COMMENTARY

Pitts rides Arkansas-or-bust career plan

— The crossroads of Gaylen Pitts’ baseball career in the spring of 1969 caused him to regard it as his now or-never, make-or-break year. George Silvey, one of the St. Louis Cardinals overseers, thought Pitts needed another year in Class A, and intended to return him to Modesto, Calif.

Polite but resolute, Pitts won the spring training debate at St. Petersburg, Fla.

“One way or another, I’m going back to Arkansas, Mr. Silvey,” he said. “Either to play for the Arkansas Travelers or go home and look for some other job. I’ve been in the Cardinal organization five years. Another year in ‘A’ ball wouldn’t do me any good.”

“Well, we’ll keep you on the Arkansas squad a few more days and see what happens,” Silvey said.

St. Louis scout Fred Hawn had discovered Pitts at Mountain Home in 1964, and dispatched him to the rookie leagues around Sarasota, Fla.During an interview last week, Pitts was asked about his long-ago bonus. “Eight grand,” he said. “I bought a car; a good one.”

During the intervening decades, his roles drastically varied (promising prospect, veteran regular infielder, minor league coach, minor league manager, major league coach, etc.). His current job is roving instructor, which takes him through the Cardinals organization each summer.

At 66, Pitts might become one of baseball’s rare 50-year men

“I’m not counting on anything like that, but I guess it’s possible,” Pitts said, laughing.

“The best I figure, I’ve had 36 years with the Cardinals, seven years with the Oakland A’s, one year in the Milwaukee system, and one year with the New York Yankees. Right there in New York City, I managed their rookie league team to a pennant.

“I missed some seasons. A year and a half because of the Army, for example. And I missed three seasons because of hip replacements [2003-2005] but I didn’t mind so much because we could watch our son, Travis, play the high school sports games.

“When Mr. Silvey wanted to send me down again in 1969, I got five hits in two games and made the cut to go to Little Rock. I got off real slow, struggling around .200, but then the club went west. At El Paso, the air was dry and light, and the wind was always blowing out. That five game series jumped me from nearly nowhere to about .450. I hit two or three home runs there and a bunch of doubles.”

Teammate Len Boyer said, “He hit the ball for a solid month; I never saw anything like that before.”

The 1969 Texas League All-Star Game was held in Memphis. Pitts won it for his side 2-1 with a home run. “Everything just seemed to break for me that year,” he said.

In Pitts’ only exposure to big league pitching, he was pulled up by the Oakland A’s when several infielders were injured in 1974. Pitts batted .250 in 28 games.

He ended the 2012 season with an injured ankle. The doctors, he said, assured him he should be well in about seven weeks.

“I get around to all our clubs,” he said. “Memphis is close, Springfield [Mo.] is close, and the other trips aren’t bad. I can get home for a few days fairly often.”

Sports, Pages 18 on 11/20/2012

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