Looking Back:Fred Valentine Played Baseball at TSU
Tennessee State University is well known for producing football and basketball players who have advanced to the professional ranks. TSU baseball is a different story. Not many people are aware that "Big Blue" baseball has also produced major league players. Fred Valentine, a Clarksdale, Miss., native, grew up in Memphis
Tennessee State University is well known for producing football and basketball players who have advanced to the professional ranks. TSU baseball is a different story. Not many people are aware that "Big Blue" baseball has also produced major league players.
Fred Valentine, a Clarksdale, Miss., native, grew up in Memphis and was offered a football scholarship by TSU in 1953. In high school, Valentine had attracted professional scouts representing both football and baseball. In football, Valentine became an All-American quarterback for the Tigers. But he was also the second TSU baseball player to enter the major leagues, behind George Altman, who was his teammate at TSU and became the first Tiger in the big leagues, beating Valentine by a few weeks in 1959.
"I was at Tennessee State for three-and-a-half years and went to school there year-round," Valentine said from his Washington, D.C. office. "Scouts had been looking at me since I arrived at TSU. At that time, I let it be known that I would be available to consider professional sports in the spring of 1957. That's when I was graduating. I had four offers in baseball and three offers in football. Baltimore gave me the best offer in baseball and I signed with them that spring.
Valentine was assigned to the Northern League in Aberdeen, S.D. A year later he hit .319 with Wilson (N.C.) and was named the Carolina League Player of the Year. The Orioles quickly moved the young prospect to their Triple-A farm club in Miami in 1959.
When the minor league season was over, Valentine was called to "The Show" in September when the major league rosters were expanded. The right-handed outfielder would appear in 12 games, batting .316 (6-for-19) with no home runs and one RBI.
"Paul Richards was the Orioles manager and one of the greatest managers in the game because of his knowledge," said Valentine. "He was instrumental in me being signed. Once he saw me at a practice and could see the potential in me and he wanted me. Richards was ahead of himself in the game as far as knowledge. He was a great, great thinker of baseball."
One of Valentine's teammates in those early years was future Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson.
"I think Robinson was better than they said he was," Valentine said. "Once you played with him, you watched him make all these fantastic plays and it became routine. Fans in the stands were yelling, 'How did he do it?' He was such a nonchalant guy. He would come into the dugout and say, 'Oh, I got another one. I was sure lucky there.' The guy was unreal and just a human vacuum down there."
Valentine would have to serve a stint in the military before he would see major league pitching again. When his service obligation was complete, he was assigned to the Orioles' new Triple-A farm club in Rochester.
He was once again was called up by Baltimore in September 1963 where he appeared in 26 games. Valentine managed to hit .268 with 41 plate appearances while collecting 11 hits with no home runs and one RBI. The Orioles, who were on the verge of building a solid contender, traded Valentine to the Washington Senators at the end of the season.
"We just happened to be playing Washington in Baltimore and I remember distinctly that when the game was over they got together and made the trade for me," said Valentine. "Gil Hodges was the Senators manager and I actually heard about the trade on the radio when I was driving home. Then two days later I got a telegram informing me I had been traded."
Was the 6-foot-1, 190-pound outfielder disappointed about leaving Baltimore?
"Not really," said Valentine. "At that time, Baltimore had about six or seven veteran outfielders and I wasn't really playing regularly. I didn't know if I was strong enough for them to take a chance on me playing regularly. I could play and they knew it, but what were they going to do with the veterans that they had?
"It was an opportunity for me at Washington even though they were at the bottom of the standings. Hodges informed me that I was going to play if I really wanted to play. I was their center fielder. That was a break for me to go in and play as a regular."
One of Valentine's teammates for most of his time with the Senators was the power-hitting Frank Howard. Howard left quite an impression on Valentine.
"When Howard first came to Washington, he was in left field and I was in center," said Valentine. "He never was speedy on his feet and I had to cover most of center and left field when balls came out that way. At the bat, we were always wondering how far he was going to hit the ball. My thought was that he was really going to hurt someone, particularly a pitcher or third baseman, by hitting a ball hard before they could react to it."
