night,
he hit a grould ball down the line to first base and I ran over
to cover the bag, and for no reason at all, I hadn’t thrown at
him or anything, he elbowed me and put me out for two weeks.
That was uncalled for. That’s about the only negative thing that
I can think of.
SP: Were fans in opposing
cities hard on you?
PH: No, they just loved baseball.
I didn’t have rabbit ears, so maybe I just didn’t hear any of
it.
SP: Crowds were pretty small.
PH: All except Andalusia.
When we didn’t make the playoffs, other teams were disappointed!
They wanted a cut of the money we’d generate.
SP: They say that when Virgil
Trucks had his great year in Andalusia, they’d only pitch him
at home so that they wouldn’t lose the gate receipts he’d generate.
PH: I saw Virgil pitch a double-header
one night in Buffalo, New York, against Rochester, and I think
I’m right about this: He shut them out the first game and the
second game I think he pitched a no-hitter, I’m not sure. I never
saw anyone throw harder than he did.
SP: Did any towns or stadiums
stick out in your mind?
PH: All the towns were basically
small towns without a lot of money in them. Just average people.
I guess Dothan had the best stadium, Wiregrass Stadium.
SP: When you pitched at Andalusia,
did you feel you were going to make it to the majors?
PH: Sure. If you don’t think
you’re going to make it, you aren’t going to make it.
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