Looking Back: Gilbert Recalls His Years With Vols

Former Nashville Vols right-fielder Buddy Gilbert (1958-59, 1961) knew he had a special talent in high school while throwing a baseball on a challenge.

   "When I was a sophomore in high school I always played baseball," Gilbert said recently from his Knoxville home. "Some of the football players got me down on the football field and put a baseball in my hand. They wanted to see how far I could throw a baseball. I didn't think about distance back then.

   "I stood at one goal line and throw it past the opposite goal line. They could not believe it. None of those guys could come near the 20-yard line. That's when I knew I had a strong arm. In my senior year, I pitched one ball game and stuck out 17 guys that day. Some people suggested that I pitch. I told them I wanted to play everyday and not sit on that bench. And I liked hitting home runs."

   Gilbert was born in Knoxville, TN attending Central High School. He was in his first quarter at the University of Tennessee when he began working out for a few major league clubs. It was at the workout that Gilbert made the conversion from catcher to the outfield.

   "I had been the batboy for the Knoxville Smokies for several years," said Gilbert. The Giants had a workout camp there. I was a catcher throughout junior and high school when the Smokies manager asked me if I ever thought about playing in the outfield. He said my arm would be an advantage and I would have longevity and not get my knuckles and shins all beat up as a catcher. I didn't think much about it so I said. 'Let me borrow your glove.' That's when I started playing in the outfield."

   Gilbert eventually signed with the Cincinnati Reds after working out one weekend in the Reds home stadium Crosley Field. He signed with a $5,000 bonus and knew Ed Bailey also from Knoxville who was on the Reds roster.

   The left-handed batter began his first professional baseball career in 1954 in Douglas, GA (Class-D) of the Georgia State League. In that season he batted.335 (173-for-516) with 16 home runs in 130 games. Gilbert spent the following year in Class C Ogden, UT (Pioneer League), and two seasons in Single-A Savannah, GA (Sally League).

   After that first season in Douglas, I felt confident about my future in baseball," Gilbert said. "I got to play with and against some guys that would make it in the big leagues. I enjoyed the town and the people. I did not have a car so I walked to the ballpark, which wasn't too far from where I lived.

   "I made the All-Star team in Ogden and played with Dick Stuart and later against him when he played for Pittsburgh. He was a big first baseman that could hit the ball a long way. Stuart and Harmon Killebrew hit the longest home runs I'd ever seen in my life. We were playing in an All-Star game when Killebrew hit one in left-centerfield up in those lights.

   "I wondered how could a man hit a ball that far. In Savannah (1956-57) I got to play with Curt Flood. I did become friends with him. Unfortunately I did experience some things with him that I did not appreciate what happened to the black ball players. The black guys could not stay in the same hotel with us.

   "In Knoxville we stayed in a really nice hotel and they stayed in a hotel not nearly as nice in another part of town. Even in Tampa, Florida in the big league camp they could not stay with us in the hotels. I told my mother that was something I couldn't understand nor accept. I was always taught to love your fellow man. When they could not go into restaurants for food I'd get the food and take it on the bus to them."

   In Flood's autobiography "The Way It Is" he made a reference about those harsh times in Savannah and mentioned Gilbert's compassion to him and the other black ball players on the team.

   "When somebody called me about that one night I about flipped my lid," said Gilbert. Curt Flood mentioned in all the years he played baseball there was one white boy from Knoxville, Tennessee, that always treated him like a human-Buddy Gilbert. That was the nicest compliment I think I've ever had in my life."

   Gilbert was promoted to Double-A Nashville (Southern Association) where he played two full seasons in 1958-59 in centerfield. Sulphur Dell, the home of the Nashville Vols, had an unusual configuration with a 45-degree embankment around the outfield that was part of the playing field. The right field fence had a 30-foot high screen on top, which was only 262 feet from home plate.

   So how did that short right field look to a left-handed batting Gilbert?

   "You had to get the ball up because any line drive was going to hit the fence on the embankment," Gilbert said. "The right fielder had a spot on top of the embankment like a platform. I remember running up and down those hills. Larry Munson was announcing the Vols games and he would refer to me as a Billy goat. I never fell running up or down that embankment though."

   The 1958 the Vols finished the season in fifth place (56-78) under the leadership of manager Dick Sisler. Gilbert batted .247 (119-for-482) slamming 27 home runs collecting 85 RBIs in 148 games. He also led the league in walks (118) and strikeouts (128).

   "In that first year Jim Fridley joined our ball club when we started home from spring training in Florida," said Gilbert. "I remembered when he played for Spartanburg (SC) when I was a batboy with the Knoxville Smokies and in high school. I was so excited. Fridley joined us at the hotel in Montgomery.

   "I told him he did not know about me, but I sure knew him. I told him that I remembered he could shoot the bull and crewed that tobacco. He was our left fielder and led the league in hitting that year (.348). I used to kid him and that they should pay me part of his salary.