Valentine was given the Senators' centerfield position in 1964. Appearing in 102 games, he batted .226 (48-for-212) with four home runs and 20 RBI's. He would hit his first major league home run that season.
"They knew I had potential home run power, but they wanted me to bat leadoff," said Valentine. "I batted leadoff throughout the most of my career and to hit a home run at leadoff was unusual. I remember that my first home run came against the Los Angeles Angels in L.A. It was against a right-handed pitcher, but I can't remember his name. To be in the big leagues and hit your first home run was a big thrill. Just like any hitting, I tried to hit the ball hard and if you get the right pitch it will go out of the ballpark."
The following year, Valentine was sent to Hawaii, where he slugged 25 home runs and led the league in stolen bases. Valentine joined the Senators near the end of that 1965 season, appearing in 12 games. He batted .241 (7-for-29) with no home runs and one RBI.
The 1966-67 seasons would be Valentine's most productive while wearing a major league uniform.
"After coming back from Hawaii, I found myself," said Valentine. "I really got myself back together. Gil Hodges let me play and those were my best years. I was fortunate not to get seriously hurt even though I played injured at some times."
In those two seasons, Valentine appeared in 146 and 151 games while gaining a substantial number of plate appearances with 508 and 457, respectively. He increased his home run production with 16 and 11 while batting .276 and .234. Valentine also added 59 and 44 RBI in those two seasons.
After beginning 1968 in Washington, Valentine was traded back to Baltimore. The Orioles had won their first World Series in 1966.
"At that time Baltimore was pretty much in contention," Valentine said. "Their center fielder was Paul Blair and when he got hurt they needed a center fielder. Hank Bauer was the Orioles' manager and I played for him most of the year. Then Earl Weaver came in after the All-Star game and replaced Bauer. That's when Weaver was making his plans for the future and I just happened not to be in his future plans."
Valentine finished his baseball career in Japan, where he played one season. He voluntarily retired after that year and took a position with a Washington construction firm where he has worked ever since.
Though TSU has not fielded a baseball team in over 20 years, the Tigers have sent other players to the major leagues. These include with years at TSU:
In Valentine's seven-year major league he accumulated a .247 batting average (360-for-1, 458) in 533 games. He collected 36 home runs while driving in 138 runs.
Looking back on Valentine's baseball career, he was asked about the most enjoyment he got out of playing major league baseball.
"The camaraderie and the fraternity of baseball and how we go out each day to do the best that you can do," said Valentine. "Knowing that you can do well and get three hits out of ten times at bat and that's good.
"But, you look at it in the real world and it's not supposed to be good. It shows you how competitive this game is and I feel fortunate and blessed that I got to the major leagues. I realize that there are thousands and thousands of good athletes with a lot of talent that never made it to the major leagues."
Traughber's Tidbit: There have been seven members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame that have major league baseball experience. These are Jim Thorpe, Paddy Driscoll, Red Badgro, Ernie Nevers, George Halas, Greasy Neale and Ace Parker. None of these were ever close to becoming members of the baseball hall of fame, but a few did get noticed. Parker clubbed a home run in his first major league at-bat while in 1927 and Nevers gave up two home runs to Babe Ruth in his 60-homer season. In the famous double no-hit game in 1917, Thorpe drove in the winning run. Neale played for the Reds in the 1919 World Series and Halas played right field in 1919 for the New York Yankees. The next season Ruth would occupy that position.
Tidbit Two: Quote from President Dwight D. Eisenhower: "When I was a boy growing up in Kansas, a friend of mine and I talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine Honus Wagner. My friend said he wanted to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish."
Tidbit Three: The book "Nashville Sports History: From Sulphur Dell to the Sounds" is now available. Books can be purchased through local bookstores like Parnassus (Green Hills) and Barnes & Nobles and online Amazon.com and summergamebooks.com. The book contains 33 chapters, 221 pages and 86 illustrations.
If you have any comments or suggestions contact Bill Traughber via email [email protected]