KANSAS CITY'S LIVE POWER
He's A 'Wash Out' Who Isn't One
"Teammates call him 'Wash Out,' but it is no allusion to his baseball prowess. They are the first to tell you that next to moving to Kansas City, the 'arrival' of Vic Power is one of the better things that has happened to the Athletics.
The Power of '55 is not the same fellow who hit a weak .255 at Philadelphia last year and played, at various times, first base, third base, shortstop and the outfield. The new Power, firmly entrenched at the job he does best, first base, is the very picture of confidence. And while experts tab him a 'bad-ball hitter,' Vic totaled a hefty .415 batting average through the A's first 17 games. His fielding and base running, too, attracted attention around the league.
There are plenty of reasons for Power's transformation. Manager Lou Boudreau deserves much of the credit for helping Vic find himself. Then, too, the presence of a larger and more enthusiastic patronage at the ball park has served as a tonic to the young Puerto Rican who was growing sour on the game. When news came that the team had been sold to Arnold Johnson and would be transferred to Kansas City, Vic was one of the happiest men in baseball.
'Those Kansas City fans are the greatest,' said Power. 'I'll hit .300.'
Victor Pellott Power, one of six children, was born in Aricebo, Puerto Rico, 23 years ago. His father is dead, but mother Maximina is a baseball fan and follows Vic's career in the newspapers. One of Vic's brothers, 22-year-old Nelson, is serving in the Army. The other brother, Osbaldo, 18, is a freshman in high school in San Juan, P.R., and according to Vic, Osbaldo, too, will some day be a major league ball player.
Vic was only a sophomore at San Juan High when he inked his first professional contract to play first base for the home town team in the winter league. Scouts saw him and signed him to his first O.B. contract in 1950 with Drummondville, Canada, in the Provincial League. After hitting .334 and driving in 105 runs in 105 games, he was purchased by the Yankees and farmed out to Syracuse of the International League.
At Syracuse in 1951, Vic learned that it is not always wise to keep your eye on the ball. One day, with two runners aboard, Power socked a long home run over the left field fence. As he sped around the base paths, he watched the sphere until it disappeared. Crossing home plate, he was greeted by a roar of laughter rather than the expected thunderous ovation.
'I couldn't understand why the crowd was so hilarious,' says Vic, 'until someone told me I had been called out for passing the base runners.'
Power saw Kansas City for the first time when he was assigned to the Blues in the American Association in 1952. Under Manager George Selkirk, Vic hit .331 and knocked in 109 runs.
Reflecting on that season, Vic said, 'You know, I figured I'd get a trial with the Yankees. I was disappointed when they didn't give me a shot at major league ball. But I liked the fans in Kansas City and when they told me I was going to be with the Blues another year, I decided to bear down harder.'
Vic did bear down harder, too. The six-foot, 190-pound Puerto Rican gave the American Association pitchers a hard time in 1953, boosting his hickory mark to .349, which won him the league batting championship. That, says Vic, was his biggest thrill in baseball. Obviously, he was on his way. If not with the Yankees, then some other major league team.
At the close of the season, he was assigned to the Yankees' roster. But not for long. General Manager George Weiss had his eye on a first baseman at Philadelphia, Eddie Robinson. Power was part of the bait. He, Pitcher John Gray, Catcher Al Robertson, First Baseman Don Bollweg, Third Baseman Jim Finigan, Outfielder Bill Renna and $25,000 went to the Athletics in exchange for Robinson, Pitcher Harry Byrd plus the transfer of an assortment of minor league players to the Yanks' Kansas City farm club.
At Philadelphia Power ran into a flock of reverses- a city which showed a decided lack of interest in whether the A's remained there or found a new home; a front office burdened with financial woes, and a phlegmatic team so stricken with dry rot that it merely went through the motions day after day, hoping to get an unpropitious campaign over and done with.
Power was shifted around from position to position. He almost forgot how to play first base, his first love. On top of that, Manager Eddie Joost tried to change his hitting style.
