Media Restricted

Vic Power oral history interview

Date1994 March 18

DescriptionAn interview of Victor "Vic Power" Pellot that was conducted by Larry Moffi in San Juan, Puerto Rico on March 18, 1994. Content of the interview include: Side One -- Track 1 - His son doesn't have what it takes to play in the big leagues, not aggressive enough, can't be too soft; at first base, you have to be aggressive and have other talents, he was small for playing first base, not like taller players such as Walt Dropo, but he had the flexibility to move around first base; have to be proud of your position, didn't want to make errors, liked the position because it was good public relations position, get to see all of the big players, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra and talk to them; he was lucky in Puerto Rico, when he was 9 years old, they had a guy (?) who played amateur baseball and he tried to copy the way he moved around the base; he enjoyed playing first base, because there is always some action (00:00:00 to 00:02:44) Track 2 - On being called a showboat by Harry Craft and Leo Durocher because they didn't like his style of playing, his one-handed catching; his manager Jimmy Dykes in Cleveland told him never argue with success; later on a sportswriter from Detroit asked him why he was a showboat and only caught with one hand, and he said that the guy who invented the game only made one glove, if he wanted you to catch with two hands he would have made two gloves; on being proud of your position and the game, like Michael Jordan, if you are proud, you perform better, it makes the game easier; as a right-handed first baseman, he has to anticipate to make the double play easier; the kind of baseball he teaches kids; the secret is practice, because practice makes perfect (00:02:44 to 00:05:37) Track 3 - On wanting to be a doctor or a lawyer when he was a kid; he was 13 when his father died, so he had to get a job to support his family, and they said they would pay him to play baseball, so when he was 16 he turned pro with a salary of $250 a month, enough to support his family and buy his mother a house, the next year, they gave him $500, and three years later, he went to Canada and then the Yankees signed him; his father worked in the sugar cane mill, he got cut on the job and they told him to get a tetanus shot, and he didn't want to get the shot, and he died two weeks later; his father never played baseball and didn't want his son to play baseball (00:05:37 to 00:08:00) Track 4 - On Quincy Trouppe being like a father to him, he wanted to take him to the States, a lot of people told him not to go, because of segregation; when he was ready to go to Chicago, a lot of the big leaguers went to Mexico and they made a new league in Canada, the Provincial League, and so Trouppe took him to that league; Roy Zimmerman was playing first base so Power played right field, and finished as the batting champion, he enjoyed Canada, the first time he ate toast and chocolate; the next year, he went back to Canada and they won and the Yankees scout Tom Greenwade, the same one who signed Mickey Mantle, signed him; in the report, they said he was a good runner, good arm, good hitter, but a poor fielder; he made an error on a bad hop; Greenwade was a nice old man and had a good reputation, nice personality; that league was an independent league, so the Yankees bought his contract for $7,500, and they were supposed to give him some money, but they hadn't given him, they gave him $500 Canadian dollars and he thought he was a rich man; originally, he was supposed to go to Kansas City, but they sent him to Syracuse, NY, a lot of older guys on the club, 35 years old, and he was 19 or 20; he played in '51 in Syracuse, then in '52 and '53 he played in Kansas City (00:08:00 to 00:14:45) Track 5 - On playing against Ray Dandridge when he was in Triple AAA in the American Association; he has respect for that old man, beautiful player, great third baseman, nice old man, really liked him (00:14:45 to 00:15:47) Track 6 - On playing in Puerto Rico with Lorenzo Davis, Will Brown, Johnny Davis, (Alonzo Purty?) older guy, and he told him he was going to clean the bag, and tagged him out; didn't play against Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson, but saw them play, saw a lot of the Negro League stars, they were tough guys, he learned his game from them, the first time he saw a switch hitter was Junior Gilliam; he saw Gibson when he was 10-11 years old, big strong guy, he hit that ball a long way; Power was lucky to see all of those guys; also lucky to see Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Yogi Berra, got to see some of the greatest players that ever played (00:15:47 to 00:19:03) Track 7 - On never going to Mexico, he was supposed to go to the American Giants in Chicago, but the players went from Mexico to Canada, so Trouppe took him to Canada; their manager quit and Trouppe became the manager, and they won the championship (00:19:03 to 00:21:08) Track 8 - On being close to Trouppe, like a father, he taught him English, how to dress, how to cook, how to clean the apartment, taught him everything; learned to take pictures, learned music, learned the great jazz musicians, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, he was a teacher, a father and they went together all the time, he took care of their contracts, did everything; first time Power ever ate pancakes, Trouppe cooked it, they rented a house in Canada with Roberto (Barria?) another player from Puerto Rico, and Trouppe would cook, Power would clean and Roberto was supposed to do the dishes; Trouppe was 35-40, when they won the championship, they made Trouppe the mayor of the city for the week; they played in Drummondville, Canada, a little town, he liked it, learned to speak French as well as English, enjoyed the Canadian people; Trouppe was a good catcher and went to the big leagues when he was too old, he was a strong hitter with a lot of power; the best catcher of that era in Puerto Rico, later on, they had Roy Campanella, been trying to find out if Trouppe is still alive, they don't get too much information in Puerto Rico even though they are American citizens (00:21:08 to 00:27:04) Track 9 - On not having problems with racism in Canada; only had two fights in that league, but not because of race, it was because he was playing second base and they tried to break the double play and hit him hard; ran into racism in Kansas City, he noticed the difference, he was not allowed to live in the same hotel with the other players, they stayed in a different hotel in another section of town, they didn't get to see the white players except in the ballpark; he noticed the difference when he tried to go into a restaurant and they wouldn't serve him because they didn't serve Negros and he told them he didn't "eat Negro," but he used common sense and didn't try to go into those places; later on, after President Kennedy signed the law to serve Negros, he went to the same restaurant, to see, if they didn't serve him, he was going to call the office and make trouble, but he went there and they served him but didn't give him a knife and fork and couldn't understand his accent when he asked for the utensils (tape runs out) (00:27:04 to 00:31:12)

Object numberBL-2000-02292-016

Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer Moffi, Larry

Attributes

Classificationsaudio/visual materials

Collection NumberBA RMA 002 Larry Moffi oral history collection

Dimensions00:31:12|1 of 5

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

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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.