RetroSimba

A solid performance in an exhibition series against the Cardinals convinced the Browns their one-armed outfielder, Pete Gray, could play in the major leagues.

On April 17, 1945, Gray made his debut in the big leagues as the left fielder in the season opener for the defending American League champion Browns at St. Louis.

With rosters depleted because of players serving in the military during World War II, the Browns took a chance on Gray, 30, who learned to hit and field at a professional level despite his physical disability.

No quit

Peter Wyshner Jr. was born in Nanticoke, Pa., about seven miles from Wilkes-Barre. Years later, he began calling himself Pete Gray because he thought it would be an easier name for people to grasp. His parents immigrated to the U.S. from Lithuania and his father worked in the coal mines.

In a 1985 interview with Gene Kirby of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice, Gray recalled how he lost his right arm.

“When I was 6 years old, I was helping some huckster peddle his fruits and vegetables from his truck,” Gray said. “We’d go from door to door, selling right to the people. One day, I jumped on the truck, but before I could sit down, the truck started to move. I fell back and got my right arm caught in the spikes of the rear wheel.”

Taken to a hospital, Gray was told the arm was too mangled to save and it was amputated above the elbow.

Gray was right-handed. After losing his right arm, he learned to do everything left-handed, including swinging a bat and throwing a baseball.

“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a ballplayer,” he told The Sporting News.

The youngster practiced his baseball skills every day with a rock and stick, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

Gray had excellent eyesight and speed. He developed a one-armed swing and could hit consistently. He also developed a way to release the ball from his glove after a catch and quickly throw in what appeared to be almost one motion.

In 1945, Frederick G. Lieb of The Sporting News wrote, “You’ve got to see Pete’s fielding to appreciate the speed with which he catches a ball, gets his glove under his right armpit, slides the ball across his chest, gets it back into the palm of his hand and then snaps the arm back for his throw. It is difficult to see the mechanics of the operation, for Pete’s hand is quicker than the eye.”

Turning pro

In 1934, Gray, 19, started playing semipro baseball for local teams. Eight years later, Three Rivers in the Canadian-American League signed him. Though limited to 42 games because of a broken collarbone, Gray hit .381.

The Memphis Chickasaws, a minor-league club in the Southern Association, took notice and Gray played for them in 1943 and 1944.

“In my two seasons in Memphis, they got me out on strikes only 15 times,” Gray told The Sporting News.

Gray batted .289 with 131 hits in 1943 and .333 with 167 hits and 68 stolen bases in 1945.

“Pete swings a 35-ounce bat, somewhat heavier than the cudgel used by the average player, and holds it well up on the handle,” The Sporting News reported. “He doesn’t swing it back too far, and gets much of his power as he breaks his powerful left wrist. He also is adept at bunting.”

Browns general manager Bill DeWitt Sr. was impressed and signed Gray to a 1945 contract.

Big chance

DeWitt “was a little annoyed when some persons got the idea he signed Gray as a freak and intended to exploit him,” The Sporting News reported. DeWitt said manager Luke Sewell would determine whether Gray played for the Browns.

“Luke never would play Gray merely for the sake of his possible value as a gate attraction,” DeWitt said.

In recalling his first meeting with Sewell at the Browns’ spring training site in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Gray told the Wilkes-Barre newspaper, “When I arrived in the clubhouse, Luke called me aside and said, ‘Pete, I’ll play you as long as you can help this ballclub.’ Then he paused and confirmed, ‘I’ll say this much for you: You’ve got a hell of a lot of guts to play this game with one arm.’ ”

The Browns needed a left fielder. Al Zarilla and Chet Laabs made the most starts in left for the 1944 Browns but both were unavailable in 1945. Zarilla entered the Army and Laabs was working at a defense plant in Detroit.

After watching Gray at training camp, The Sporting News observed, “What was particularly impressive about his early batting practice hitting was the keenness of his eyesight and his really remarkable timing.”

Said Sewell: “He surely gets a good piece of the ball, is unusually fast, and it is fascinating to see what he can do with that one arm.” Video

To help with his fielding, Gray made alterations to his glove. “He takes out all of the padding and wears only about two-thirds of the glove,” The Sporting News reported. “He keeps his little finger outside, and the palm of the glove is on his remaining long fingers. He figures he catches a ball better that way and it also is easier to discard the glove.”

After breaking camp, the Browns went to St. Louis to play a six-game exhibition series against the Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park before opening the regular season. Six months earlier, the Cardinals won four of six games versus the Browns in the 1944 World Series.

Gray had six hits in the six exhibition games and fielded 14 chances without an error. Most fans “came away with the belief Pete Gray was more of a ballplayer than a freak,” the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

Said Sewell: “He started out in this series under a big handicap, with people expecting miracles and Pete trying to deliver miracles … but I think he showed them something.”

Sewell named Gray the Opening Day left fielder.

Browns debut

The Browns opened on April 17, 1945, against the Tigers at St. Louis. Gray was in left field and batted second. An announced crowd of 4,167 attended on the Tuesday afternoon.

Pitching for the Tigers was left-hander and future Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser, who the season before was 29-9.

In his first two at-bats versus Newhouser, Gray grounded out to short and struck out.

“That left-hander was really rough,” Gray told the Associated Press. “He threw me every pitch in the book. When I was called out on strikes, he used a fast curve that was almost by me before I figured out where it was headed.”

In the fifth inning, Gray lined a Newhouser pitch to right-center. Tigers center fielder Doc Cramer made “a remarkable shoestring catch,” the Detroit Free Press reported.

“Gray had already rounded first when Cramer reached for the ball,” the Associated Press noted. “It would have been good for at least a double” had Cramer missed.

In his last at-bat, in the seventh, Gray faced right-hander Les Mueller and reached base on “a sharp infield single” over second base, the Associated Press reported.

Gray “had the Tigers jittery” after the leadoff hit, according to the St. Louis Star-Times. He advanced to second when Mike Kreevich walked and, one out later, scored on a Milt Byrnes double.

“You have to see it to believe it,” the Detroit Free Press reported. “This one-armed Pete Gray … is a cunning fellow at the plate who swings his bat as if it were a baton.”

The Browns won, 7-1. Boxscore

Gray made no putouts but wrenched his shoulder “when he slipped on the wet grass” while pursuing a ball Eddie Mayo drilled for a double in the first inning, The Sporting News reported.

One and done

In his first two months with the Browns, Gray struggled. He batted .188 in April and .189 in May.

Four decades later, Sewell told the Wilkes-Barre newspaper, “He could hit the fastball. He got around on that pitch OK, but he had trouble with the slow stuff. He’d be out in front of the ball and after a while that’s all he ever saw.”

After hitting .259 in June and .255 in July, Gray batted below .200 the last two months of the season. In one of his best games, Aug. 19, he had four hits and scored three runs against Red Sox rookie Boo Ferriss at St. Louis. Boxscore

Gray finished the year with a .218 batting average. He had 51 hits, 13 walks and struck out just 11 times. He also handled 172 fielding chances and made seven errors. The Browns finished in third place at 81-70, six games behind the champion Tigers.

With World War II ending and players returning from military service, the 1945 season was Gray’s only one in the majors. He played three more years in the minors at Toledo, Elmira and Dallas.