Tom Saffell, former MLB outfielder and WWII veteran dies at 91

Tom Saffell, an outfielder who played parts of four big league seasons from 1949-1955 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Athletics, passed away last week. He was 91.

Saffell was the president of the Gulf Coast Rookie League for 30 years from 1979-2009, working until he was 89 years old. That capped a career in baseball that started almost 70 years prior in 1941 in the Class D Newport Canners of the Appalachian League.

Tom Saffell / Author's Collection

His playing career was interrupted in 1942 when he signed up for the Army Air Corps in World War II. He served until 1946, getting out right in time for the baseball season. During his service, he flew 61 missions over Europe, without being wounded or shot down.

Saffell’s breakout year came in 1947 when he batted .370 for Class B Selma Cloverleafs. He started out the season with the Atlanta Crackers, but he was displaced upon the arrival of a future Hall of Famer.

“I played part of the season for one month until they signed Charley Trippi," Saffell said in a 2008 interview from his home in Florida. “That’s when they sent me out to Selma, Alabama.”

His outstanding performance earned him a promotion to AAA Indianapolis, where he hit .299 in 1948. The next season, he was in the big leagues.

“I had a good year my first year up there, I hit .322,” he said.

It would be the only year in the major leagues that Saffell would see consistent playing time.

"That's the only year I played regularly for Pittsburgh," he said to SABR member Jim Sargent. "I played against both right-hand pitchers and left-handers. After that first season, they usually put me in for defensive purposes or against right-handed pitchers.”

He shuttled between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis during the 1950-51 seasons but didn’t see the majors again until 1955. When he returned, there was a fresh face in Pittsburgh outfield, Roberto Clemente.

“One of the greatest ballplayers that put on a uniform,” he said. “You could see that Clemente had great talent. Anyone could see that. He was one of the better-coordinated ballplayers I ever saw. He could throw off-balance and get himself in position to throw quickly.”

Saffell was released by the Pirates toward the end of the season and latched on with Kansas City to finish out the year. He remained in the minors as a full-time player until 1959. In 1960, he was offered a managing job with the Dodgers Class C team in Reno and began a 13-year career as a minor league coach and manager.

It was then in 1978 when he was approached by Murray Cook to become the president of the Gulf Coast League. Saffell gladly accepted and held the position until 2009. He was honored in 1999 as the "King of Baseball," at the baseball winter meetings in Anaheim, Calif.

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Johnny Antonelli opens up the doors to his baseball life with 'A Baseball Memoir'

Johnny Antonelli has been out of baseball for 50 years, yet with the release of his new autobiography, "Johnny Antonelli: A Baseball Memoir", he finds himself back on the mound one more time.

“It feels pretty good. I’m not one that ever flaunted myself to be recognized. This has given me something that I probably missed since 1962 when I left. It’s something that kind of brings back memories,” Antonelli said during an August telephone interview. 

Johnny Antonelli: A Baseball Memoir / RIT Press

The southpaw collaborated with award winning journalist Scott Pitoniak to chronicle his story, one that he was initially reluctant to engage.

“He was asking me for a few years about doing a book and it wasn’t really my cup of tea, so I kind of put him off for a while. Finally I agreed to do it,” he said.


The deeper the once-hesitant pitcher went in the process, the more he enjoyed it. Their conversations elicited memories that Antonelli had once locked away.

“He kept asking me questions and dug up a lot of things that would bring back memories of all the things I went into when I was playing baseball," he said. "We got together quite often and I would say for about six or eight months that we talked and he came up with ideas. He dug into the history and I thought he did a pretty good job with it.”

Antonelli was a star at Rochester’s Jefferson High School and in 1948 was on the top of every scout’s list. His father arranged for the young lefty to pitch in a semi-pro game in front of a sellout crowd at the stadium of the Rochester Red Wings. Antonelli did not disappoint, striking out 17 on his way to a complete game no-hitter. The next day, the scouts lined up outside of his front door, waiting for their turn to woo him into their organizations. After the smoke cleared and $52,000 later, Antonelli was officially a member of the Boston Braves. In less than 48 hours, Antonelli went from a high school star straight to the major leagues at Braves Field.

Major League Baseball had a established a bonus rule at the time, where players who were signed for more than $4,000 had to be placed on the major league roster for at least two years. Antonelli’s arrival meant that someone had to be displaced from the big league club. The loss of one of their own, coupled with a hefty salary of the unproven high school player, irked many of the veterans.

“They were fighting for the pennant at the time of course and they had to get rid of a ballplayer, Jim Pendergrast, who was also a left-handed pitcher," Antonelli recalled. "He was sent down and of course there were some feelings about that with the team because he was friendly with them, and here I am a young 18-year-old coming in with a bonus. I think that upset a couple of the players, mainly Warren Spahn. For some reason, it bothered him more than any of the others.”

Spahn, who was the ace of the staff, resented the fact that Antonelli’s bonus more than tripled his salary.