   "Not only did I cover centerfield, right center and left center, but I covered left field often. When a ball was hit his way I'd yell, 'come on, you can get it, you can get it.' Of course he was 36 years old then and I was about 23. I always appreciated Jim Fridley. He was funny."

   Sisler was the Vols manager (1957-59) that played in eight major league seasons with St. Louis, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and the Reds. He was the son of Hall of Fame member George Sisler. Sisler was the Cincinnati Reds manager in 1964-65.

   "Dick Sisler was the best manager I ever played for," said Gilbert. "A couple of guys that lived in Knoxville used to kid me and say I was his 'bobo' in spring training in Brooksville, FL. After practice when those guys would shag balls, Dick Sisler would have me hit and hit and hit. I was afraid to tell him that sometimes I'd get blisters on my hand because I hit so much.

   "He was determined to get me into the big leagues some how, some way. He treated me so well. I thought so much of that man as a manager and as a person. One time he tried to get me to spray the ball and after about two or three weeks he said forget it because I was definitely a pull hitter. I didn't hit a home run in my life in left field or left center. It was always right field."

   In 1959, Gilbert clubbed 24 home runs batting .282 (142-for-403) driving in 84 runs in 148 games. Gilbert said that he lived in the Dickson Trailer Park that was close to the ballpark and a place off Franklin Road. Travel throughout the South was by bus and trains.

   "When I lived in the trailer park a lot of professional wrestlers were there also. The Fargo brothers (Jackie, Sonny and Don) with Lester Welch and all those guys. We became good buddies and hung out at the swimming pool to laugh, cut up and tease each other. We enjoyed the camaraderie and watched them workout. We always questioned them about is wrestling fake? That you guys fake sometimes. One of the Fargo brothers showed us a little trick that they did and said. 'Don't ask anything else." He showed us how to do a 'body slam'"

  On May 8,1959 the Vols were down 7-0 to rival Memphis going into the bottom of the ninth at Sulphur Dell. Gilbert led off the inning with a single; Phil Shartzer doubled to right; Haven Schmidt pinch hit home run; Carlos Castillo singled; Tommy Dotterer singled; Marv Blaylock singled; Crawford Davidson singled; Ultus Alvarez singled and Ed Irons tripled to end the game. That was nine straight hits without a walk, error or hit batter.

   "I remember that as plain as day," Gilbert said. "A guy I played ball with in high school lived in Nashville and was standing by the dugout with his wife just as I was getting my bat from the bat rack. He told me, 'hey Buddy, we are going to leave, I'll talk to you later.'

   "We sent nine guys to the plate. They had not gotten the first out at all when I was coming to bat the second time. Eddie Irons hit a triple to clear the bases and we beat them 8-7. The day next day they were shaking their heads. They could believe we beat them. That was the darnest game I ever played in my life. I will never forget that ball game. It was such a thrill."

   When the season was over, Sisler told Gilbert that Cincinnati was calling him up to the parent club. Gilbert said he was thrilled to have the chance to make the big leagues a dream he lived since a boy.

   The Reds finished that season in sixth place (74-80), in an eight-team National League13 games behind champions Los Angeles Dodgers. Gilbert played in seven games, batting .150 (3-for-20) with two home runs, two RBIs and three base on balls.

   "I was 0-for-3 in my first game in Wrigley Field," said Gilbert. "I remember hitting one I thought was going to be a home run and (Jim) Marshall went up against the wall and caught it. Freddie (Hutchinson-Reds manager) started letting me play a little bit here and there.

   "We were trying to get into the first division in the league. He told me we were so close to getting into the first division that he was going to let the older guys play. He thought if I messed up and knocked them out of some extra money, they'd feel bad. We finally got knocked out of first division and he let me play more. I got to play the last two games against Pittsburgh."

   "The first home run I hit was off Jim Umbricht and the next one was off Dick Hall of Pittsburgh. My first hit was a single in Chicago. The home runs were in the last two days of the season on a Saturday and Sunday in Crosley Field. The first home run I hit I was so excited. I was never the type of guy like they do today when they hit a home run and look and look at it go out the park. When I hit one I just took off running. I ran around those bases and I remember Freddie Hutchinson in the dugout saying to me, 'Bubby, you ran around those bases so fast the cameras couldn't keep up with you."

   Gilbert was surprised of a record he held told to him by Nashville Banner legendary sportswriter Fred Russell

   "I worked for Guaranty Mortgage Company in Nashville where Herschel Greer owned the company and also the President of the Nashville Vols," said Gilbert. "I went to work for him in 1964. Freddie Russell called me one day and said, 'You know, you hold an all-time record?'

