VIC POWER

Power was one of the most colorful players of the 1950s, as well as one of the most popular and controversial. Although he never quite lived up to early expectations, he was a fine batsman, a .300 hitter with above average power most of his career (he twice has double figures in all the power categories, the best being 37 doubles, an AL best 10 triples and 16 homers in 1958, along with a career high .312 average and 80 RBIs).

He was also a fantastic gloveman. It is often pointed out that fielding stats are deceptive, that the guy with the high fielding percentage might just have it because his range is limited and thus catches only the balls hit right to him, but doesn't go after the tricky plays that better fielders try for, and often miss. Not the case with Power. His lifetime FA is .994; three times he led AL first sackers in fielding average. He is genuine. He had tremendous range, was quick and lithe and was that rare commodity, an exciting first baseman.

He was exciting all the way around. In these days when 20% of all major leaguers are Hispanic, it's hard to imagine the impact a flamboyant black Puerto Rican had on staid major league ball clubs back in the '50s. He played jazz in the KC club house when most of his teammates wanted Elvis or Hank Williams. He drove a big, flashy Cadillac, often accompanied with a foxy blonde. Today, that's not even noticed, but back then he was actually told to stop it, that black men did not date white women, not in Kansas City. Oh, and Vic, it wouldn't hurt to tone down the Caddy, too. He kept right on doing what he had been doing.

Originally a Yankee prospect, it was his sporty personality that prevented him from being the first black Yankee, an honor that would eventually go to the quieter Elston Howard. The Yankees were loath to sign the speak-his-mind first baseman. Nor was Casey Stengel going to allow himself to be upstaged by an upstart. He went where the Yanks seemed to send all their questionable property in those days: to the Kansas City A's. He made the All Star team his second and third seasons, hitting .319 and .309 and delighted AL watchers with a brand of first base theatrics that most hadn't seen before.

Then came the injuries, and he was dealt to Cleveland, where he had several more good seasons. He was traded to the Twins in 1962 and put together a few more good, if not great, seasons. Then he hit the hangers on circuit, and retired following 1965 with the Angels.

Power won seven Gold Gloves, hit .300 three times, and stole home twice in one game in '58, although he wasn't a regular base stealer.

He was a wisecracker, which only made him more suspect to the powers-that-were, including a majority of sportswriters, who seemed to be stuck somewhere back in the 1930s. Busted once for jaywalking in the South, he told the judge, "I thought that 'Don't Walk' signs were for whites only. Most everything else in this town is." Ah Vic, Vic, whose name, by the way, was actually Pellot, but was anglicized to Power to make it easier on the brilliant folks who claimed black people (especially foreign ones) were not as smart as they were. [Editor's Note - James Floto passed before he could attribute this interpretation to a source - a more mainstream view of the name change can be found at the Cooperstown website.]

Don't worry about Power; he got his revenge by thoroughly enjoying his major league career and thumbing his nose at outdated conventions that have since fallen by the wayside thanks to people like him who stood up for their rights, including the one that allows you to enjoy yourself.

But SITT is about playing ball and Power was one of the best first baseman of his day, when the competition included Moose Skowron, Gil Hodges, Willie McCovey, and Joe Adcock. Although he wasn't quite Cooperstown material, he would have put up even better career numbers had he not spent so many years as a Yankee farmhand; he was 27 by the time he was finally dealt to the A's. Even so, he managed 1716 hits, which would have been way over 2000 had he come up at 23 or 24 as he should have, a .284 average, which was in the .290s until it fell drastically his final couple of seasons, four All Star games and seven Gold Gloves in his 12 seasons.

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