“It was a unique situation, having received this bonus coming in, and then having resentment from some of the ballplayers," he said. "People have to understand and I did then that everyone wasn’t making much money. Our catcher Phil Masi would catch double headers and he was making $8,700. Spahn was making $15,000. How could you give a kid $52,000 and here we’re winning a pennant, want a raise and can’t get it? Then they went up [to owner Lou Perini] and got it. They should be happy in that respect.”

It took Antonelli a few seasons and a tour of duty in the military during the Korean War to shake the label of a bonus baby and quell all of his doubters. He missed two seasons due to his service (1951-52) and returned in 1953 to become a vital cog in the Braves rotation, going 12-12 in 31 appearances. He credits his increased role and performance due to the experience he gained pitching for his Army team.

“There was always a feeling I didn’t have the minor league experience," he said. "I always felt that I was as good as at least three-to-four of the pitchers that they were using. Not being used, you kind of lose your confidence. When I went into the service, I was pitching for Fort Myers, Va., and we had a pretty good ballclub. We won the Service Championship for the district of Washington. I got to pitch quite often and went 42-2 during that time."

His showing in Milwaukee was enough to attract the attention of the New York Giants, who traded star outfielder Bobby Thomson for his services. While Antonelli saw potential with the young club he was leaving, he was about to embark on a journey that would quickly change the course of his career.

“I enjoyed playing with Milwaukee and playing with that club, because I knew with the youth we had on that club, we were going to be good for many, many years" he said. "When I was told I was traded, I felt kind of bad about that because I thought we had a lot of future. I went to New York and we had pretty good success there, so I guess I can’t complain.”

Johnny Antonelli’s 1954 season with the Giants was one that baseball dreams are made of: 21 wins, an All-Star appearance, a third place finish in the MVP voting, and a World Series Championship that included him earning a win in Game 2 and a save in Game 4 that secured the final out of the Giants’ sweep of the Cleveland Indians.

He played with the Giants through the 1960 season, weathering their move to San Francisco to earn five All-Star selections. A New Yorker at heart, Antonelli didn’t enjoy the change of scenery.

“Going from New York to San Francisco was not my happiest time because I had a lot of success pitching in the Polo Grounds and I was concerned how I was going to pitch in San Francisco,” he said. “I felt very comfortable pitching in the Polo Grounds even though they had the short porches. As long as I kept them from pulling or hitting down the line, I had Willie Mays there catching all the mistakes I made.”

Antonelli split the 1961 season between the Cleveland Indians and the Milwaukee Braves, retiring at the end of the season, thwarting an offer of over $30,000 to join the New York Mets in 1962. He had a successful tire business in Rochester and no longer desired the time away from his family that a major league career required.

“I had just turned 32," he said. “I was still young enough to play, but my problem was I was not a traveler; I didn’t like being away from the family. I kind of chose that time to get out. I didn’t want to be a pioneer.

"I knew they were going to have problems. It’s tough enough to live with a decent ballclub, but they were a very poor ballclub at the early stages. Even though they had some great names on the team, they were getting older. I remember someone told me that Casey Stengel said because I was in the tire business I had turned them down. They had sent me a contract for $38,000, which was a pretty good number at the time. He said, ‘He must be selling a lot of black donuts in Rochester to turn a contract like this down.’ On second thought, maybe I would have liked to play there a year or two, as I was comfortable, but again I had already made the decision.”

Turning his attention to Mark Appel’s recent rejection of a $3.8 million signing bonus with the Pittsburgh Pirates to return to Stanford, Antonelli had difficulty accepting that a player would turn down such an amount that could set themselves up financially for the rest of their lives.

“It’s hard to believe, hard to understand that somebody would turn down such a contract," he said. “I do believe that players are people. If they can get the college education, that’s great. Not too many every year make it to the major leagues. I think an education is always the best way to go, but when someone says, 'Here’s $4 million to sign a contract,' it’s kind of hard to turn away from that.

"I know in our day, when my father accepted $52,000 from Lou Perini, that was like all the money in the world. Now it’s $4 million, and that even opens my eyes a bit more."

The longer he pondered Appel's decision, the more he saw the disparity between Appel’s bonus and his own.

“I think it’s become accepted [to turn these offers down],” he said. "The minimum pay is well over $400,000. They don’t frown on that the way the $52,000 I received. … How many ballplayers every year that come out of high school or college make it? How many are successful? The average years [for a player] when I was playing ball, was 3.5 years. You couldn’t make enough in 3.5 years to retire for life; my contract was for $5,500 a season. If you are getting $4 million up front, you should be able to save a percentage of that, leave it alone and let it grow. It’s very hard for me not to take that contract.”

Now at 82, Antonelli is happily retired from the tire business with his second wife Gail, splitting time between New Mexico and Rochester during the year. He continues to follow the game, making appearances at Frontier Field in Rochester where he was honored with a spot in their Walk of Fame. The book release has provided Antonelli the opportunity to relish in the memories of his teammates and all of the wonderful people he met along the way.

“I never met a real bad person in baseball,” he said. "Most of the things I’d say about any of the players I played with were that they were all nice people.”

