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Former Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Harry Perkowski
By Todd Newville
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Former Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Harry Perkowski
By Todd Newville
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Contrary to popular belief, diamonds are not formed from coal. That’s a common misconception which has been proven wrong by many geologists over the years. But, former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Harry Perkowski would sure seem to be an exception to that rule.
The coalfields of southern West Virginia might be one of the last places on earth where a baseball scout would expect to find a future big league pitcher. Yet, that’s exactly where Perkowski got his start in baseball. He was literally a diamond in the rough.
Perkowski (now 83) never posted the kind of statistics that would warrant consideration for a spot in baseball’s Hall of Fame. But, the former lefthander with a smooth delivery was the kind of player from the 1950s who helped endear the nation to the sport.
Players like Perkowski were humble and friendly. Common people who bought tickets to the games could easily relate to the players who were generally in their same income bracket. It was almost a romantic relationship in a sense.
Things have changed, of course. But, Perkowski and other players like him help remind true baseball fans what the sport used to be like before it became such a big business.
“It was a strong era for baseball because ballplayers were truly ballplayers,” said Perkowski, who was born in Dante, Va., and now lives in Beckley, W. Va. “They wanted to play and that was it. They all had one-year contracts and you had to do good to play the next year. Now, it’s a different story. The money is better now. It’s more of a business than anything. It wasn’t like it is now where you have these guys signing contracts for five or six years.”
Baseball in Perkowski’s youth was one of the most popular leisure activities for coal miners in West Virginia. In fact, the coalfield teams were quite competitive. Most mine operators thought having a good baseball team was nearly as important as getting the coal out.
Baseball-playing coal miners were paid more than other miners and were usually given softer work assignments. Exceptional players were often recruited from other mine teams. Towns rallied around their respective teams. The competition was tough and fierce rivalries developed among some clubs.
“We had a junior league there,” Perkowski recalled. “That’s what we called it and you couldn’t be over 18 years old. After that I played semi-pro ball a little bit. Then, I got drafted and joined the Navy for three and a half years.”
Perkowski served in the amphibious force during World War II. He helped escort troops and tanks into hot spots on Landing Craft Tanks. LCTs were the water vehicles featured at the very beginning of the film “Saving Private Ryan.”
Perkowski served 19 months in the Atlantic and 11 months in the Pacific. He made four invasions during the war - Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Normandy. “I was all over the place just about,” Perkowski said. “It was pretty rough. But, I came back from the service and had some good years in the minor leagues.”
He sure did. The war might have slowed his progress, but Perkowski quickly made up for lost time. In 1946, he started out pitching for Columbia (S.C.) in the Class A South Atlantic League and got into three games before being shipped down to Ogden (Utah) in the Class D Pioneer League.
“I had a tryout there in Columbia,” said Perkowski, who was a lanky 6-foot-2 and weighed 196 pounds. “They had a lot of fellows coming in for just that one team and I made it. But, I hurt my arm and went down to Ogden, Utah. I had a sore arm but won a lot of games. I had a pretty good record there.”
Indeed, Perkowski had a nice season for the Ogden Reds. He forged an impressive 23-6 record with 209 strikeouts and a 2.09 ERA in 224 innings pitched. He led the Pioneer League in victories and his six shutouts tied James Arnold of the Twin Falls (Idaho) Cowboys for the league lead.
In ’48, Perkowski was sent to Tulsa (Okla.) in the Texas League. There, he chalked up a 22-10 record with 163 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA in 263 innings. He led the Texas League in wins and hurled a remarkable 21 complete games to help Tulsa to a 91-63 record. Fort Worth beat Tulsa in six games for the Texas League title that season. Perkowski and his wife Katherine got married in Tulsa.
In 1949, Perkowski went to Syracuse in the International League and posted a 14-12 record with 138 strikeouts and a 3.70 ERA in 209 innings. From there, he finally went to Cincinnati and went 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA in five games.
“I remember some good things about the minor leagues,” Perkowski said. “It wasn’t too bad. I had pretty good records, I think. I felt pretty good about it. At the time, they said I needed more seasoning. You only had a year contract at a time and you could be shipped out (a total of) three times before they had to decide what to do with you. They said I needed more experience. But, then, I finally went up for good in 1950 and stayed because I either had to stay with the Reds or somebody else could draft me.”
That wasn’t going to happen. The Reds needed help on the mound, and Perkowski (a 27-year-old rookie) pitched in 22 games for Cincy in ’50. He figured in no decisions and had a 5.24 ERA in 34.1 innings. But, with the Reds going 66-87 and finishing in sixth place in the National League, Perkowski’s contributions were sorely needed.
By ‘51, Perkowski had found a place in Cincinnati’s bullpen and he went 3-6 with a 2.82 ERA in 102 innings of work. Former all-star catcher Luke Sewell guided the Reds to another sixth-place finish with a 68-86 record. In 1952, Perkowski became a starter and finished with a 12-10 record and a 3.80 ERA.
