Media Restricted

Alex Grammas oral history interview

Date1994 February 24

DescriptionAn interview of Alex Grammas that was conducted by Larry Moffi on February 24, 1994 in Birmingham, Alabama. Content of the interview include: Side One -- Track 1 - (Contains profanity) (Conversation picks up in the middle, it appears they are discussing Sparky Anderson) On being with someone (Anderson?) 19 years and not speaking to him; Joe Brown had told him in 1969 that he would be returning to Pittsburgh the next year as either a manager or coach, but then Brown said he decided to bring Danny Murtaugh back and Murtaugh wanted Frank Oceak as his third base coach, so Grammas was out of a job; next day he got a call from the Cincinnati Reds, Sparky Anderson called him and they were together 19 years, with a two-year break when he was managing Milwaukee and one year in Atlanta; for 12 years they worked together in Detroit, a great town (interviewer talks about his book; they talk about airports and the weather and storms, driving in snow; wife comes in) (00:00:00 to 00:08:23) Track 2 - (Contains profanity) On his parents being Greek, his father born in Greece, his mother born in U.S. but her parents born in Greece; about 3,000 Greeks in Birmingham, on building a new church and Hellenic Center in downtown Birmingham; his father came to U.S. around 1910; right before World War I, Greece was at war with Bulgaria, and his father went back and joined the army, then came back to the U.S., never went back to Greece until 1965, and that was the first and only time his mother went there; he and his wife went to Greece in 1992, stayed for three weeks, when to their parents' hometowns, saw the house where her father was born; stayed in the house where his father was born outside of Sparta for four nights; took a cruise and saw the tourist attractions; it was gorgeous; went to the Parthenon, he had learned about it in Greek school, they used to go to Greek school every day after public school got out; he and his wife knew each other their whole lives, their parents went to church together; (interviewer talks about living in Alexandria, VA; they show and discuss photos from Greece, grandchild comes in) (00:08:23 to 00:16:28) Track 3 - (Contains profanity) On his father not wanting him to play professional baseball in the beginning; he and his brother were always out playing, throwing a baseball and hitting, played in YMCA leagues; played high school ball; went in the service in 1944, interrupted his college, he had gone to Mississippi State to play baseball, had a scholarship in addition to the GI Bill; his brother played shortstop or outfield; he played third base; they both signed professionally out of Mississippi, in the White Sox organization; his brother went to in Hot Springs in C ball; and he went to Michigan in A ball; then the next year, his brother went to Colorado Springs in A ball and he went to Memphis in Double AA; the next year his brother gave it up, even though he hit .335, he was a good hitter, could run and throw; this was after the War, he was in the service in the Philippines, his brother was in the U.S. but then sent him to the Philippines towards the end of the War; Grammas was in Japan for the occupation from September through July of the following year; he's been to Japan three times since, went back in '58 as a player with the Cardinals, went back in '78 as a coach with Cincinnati, and back in '88 with the All Star Team; they've come a long way, now, it's like being in an American city, but a lot more expensive; when they went in '58, he bought 3-4 strands of pearls; he, Stan Musial, the team doctor, Dr. Littleman, Bob (Coleman? Pullman?) all went to a man's house and the man opened up a safe and started pulling out pearls and laid them out on the table, the strands were priced $20-$35-$100, today they would be $40,000; when they were there in '88, the Kobe beef was expensive, Roger Craig and his wife spent $250 on a steak dinner; the Japanese treated the players great, loved seeing them, their number one player was Shigeo Nagasima, he was a rookie third baseman when they were there, took them out to dinner in '88; when people see him, they scream (wife and daughter come in) (00:16:28 to 00:25:27) Track 4 - On playing ball in the service, a couple of months in Japan, right before he came home; the manager was John Sullivan who had played with the Washington Senators; also a second baseman named Hodge who had played some for Memphis; they both urged him to consider professional baseball (00:25:27 to 00:26:32) Track 5 - On signing in 1949 at 23, he was late because of the War, didn't get to the Major Leagues until he was 28; lucky to stay in the Major Leagues for 37 years, 10 as a player and managed in the Minor Leagues one year, and then Harry Walker brought him up as a coach in Pittsburgh, stayed five years; went to Cincinnati for six years; then to Milwaukee as manager for two years; back to Cincinnati for one year; then to Atlanta for one; then to Detroit for 12 (00:26:32 to 00:27:28) Track 6 - On St. Louis moving in '54, the year he came up; Budweiser owned the team then; Eddie Stanky was the manager, and both Mr. (Adolphus) Busch and Mr. Anheuser came to the clubhouse; each player was assigned a weight, and they would fine the players $50 a pound over; Mr. Anheuser got up on the scale, and they said that would cost him $50; the owners came around a lot, Mr. Busch loved it, a good man; a lot of owners loved the game, Tom Yawkey was a good example; used to call to congratulate them on a good game and on the World Series; Dwight Evans made a catch in the World Series that was the best catch he ever saw, Joe Morgan hit a line drive (tape runs out) (00:27:28 to 00:31:10)

Object numberBL-2000-02292-003

Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer Moffi, Larry

Attributes

Classificationsaudio/visual materials

Collection NumberBA RMA 002 Larry Moffi oral history collection

Dimensions00:31:10|1 of 3

Copyrighthttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. Only a portion of NBHFM's collection is currently online and the information presented here is subject to updates and additions based on research and imaging activities. The images, titles, and descriptions are products of their time. If you have corrections or additional information about this object, please email research@baseballhall.org to help improve our records. This material is made available for private study, scholarship, and research use. Every effort has been made to accurately determine the rights status of images. Please email us if you have further information on the rights status of an image contrary to or in addition to the information in our records. For more information or access to a high resolution reproduction (some fees may apply), contact: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.

RestrictionsDue to copyright restrictions, this interview can only be listened to at the Giamatti Research Center at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.