Tag: Philadelphia Athletics

This Day in Twins/Senators History – September 6, 1954

Outfielder Carlos Paula

On this day back in 1954 the Washington Senators played a black ballplayer for the first time. His name was Carlos Paula and he was from Havana, Cuba. The 6’3″ 26 year-old Paula was a right-handed hitter and started in left field for the Senators seven years after Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut. Only the Yankees in 1955, the Phillies in 1957, the Tigers in 1958 and the Red Sox in 1959 broke the color-line later than did the Senators/Twins franchise.

Carlos Paula was acquired by the Washington Senators prior to the 1954 season from Paris, Texas of the class “B” Big State league. Paula spent most of the 1954 season in class “A” Charlotte before being called up by the Senators late in the season. In his first big league game, Paula started in left field in the first game of a double-header at Griffith Stadium against the Philadelphia Athletics and struck out in his first at bat but finished the game 2 for 5 (double and a single) with 2 RBI’s and helped his team to an 8-1 win. Paula played in 115 games for the Washington Senators in 1955 and hit .299 with 6 home runs and had 45 RBI’s while stealing 2 bases. Carlos got off to a slow start in 1956 and with Jim Lemon having a breakout year and the addition of rookie center fielder Whitey Herzog, there was no room for the struggling Paula in the Senators’ outfield and after 33 games the Senators sent him to the minors and Paula never again played in a big league game. Paula spent 1957-1960 in the minors playing for various organizations before ending his career in Mexico in 1960. One of his minor league stops was with the Minneapolis Millers in 1957 where he played in 104 games. Carlos Paula passed away on April 25, 1983 in Miami, Florida at the age of 55.

Baseball integration time-line

Be sure to check out what else happened to the Minnesota Twins today on our Today in Twins History  page.

Did you know?

  • In addition to heavily scouting Australia, the Minnesota Twins also have the biggest presence of any team in Europe, so it was no surprise when they landed Max Kepler-Rozycki for $800,000, the largest bonus ever given to a European.
  • That Max Kepler-Rozycki is the son of two members of the German Ballet?
  • Joe Benson was committed to play running back for Purdue before he signed with the Twins?
  • Fort Myers has had more World Series-winning franchises train in it than any other city either in Florida or Arizona, Five franchises have won it all after training in Fort Myers in the spring: Athletics, Pirates, Royals, Twins, and Red Sox.
  • Target Field’s footprint is only 8.5 acres large, the smallest in major league baseball but it covers a total of 10.5 acres when looked at from above because portions of it extend over surrounding roadways.
  • That the Twins charge $10 for parking for a spring training game at Hammond Stadium? The Twins are tied with the Yankees, Phillies, and Rays for the highest parking rates while all the other teams in Florida range from free to $9.
  • The pen Joe Mauer used to sign his eight-year, $184 million contract belongs to Joel Lepel, the minor league field coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. Lepel was born and raised in Plato, Minn., and has worked for the Twins for 23 years, mostly as a scout. All of the amateur players he has signed, including Mauer, have used the same pen.
  • That one time Twins player Andy Kosco replaced Mickey Mantle at 1B in Mick’s final game on September 28, 1968.
  • Former Twins catcher Earl Battey who was not known for his speed was a star basketball player in high school and was offered a contract to play for the Harlem Globetrotters but he decided to play pro baseball instead.
  • Former Twins infielder and now the Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington replaced Cal Ripken as the Orioles shortstop in the eighth inning of a Sept 14, 1987 game ending Cal Ripken’s record consecutive-innings streak of 8,243, spanning 904 games.

The slick fielding Vic Power

December 5, 2009 – Victor “Vic” Pellot Power, one of the most colorful and controversial players of the 1950’s, was born on November 1, 1927 and passed away from cancer on November 29, 2005. Power was the second black Puerto Rican to play in the majors and the first Puerto Rican to play in the American League. He used the name Vic Power during his 12-year major league career, but played as Victor Pellot when he played winter baseball in Puerto Rico.

Power had a 12 year major league career playing for the Philadelphia Athletics (1954), the Kansas City Athletics (1955 – 1958), the Cleveland Indians (1958 – 1961), the Minnesota Twins (1962 – 1964), the Los Angeles Angels (1964), the Philadelphia Phillies (1964), and he finished his career in 1965 with the California Angels. One of the flashiest, best fielding, and most colorful first sackers in baseball history, Power was a free swinger who seldom walked or struck out, averaging just one strikeout every 24.5 at bats, and finished his career with a highly respectable lifetime batting average of .284. Although Power was best known for his fielding, Vic was no slouch at the plate where in his 6,046 at bats he hit 126 home runs, knocked in 658, and scored 765 runs while hitting .284 in 1,627 games. Although not blessed with blazing speed, Power led the AL in triples in 1958 was able to steal 45 bases during his career and once stole home twice in one game. Power was good enough to be selected to the All-Star teams in 1955, 1956, 1959 and 1960. Vic Power won seven Gold Gloves between 1958 and 1964 and had a career fielding average of .994 in 11,285 chances. Although best known as the slick fielding first sacker, Power also played all three outfield positions (115 games), second base (139 games), third base (89 games), and Power even played 8 games at Shortstop. Vic was smart enough not to don the tools of ignorance.

Check out this article I found on the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society site about Power by clicking here.