When ’53 rolled around, Perkowski had established himself as one of the Reds’ top pitchers. He was 12-11 that year with a 4.52 ERA in 193 innings. He pitched two shutouts and ranked among the Senior Circuit’s leaders in that department.
“I won 12 games each of those two years with the Reds,” Perkowski said. “The Reds were almost in last place just about every year. But, I felt pretty good about those two years. I pitched pretty good.”
Arm troubles soon caught up with Perkowski, though. In 1954, he went 2-8 and his ERA ballooned to 6.11. The Reds later traded him (along with outfielders Jim Bolger and Ted Tappe) to the Chicago Cubs in October for pitchers Johnny Klippstein and Jim Willis.
In ’55, Perkowski was 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA in just 47.2 innings of work for the Cubbies. That was his last season in the majors. “I don’t know what happened,” Perkowski said. “I guess my arm went dead on me.”
His arm, though, provided him the opportunity to make his dream of playing major league baseball come true.
“I think my greatest moment was the first time when I pitched for the Reds,” said Perkowski, who debuted on Sept. 13, 1947. “It was a thrill because I never saw any ballgames in the coal camps. The first time I got up to Cincinnati, they had Bucky Walters Night and the stands were packed. I looked around and it was fantastic. I had never seen so many people in one place.”
Hall of Fame second baseman Rogers Hornsby also managed the Reds during Perkowski’s tenure with the club. Hornsby managed Cincinnati for parts of two seasons in 1952 and ‘53 and was never able to guide the Reds past sixth place. But, with seven batting titles, two MVPs, two Triple Crowns, and a .358 lifetime average, he was certainly a much better player than a manager.
Birdie Tebbetts (another former all-star catcher) managed the Reds during the ‘54 campaign as they finished fifth in the National League with a 74-80 record. Cincinnati showed steady improvement under Tebbetts, who managed the team until 1958.
“I liked playing for Bucky Walters and Birdie Tebbetts was a good manager,” Perkowski said. “Luke Sewell was a good manager, too. They were all good managers and knew what they were doing. It was tough to play for Rogers Hornsby. He wasn’t a popular guy to play for. He expected a lot from you. But, he sure was a great player in his day.”
The Reds had some good hitters when Perkowski was with them. Among them were first baseman Ted Kluszewski and outfielder Gus Bell. Kluszewski had 40 or more homers and 100-plus RBI for the Reds from 1953-55. Bell also drove home 100-plus runs each year during that same period. Both players were perennial all-stars for Cincinnati.
“We had some pretty fair hitters,” Perkowski said. “Kluszewski was a very good hitter. Gus Bell was a very good hitter, too. We had some good players on the Reds. We just never could get started.”
In other words, the Reds never seemed to get out of the gates very quickly. If they did, they didn’t sustain their winning ways for very long. In 1952, the Reds started 8-3 and were 20-20 on June 1. But, by the start of July, they were under .500 at 31-38. In ‘53, Cincinnati started the year 2-10 and was 12-24 by the time June rolled around - and they never got untracked.
The National League was strong, though, in the 1950s. The Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Giants always had strong clubs and (according to Perkowski) every team on the circuit seemed to have at least one or two players who were really good hitters.
The Dodgers (who won the National League pennant five times and the World Series once during Perkowski’s major league career) had hitters like Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella. The Cards featured Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter. The Giants had sluggers such as Bobby Thomson, Monte Irvin, and Willie Mays.
“We only had eight teams,” Perkowski said. “You faced the same players a lot and you got to know them and they got to know the pitchers. The Dodgers, Cardinals, and Giants were always real strong. It seemed like I pitched against them a lot - especially the Dodgers. They roughed me up a couple of times but I got them a few times, too.”
In 1952, the Dodgers won the pennant and beat every southpaw starter they faced - except Perkowski. But, they also slammed five homers in one game off Perkowski in April of ’54. “I guess they just had a great group of ballplayers,” he said.
“The Dodgers always had pretty fair hitters,” Perkowski added. “Gil Hodges was pretty tough and so was Stan Musial. Jackie Robinson was a tough one, too. Ernie Banks was a real nice fellow and I enjoyed Ernie when I played with him. He was a good hitter, too. That was just a great era for the game of baseball. I could name quite a few hitters who were pretty tough at that time.”
There were quite a few pitchers who were plenty tough, too. Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain of the Boston Braves formed a formidable duo. Don Newcombe and Preacher Roe with the Dodgers were quite a pair. Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies wasn’t bad, either.
Perkowski roomed with Raffensberger and Ewell Blackwell for a time when he was with the Reds. Blackwell was nicknamed “The Whip” for his intimidating sidearm delivery. A six-time NL all-star, Blackwell led the league with 22 wins, 23 complete games, and 193 strikeouts in 1947. Perkowski also hung out with fellow pitchers John Hetki and Eddie Erautt while with the Reds.
