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for Bobby Doerr oral history interview
Bobby Doerr oral history interview
Date1990 August 08
DescriptionAn interview of Bobby Doerr that was conducted by Rod Roberts on the behalf of the National Baseball Hall of Fame on August 8, 1990 in Cooperstown, New York.
Object numberHF-1996-0001-01
Interviewer
Roberts, Rod
Interviewee
Doerr, Bobby, 1918-2017
Subject
Doerr, Bobby, 1918-2017
Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Classificationsaudio/visual materials
Duplicate/Alternate CopyCTA 785
Library Call NumberCTA 786
Library Call NumberCTA 785
Collection NumberBA RMA 001 Rod Roberts oral history collection
TrannscriptionTrack 1 - Born in Los Angeles April 7, 1918, middle name Pershing, named after General John J. Pershing; started playing baseball at 16 for the Hollywood Stars team in the Pacific Coast League; played in high school and for the American Legion team; had a brother who was a catcher and broke in to the Pacific Coast League a year or two before, so Doerr used to work out with the team; they recruited him from high school, his father agreed as long as Doerr promised to get his high school diploma, which he did; a lot of ex-Major League players played in the League, Fred Haney, Ray Jacobs, Johnny Bassler, Smead Jolley, Tom Sheehan, Cleo Carlyle (00:00:00 to 00:03:30) Track 2 - Father Harold worked for phone company; during the Depression, his father used to buy equipment for the kids on the American Legion team, Mickey Owen, Steve Mesner; father grew up in Santa Barbara and mother from Los Angeles; Doerr is a German name; mother's maiden name was Herrnberger, so German on both sides (00:03:30 to 00:05:19) Track 3 - Joined Hollywood team in 1934; in winter for 1935, franchise owner William Lane moved them to San Diego for 1936 season; in June, Ted Williams came in for a tryout; Frank Shellenback was manager and pitching that day; Ted hit seven balls, two or three out of the ballpark; Monday night, heading to San Francisco and Williams was at the train station; one of the best hitters, sharper than everybody, a step ahead; came up with the idea of using olive oil and rosin on the bat; pine tar was after that; kept track of the pitchers, his whole life was hitting, wanted to be the greatest hitter of all time (00:05:19 to 00:09:04) Track 4 - On Smead Jolley being a big guy who could really hit, carried a cartoon about making three errors on one ball; happy, good guy (00:09:04 to 00:10:07) Track 5 - In winter of 1935, Eddie Collins, manager of the Red Sox came out to California, because scout (Earl?) Johnson had recommended him and shortstop George Myatt; in July 1936, Collins came to Seattle and Portland to see them play and Doerr got nervous and made three errors, but Collins picked him up anyway; Collins also saw Williams in batting practice and wanted to buy the contract, they gave Collins first option on Williams the following year (00:10:07 to 00:12:59) Track 6 - Felt there was a big gulf between the Major Leagues and the Minors; he walked into spring training in '37 with Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin, Lefty Grove, Rube Walberg, Mike Higgins, Roger Cramer, a thrill to meet all of them; Cronin was also manager, told him to relax and sing a song being a player-manager very difficult, (Lou) Boudreau did a good job (00:12:59 to 00:14:44) Track 7 - On Foxx, good season in '37, '38; started to slip in '39-'40; strong hitter; playing in Cleveland, Foxx hit a line drive to left field; a real great player, right up there with Lou Gehrig (00:14:44 to 00:15:43) Track 8 - On Lefty Grove, being competitive and a prima donna; would point fingers at players with errors; had a hard throw; one day Doerr was at batting practice and got hit in the head with a pitched ball, so he was trying not to be afraid of the ball; hit a line drive past Grove and Grove got angry and threw the ball back at him (00:15:43 to 00:19:23) Track 9 - On taking over for Eric McNair, everyone was good to him as a rookie; Cronin made a lot of helpful suggestions; in the Coast League, when Williams joined the club; a few guys were drinking and started picking on Williams, he took a blanket and locked himself in the ladies' room to get away from them; players played simple pranks; today's players have a lot of pressure and media exposure; in the past, players could relax and have fun; modern players are like movie stars; Doerr and Williams wouldn't want to be modern players; Doerr's top salary $32,500, he made enough to invest and pay his bills; played in a great era of baseball with some of the greatest players of all time (00:19:23 to 00:24:02) Track 10 - On having time off in the winter; today's players don' have that luxury; on commercialism and autograph-seekers; fan mail picked up once Doerr was in the Hall of Fame, try to reply to all the mail as fast as possible; people asking him for Williams' autograph (00:24:02 to 00:27:00) Track 11 - On Moe Berg, intelligent, treating younger players well, take Charlie Wagner and Doerr for a walk; Berg had a greeting card business; top atomic spy in Europe; spied during a barnstorming tour of Japan, used photos he took during raid on Tokyo; spoke 7-12 different languages; good ball player, good receiver but had hurt his knee so he couldn't run well; Berg spent a lot of time by himself, walking around to find things out, at one point he took a revolver and a cyanide pill (00:27:00 to 00:30:56) Track 12 - On Ben Chapman, taking long leads off the base (00:30:56 to 00:31:26) Track 13 - On Wes Farrell in '37, getting mad in St. Louis and tearing up his glove, traded to Washington (tape runs out) (00:31:26 to 00:32:00) 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. 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