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Negro Leaguer Bill Greason returns to Oklahoma City 60 years after barrier breaking debut

Bill Greason throwing out the first pitch in Oklahoma - Facebook

Rev. Bill Greason, former pitcher for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, (where he mentored a 16-year old Willie Mays) and later the St. Louis Cardinals, spoke during a tribute in his honor in Oklahoma City with NewsOK.com about becoming the first black player for the Oklahoma City Indians of the Texas League in 1952.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Greason in 2008 about his historical 1952 season in Oklahoma City. He was sold directly from the Black Barons to Oklahoma City shortly after returning from his service in the Korean War. He spoke frankly about the hardships he faced and how he handled them.

"They gave you a hard time, even from the stands. A couple of places especially. When you know who you are and you have talent, you don’t worry about what people say. Sometimes it encourages you to do better and work harder. ... When people call you names, and you know who you are, you don’t worry about what they say. It gives you more determination to succeed."

The 87-year-old Greason was honored on August 30th by the Oklahoma City Redhawks, commemorating the 60th anniversary of his debut. Berry Tramel of NewsOK.com provides an excellent video interview with Greason about his barrier breaking entry into baseball, his military service, and career in the ministry.

His appearance was heavily covered by local media outlets, spearheaded by Tramel's coverage.
Celebrating a Deserving Pioneer in OKC - Jenni Carlson
The Reverend Returns - Brendan Hoover
Oklahoma City's Jackie Robinson returns - Berry Tramel 
Bill Greason: Owner Jimmie Humphries paved the way - Berry Tramel
Reverend Bill Greason: A memorable night at the ballpark - Berry Tramel

 

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Bob DiPietro, former Boston Red Sox outfielder, dies at 85

Bob DiPietro, a former outfielder for the Boston Red Sox who earned the nickname The Rigatoni Rifle because of his tremendous throwing arm, died two days after his 85th birthday in Yakima, Wash., on September 3, 2012.

A few years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to interview DiPietro for his SABR biography. Even though DiPietro only made it to the plate 12 times (all in 1951) during his major league career, it was one that included brushes with Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. In addition to being linked to some of the biggest stars that baseball has ever known, he proudly served the country in World War II, and went on to run a successful advertising business in Yakima.

He is survived by his wife Bertie, sons Bob and Mark and their wives Sheryl and Marcy, grandchildren Kiley, Joe, Lexi and Paul.

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Potter tracking down the legend of Drungo Hazewood

A rare signed Drungo Hazewood 1991 Crown Orioles Card

Drungo Hazewood’s major league baseball career lasted five plate appearances, and if you weren't scouring box scores in 1980, chances are slim that you've ever heard of him. Yet when it comes to serious fans and collectors of Baltimore Orioles memorabilia, Hazewood has remained famous for more than his unique moniker. Just like the curve balls that baffled the highly touted outfielder, he has thrown some of his own to those seeking his signature, placing his name atop the want lists of collectors across the country.

In his travels connecting retired major leaguers with aficionados looking to further their autograph collections, Chris Potter met with the elusive Hazewood to discuss the prospects of facilitating a signing to add his penmanship to their prized paraphernalia. “I brought it up to him, I said, ‘You’ve been a pretty tough autograph for people that want it,’” said Potter. “He goes, ‘I just don’t understand why they want it.’ – He just doesn’t understand why people want his autograph from the career that he had. He didn’t have a long career. He’s kind of taken back by the fact that people want his autograph. He’s more than happy to do the signing with me; he was excited about it when I mentioned it to him. He wants to see what people are going to send in to be signed.”

Hazewood is one of 50 former major leaguers that Potter will visit during his next run of signings beginning September 30th that include a wide range of talents from Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, perennial All-Stars Del Crandall, Reggie Smith, and Don Kessinger, to such curiosities as Frank Baker, Rich Coggins, Johnny Jeter, and Ron Woods. The one-time Orioles prospect is not the first player to wonder why people still want their autograph long after their cup of coffee has been emptied. “I’ve run across that a few times where players are like, ‘Who remembers me and why do people want my autograph?’” said Potter. “The people who are really seeking their autograph know who they are, but it’s really hard to find someone who knows about the players I go and see unless you are a baseball enthusiast, historian or collector. We focus more on those guys.”

For many of the players Potter visits, they enjoy the convenience of being able to do the signing in a comfortable setting while obliging the fans. “Everybody I’ve worked with really enjoys this. If you look at it, they don’t have to go anywhere and guys their age, they don’t like to travel. Not only are we providing a service to the collectors, we are providing a service to the players as well. That’s what is appealing to a lot of these guys. They want to accommodate the fans and they want to go to these shows, but some are physically unable to do so. With the service we provide, they’re able to accommodate the fans and they’re happy to do so with what we provide,” said Potter.

As he continues with traversing the routes and highways of the United States, he finds the players revel in the uniqueness of the items they’re presented with. “We get it all the time. They’re taken a back from some of these items and by people who track this stuff down, are passionate enough to get it signed, and want their autograph on it. Some of the guys are really emotional about the things we bring them to be signed.” For more information on Potter’s next round of signings, check out his website – www.chrispottersports.com

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