“I had several friends who were close to me in Cincinnati,” Perkowski said. “I didn’t go out much but I used to hang out with John Hetki and Eddie Erautt. I was an old rookie myself and I used to hang out with the rookies then. I had a good time. I had lots of guys who were my friends. That made it nice.”
Perkowski had a lifetime 33-40 record and a 4.37 ERA in eight big league seasons. He walked 324 and struck out 296 batters while allowing 719 hits in 697.2 innings. When his control wasn’t as sharp as it should have been, Perkowski helped himself with his glove and bat.
During his entire major league career, Perkowski made just two errors while on the mound. At the plate, he could handle the bat pretty well. Never an automatic out like a lot of pitchers, Perkowski hit .333 in 1949 and .318 in ’50.
Perkowski endorsed a MacGregor model glove for a few seasons.
“Yeah, I guess I had to be pretty good to get my name on a glove,” Perkowski mused. “They must have thought so at MacGregor, but they give you gloves up there (in the majors) all the time. I didn’t have to buy one. That’s one of the perks of playing in the majors.”
Perkowski doesn’t do much these days except watch a little TV. He used to bowl and go dancing but “age is starting to catch up with me a little,” he quipped. Perkowski’s son (Harry Jr.) lives in Beckley and is a private investigator while his daughter Jane lives in Pennsylvania. He has five grandchildren.
”All I ever wanted to be was a professional baseball player,“ said Perkowski, whose wife died in 1983 after 35 years of marriage. “It was something I always wanted to do. I always wanted to play in the majors. I think I had a good time and I enjoyed it.”
According to his only son, Perkowski doesn’t talk much about his days in the majors. He doesn’t brag about being a former big leaguer. And, he doesn’t lament the fact that serving his country admirably for nearly four years overseas during wartime prevented him from making the majors sooner than he did.
Perkowski, in fact, seems humbled (and almost bashful) that anyone would remember his baseball career at all these days. There, again, is a prime reason why players from Perkowski’s era may always hold a special place in the hearts of baseball fans. It might be hard for Perkowski to understand why anyone would want to remember his brief stay in the big leagues.
But, some baseball fans know a true gem when they find one.
Perkowski was a baseball player - pure and simple. He never had an agent or signed a long-term contract for millions of dollars. He never had the multi-million dollar endorsement deals afforded many of today’s players. Talk of steroids was as foreign to him as seeing an astronaut walk on the moon.
Former major league southpaw Harry Perkowski won 12 games for the Cincinnati Reds in 1952 and '53.
Harry Perkowski (as he appeared on his 1952 Bowman baseball card)It was in that environment that Perkowski developed his love for the game. He first learned how to play by throwing around homemade baseballs made of paper and tape on the local coalfield baseball park. In ’47, Perkowski advanced back to Columbia where he was 17-12 with 133 strikeouts and a 3.57 ERA in 247 innings. He got his first taste of major league hitters that year, getting into three contests for Cincinnati and posting a 3.68 ERA. But, Cincy felt he wasn’t quite ready for the big leagues at that point.
Harry Perkowski went 22-10 and led the Texas League in wins with Tulsa in '48. He also had 21 complete games.
Harry Perkowski (as he appeared on his 1953 Bowman baseball card)He completed 11 of his 24 starts and struck out 86 in 194 innings. His average of 3.99 strikeouts per nine innings was tops on the staff. Ken Raffensberger was Cincy’s ace with a 17-12 record and a 2.81 ERA in 247 innings. But, among all the club’s starters, Perkowski finished second behind Raffensberger in wins, ERA, and innings pitched. Walters (who was Perkowski’s first manager with the Reds) was MVP in 1939 with Cincy after going 27-11 with a 2.29 ERA and 137 strikeouts. Walters led all National League pitchers that year in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. He won more than 20 games three times for the Reds and was a six-time NL All-Star.
Harry Perkowski (as he appeared on his 1953 Topps baseball card)
Harry Perkowski (as he appeared on his 1954 Bowman baseball card)In his last year in the majors, Perkowski played with slugger Ernie Banks in Chicago. Perkowski also ranks Banks (a Hall of Famer with two MVPs and 512 career homers) among the top hitters of that era. “They had several good pitchers then, too,” Perkowski said. “Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain were good. So was Robin Roberts. But, there were a lot of them just like there were a lot of good hitters. Like I said, it was a strong era for baseball back then.”
Harry Perkowski (as he appeared on his 1955 Topps baseball card)
Harry Perkowski endorsed a MacGregor model glove during his baseball career. The former lefty made only 2 errors during his eight years in the major leagues. (Photos by Richard Newville)
“I don’t remember making too many errors,” Perkowski said. “I suppose I was a pretty good fielding pitcher. I pinch hit a lot every year, too. Sometimes I hit pretty good for a pitcher. I held my own, I’ll tell you that. I kept myself in the ballgame a few times.”