Vic does have a peculiar stance. He addresses the plate in a low crouch, holding the tip of his bat down, about a foot from the ground, as though he were going to golf the ball. He still has that odd stance today, is still known as a 'bad-ball hitter.' In the Quaker City, however, where Joost tried to change him, Power wound up hitting .255.
When the A's donned their brand new uniforms to open spring training at West Palm Beach, Fla., representing a new city, under new ownership and a new manager, the transformation began for Power. Through not particularly impressive in spring training, for Vic is considered a slow starter, he is enough of a thespian to put out just a little more when he can hear the cheers of the crowd. Boudreau planned to platoon Vic at first base, using him only against left-handed pitchers. Once the season began, however, Vic took over first base as though he owned it. And he convinced his manager that he had no more regard for right-handed pitchers than he had for lefties.
Asked if Power has performed better than expected, Boudreau said, 'That's the understatement of the year.' Just how good is Power? 'Right now he is the best fielding right-handed first baseman in the league,' said Boudreau, 'and within the next two years, if he continues to show progress, I will take him over any first-baseman, right-handed or left.'
What is the secret of Power's comeback? 'Tremendous desire,' says Boudreau, 'and the ability to make the great play, the kind of play that inspires a team.'
When Boudreau took over the A's he said the team was bad fundamentally, that the players needed to think. That Power has taken Lou's advice was evidenced in a game against the Yankees, on April 29. With a Yankee runner, Andy Carey, on first, and one out, Mickey Mantle hit a foul fly about 100 feet behind first base. Power ran back to make the difficult catch and in one motion threw a perfect strike to second to double Carey. The Yankee runner knew Power would be out of position, so he tagged up and figured he had plenty of time to get to second. Vic said later that he knew Carey would figure it that way. There is no doubt that the team was inspired by Power's heads-up play, and Bobby Shantz, making a comeback bid, went on to shut out the Yankees on three hits.
Power, himself, attributes his fine start this year to the fact that he is using the same batting stance as in the American Association. And he also gives credit to Quincy Troupe, an old Kansas City Monarch catcher who managed him in Puerto Rico, and to Harry Craft, for whom he played at Kansas City in 1953. Craft, now a coach for the A's, says Power has 'probably the greatest reflexes of any man in baseball.'
Not his hitting and fielding alone, but his spirit, too, has helped his teammates in their battle to put the American League cellar behind them. As Gus Zernial said, 'Wash Out keeps up laughing in the locker room and the dugout ... gives the team a lift.' The flamboyant Power is always laughing, appears almost cocky. But his demeanor is the reflection of a newly-won self-reliance- on and off the playing field. The young bachelor is a snappy dresser, loves good music.
Although Vic handles the English language adequately, there are some words that give him trouble. One of his favorite expressions is 'watch out!' However, with the Power treatment, it comes out, 'wash out.' That's how he got his nickname.
Officials of the club, in an effort to cure him of his bad-ball hitting, suggested that he have his eyes examined. 'I don't want to wear glasses,' Vic objected. 'Right now, when that ball's coming up to the plate, it looks like a big blur and I figure I can't miss it. If I could see better,' he reasons, 'I might just stand there.' It does look as though Power goes after almost everything a pitcher serves him. But as Vic says:
'I may be a bad-ball hitter- but I'm hittin.' "
-Sam Molen (Baseball Digest, July 1955)
"Vic joined the A's last season after being one of the most spectacular minor leaguers in years. A ballplayer since he was 15 in the Puerto Rican League, he broke into organized ball at Drummondville in 1950 with a .334 batting average.
At Kansas City [then a Yankee farm club] in 1952, Vic hit .331 and followed with a .349 mark in '53 to top American Association batters. He came to the A's via a trade."
-1955 Topps No. 30
"Vic has been a ballplayer since he was 15 years old! He hit .334 in his first minor league season and in '52 hit .331. Vic led the American Association in '53 with .349."
-1955 Topps Doubleheader No. 29
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