| Roy Partee | |
|---|---|
 Partee's 1949Bowman Gum baseball card | |
| Catcher | |
| Born:(1917-09-07)September 7, 1917 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| Died: December 27, 2000(2000-12-27) (aged 83) Eureka, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 23, 1943, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 3, 1948, for the St. Louis Browns | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .250 |
| Home runs | 2 |
| Runs batted in | 114 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Roy Robert Partee (September 7, 1917 – December 27, 2000) was an AmericanMajor League Baseballcatcher. Listed at 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 180 lb (82 kg), Partee was nicknamed "the Little Round Man." He is likely best remembered as the man behind the plate forEnos Slaughter's"mad dash" in game seven of the1946World Series[1] and as theNew York Mets scout responsible for signingBud Harrelson,Tug McGraw,Rick Aguilera andGreg Jeffries, among others.
Partee was born in Los Angeles to father Clair C. Partee and mother Eutha Wyche. He was anArizona–Texas LeagueAll-Star in1938 when hebatted .365 with ninehome runs for the Bisbee Bees. His performance got him signed with theChicago Cubs' St. Joseph Angels the following season, however, after batting .245 with five home runs, he was let go. He returned to the Bees in1940, now theSalt Lake City Bees of thePioneer League, and resumed his hitting ways, batting .284 with seven home runs while also showing a dramatic increase in defensive skills.
He joined theSan Francisco Seals in1941 (at the time, aDetroit Tigers affiliate), but managed to bat just .180 in 65plate appearances. When coachTony Lazzeri left the club to manage the Portsmouth Cubs in1942, he brought Partee along with him back to the Cubs organization. He batted .299 and committed only fourerrors behind the plate in 560 chances.[2] After the season, his contract was purchased by theBoston Red Sox.
Upon his arrival in Boston in1943, Partee was immediately plugged into the starting line-up for the Red Sox and batted .300 for most of the season (he would finish at .281) in the number eight hole in their batting order, while starting 86 games at catcher. In1944 he started 76 games as catcher and was called up by theU.S. Military in June, but was rejected due to a bad ankle.[3] He returned to the Red Sox, and in his first game back he clubbed his first major league home run, a walk-off to defeatAtley Donald and theNew York Yankees, 8-7.[4] He finished the season with a .243 batting average, and then enlisted atFort MacArthur in California on October 19, 1944[5] thus missing the1945 season due to his military service during World War II.
When Partee returned to the Red Sox in1946, he was relegated to back-up catching duties behind All-StarHal Wagner, and while Partee only started 32 games he batted for a career-best .315 average. That year, the Red Sox ran away with theAmerican League crown by twelve games over theDetroit Tigers with a 104–50 record, and were heavy favorites in theWorld Series against theSt. Louis Cardinals, however the series went the full seven games.
In game seven, Partee was involved in a famous play known as the "mad dash". The Red Sox had tied the score at 3–3 in the top half of the eighth inning, and Partee entered the game as catcher, replacingRip Russell who had pinch hit for starting catcherHal Wagner.Enos Slaughter led off the bottom half of the inning with a single. After the next two batters failed to advance him, Slaughter found himself still on first base with two outs. With outfielderHarry Walker at the plate with a two balls and one strike count, the Cardinals called for ahit and run. With Slaughter running, Walker lined the ball to left-center field.Leon Culberson fielded the ball, and threw a relay to shortstopJohnny Pesky. Slaughter rounded third base heading for home, running through the stop sign from histhird base coach. What exactly happened when Pesky turned around is still a matter of contention, but Partee caught a delayed throw up the line, allowing Slaughter to score what proved to be the winning run.[6]
In the top of the ninth inning, Partee batted for the Red Sox with men on first and third with one out; however he fouled out to first basemanStan Musial for the second out of the inning, and the next batter,Tom McBride, grounded out to give the Cardinals the championship.[7] Partee finished the series batting one-for-ten with oneRBI and one walk; it was the only postseason series of his career.
In1947, Partee's final year with Boston, he platooned with Birdie Tebbetts behind the plate. Partee started 45 games as catcher, and his hitting declined to a .231 average for the season.
In November 1947 Partee was part of a blockbuster trade as he,Pete Layden,Eddie Pellagrini,Al Widmar andJim Wilson, plus two players to be named later and an undisclosed amount of cash (eventually, only one player,Joe Ostrowski, and $310,000) were sent to theSt. Louis Browns forJack Kramer andVern Stephens.[8] For the1948 season Partee batted just .203 with seventeen RBIs platooning withLes Moss in his only year with the Browns. In December 1948, Partee was part of a second blockbuster deal, as he andFred Sanford were sent to the New York Yankees forRed Embree,Sherm Lollar,Dick Starr and $100,000.[9]
Partee never made a major league appearance with the Yankees. Instead, he spent the1949 and1950 seasons back with the San Francisco Seals,1951 and1952 seasons with theKansas City Blues, and split the1954 season between theSacramento Solons andEdmonton Eskimos. In1955, he became player/manager of theCalifornia League'sStockton Ports, and led his club to a 94-53 record. In his three seasons at the helm, Stockton went 238-189, and he actually pitched in a couple of games. In1959, he managed theEugene Emeralds. Though he was retired as a player, he inserted himself into the line-up for one game, and went two-for-three.
| Seasons | Games | PA | AB | Runs | Hits | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | Avg. | Slg. | OBP | Fld% | PB | CS% |
| 5 | 367 | 1245 | 1090 | 89 | 273 | 41 | 5 | 2 | 114 | 2 | 132 | 120 | .250 | .303 | .334 | .982 | 23 | 36% |
He was considered one of the better fielding catchers of his era, however, he had little power, clubbing only two home runs in his five-year major league career. In 1234 minor league games, he batted .268 with 36 home runs. He batted and threwright-handed.
When the New York Mets were established in1962, Partee came aboard as a scout and would play a huge part in signing many of the Mets for the next 23 years before retiring. Partee died inEureka, California, at the age of 83.[10]
· Baseball Almanac