   "I like to fool around with jokes, as did Fred so I asked what record? He said I went to bat 20 times in the big leagues and hit two home runs. That is a 10 percent average per times at-bat. I have the clipping he put in the paper. I have won more dinners off that article that you wouldn't believe. In the paper he had my picture next to Babe Ruth and Ralph Kiner asking who had the highest percentage per times at-bat. He said it wasn't Babe Ruth or Ralph Kiner it was Buddy Gilbert. He wasn't kidding me."

   Before a game in Cincinnati against Pittsburgh, Gilbert participated in a Crosley Field "Field Day" that consisted of contests as home run hitting, base running and throwing. He would win the throwing contest against a future Hall of Famer.

  "The way it was, they'd hit the ball to right field and we had to throw to second base, third base and home plate," said Gilbert. "As soon as you got the ball you had to commit to throwing and one hop closest to the bag won. We took our turns and I beat Roberto Clemente in all three bases and won all the money. I remember Roberto coming up to me to say, 'Kid, you have one helluva of arm.' I said, 'Thank you Mr. Clemente.' And he probably wasn't two or three years older than me."

   After the season, Gilbert felt good about his future being the Reds starting right-fielder when he talked to Gabe Paul the Cincinnati General Manager. However, money became an issue.

   "I had the strongest arm in the organization," Gilbert said. "That was the first time I played right field. They played Vada (Pinson) in centerfield and Frank (Robinson) in left field. When it came time for negotiations they sent me a contract for just a $300 a month raise. I just struck it out and wrote in $500 a month raise. Then I received a contract two weeks later with a $300 a month raise. Then I struck that out and put in $500 a month raise and sent it back.

   "Then a week later Gabe Paul called me asking what was my problem. I told him I didn't have a problem. He said I kept changing the contract. I told him I was worth more than $300 a month raise and he knew that. You know what I can do. I threw out two guys from right field. I've got the strongest arm and I believe I can hit 20-25 home runs a year. I can help the ball club. He told me, 'Buddy, you are a young guy with plenty of time to make money.' I told him I should get paid for what I did. I hit 24 home runs in Nashville last year.

   "He told me I was a stubborn kid. Well, unfortunately I opened my mouth to say I shouldn't have said. I told him he if felt that way about me, the way I hustle and not one bad report on me you can go to hell. I should have never said that. It was a bad mistake. He said he'd send me back to the minor leagues. I said, 'no you won't. I'll go back to the University of Tennessee.' About two weeks later the chief scout for the Reds gave me a call.

   "He said Gabe told him to call me that they'd send me another contract with the $300 a month raise. He knew the story with Gabe Paul and me. I told him I couldn't do that. I did not know this at the time, but Gabe Paul was on the party line. He spoke up and said, 'Buddy, this is Gabe Paul.' I said, 'Hi Mr. Paul how are you doing?' He said that I was still a stubborn kid. I said, 'yup, if that's the way you feel about it you can still go to hell.' He told me I was going to be sent back to the minor leagues. I said, 'no you aren't. I quit.'

   "Dick Sisler called me and said if I came to Seattle (Triple-A Reds) they would give me an additional $3,000 and that was between us. I knew two clubs wanted me Kansas City and Pittsburgh. I went out there and had the best spring I ever had in spring training. I hit about five home runs in the first 10 games and was just hot. I asked for my $3,000 and Mr. Sisler said, 'I hate to tell you this, but Cedric Tallis which was their GM said Gabe Paul called them and told them if they gave me extra money it could cost them their jobs. I never got that money, but I still love Dick Sisler to this day."

   Gilbert played the entire 1960 season in Seattle where he appeared in131 games, batted .203 (78-for-384) with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs. The next season, Gilbert was back in Nashville before ending the season in Triple-A Indianapolis (Reds). In Nashville he recorded 15 home runs with a .251 average.

   Gilbert launched a successful real estate and banking career in Knoxville and is a member of the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame,

   "They wouldn't trade me and by that time my heart wasn't in it because of what happened to me over the money," said Gilbert. "I wanted to get out of the Cincinnati organization and they wouldn't release me. I told everyone that Nashville would be my last season, but nobody believed me. I quit after that. I went to work in the mortgage banking business and took courses for real estate law.

   "That's when some people in Kansas City (American League) called me to say they might be able to get me in a trade. They thought I could be their center fielder. I called my wife and she was ready to go. I got home that evening and started thinking about what happened the past two years. I told my wife my heart was not in it, that baseball was like politics. They didn't tell me the truth. I didn't report to camp and told the people with Kansas City I enjoyed the offer, but I wasn't going to take them up on it."

 

Traughber's Tidbit: Buddy Gilbert attended the Sounds first home game at First Tennessee Park on April 17. Joining in on the reunion were Gilbert's former Vols' teammates Larry Taylor, Bobby Durnbaugh and Roy Pardue.

 

   If you have any comments or suggestions contact Bill Traughber via email [email protected].