May 31, 1942: Reds’ Clyde Vollmer becomes youngest player to homer on first major-league pitch he sees

Kicking off a string of unfortunate events for the 1942 Cincinnati Reds, an injury during May 24 pregame warmups shelved first baseman Frank McCormick with an ailing back. Hank Sauer, moving in from his usual outfield position, was “doing very well” as the perennial All-Star’s temporary fill-in before being sidelined himself with a sprained ankle just five days later.1 The very next day, Reds center fielder Mike McCormick suffered a fractured left ankle sliding into second base. Later that same game, his replacement, Harry Craft, was concussed and hospitalized after an outfield collision with right-field teammate Gee Walker, who was unable to finish the contest due to concussion-like symptoms. And with two-time All-Star right fielder Ival Goodman continuing to battle lingering leg maladies, the chaotic week left Cincinnati scrambling to find outfield assistance for a May 31 doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Immediately after the injury-riddled May 30 contest that forced All-Star pitcher Bucky Walters to finish the day manning center field, Reds general manager Warren Giles hurriedly contacted the Syracuse Chiefs, his club’s Double-A (top-level) minor-league affiliate, “begging for the best help available.”2 That help came in the form of Clyde Vollmer, a “streamlined” 20-year-old outfield prospect.3 The 6-foot-1, 185-pound youngster was not completely unfamiliar to Cincinnati fans; Vollmer hailed from the Queen City, where he starred on the sandlots for years. Upon graduating from Cincinnati’s Western Hills High School, he departed the Midwest to begin his career in Organized Baseball. Vollmer tore up Class-D ball in 1939 and 1940 but began to falter offensively upon advancing into the higher levels. Despite slashing only .214/.264/.325 and being benched by the Chiefs at the time of his call-up in 1942, he nonetheless was recognized in the media as having pop in his bat and “all the natural qualifications for becoming a real major leaguer.”4

The youngster had “always dreamed of the day when he would wear the uniform of his childhood idols, the Reds.”5 After being summoned to “The Show,” Vollmer immediately hopped on an overnight train from Syracuse to his hometown to live his dream. He made it to Crosley Field midway through the opener of the afternoon doubleheader against the Pirates. He signed his contract and suited up in time to be available for game two action. Vollmer’s arrival was a welcome sight for shorthanded Reds manager Bill McKechnie, who noted that his squad was “practically out of outfielders.”6 To his point, the Cincinnati skipper was forced to assign backup catcher Dick West to left field in the first game of the twin bill.

Wasting no time, McKechnie penciled Vollmer into the starting left-field position for the second game. The 21-22 Reds, victorious in the first game, were World Series champions only two seasons before, but had slipped toward more middling status since that time. The slumping Pirates entered the game having lost 13 of their last 15. The 16,721 fans at the ballpark at Findlay Street and Western Avenue faced unseasonably warm temperatures in the 90s at game time.

Cincinnati starter Ray Starr faced trouble in the early going. After Pittsburgh rookie Johnny Barrett bounced out to begin the game, Jimmy Wasdell singled. Wasdell went to second on Starr’s throwing error that allowed Bob Elliott to reach base on a fielder’s choice. Maurice Van Robays walked, loading the bases with one out. However, consecutive fly outs by Vince DiMaggio and Frankie Gustine allowed Starr to escape with no damage.

The Pirates’ offense threatened anew in the top of the second. A base hit by Alf Anderson followed by a free pass to Al Lopez put two on with no outs. Once again, Starr was able to pitch his way out of danger, aided greatly by a double-play ball off the bat of Max Butcher, Pittsburgh’s starting pitcher. Although he was unable to help his own cause offensively, Butcher had cruised through the first two innings without allowing a Red to reach base.

After Starr made quick work of the Pirates in the top of the third, Vollmer led things off for the Reds in the bottom of the frame. He “appeared very cool when he took his place at the plate” despite its being his first major-league plate appearance.7 The “tall, rangy” rookie lashed at Butcher’s first offering, sending the “pellet hurtling on a straight line over the left field barrier” for a home run.8 “It’s not often that a youngster of less than 21 years can bring 17,000 persons to their feet cheering the way he did with the first swing he ever took against big-league pitching,” sportswriter Tom Swope wrote.9 One of those cheering spectators was Vollmer’s father, a local railroad worker, who had hurriedly departed work upon the news of his son’s arrival into town and made it to the ballpark just in time to experience the thrilling moment.10

Cincinnati picked up two additional runs in the inning on a walk to Starr followed by back-to-back doubles by Eddie Joost and Lonny Frey. And “that was the ball game”; neither team was able to muster much offense or any real scoring threats from that point on.11 Although Vollmer went hitless in his other two at-bats, he was “hot stuff in the field with a couple of nice catches.”12

The Reds posted a .500 record for the fourth time during the campaign with the 3-0 victory. The loss for the “fast-fading” Pirates was their ninth in a row.13 “The Pirates are guilty of violating [US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s declaration for baseball to continue during the ongoing World War II],” Pittsburgh sportswriter Lester Biederman quipped. “That isn’t baseball they’ve been playing recently! It simply can’t be.”14

Starr had gone the distance for Cincinnati to collect his impressive third shutout of the month and improve his record to 6-2 en route to his first and only All-Star berth. Aided by player shortages during the war years, the “rubber-armed” 36-year-old was finally given the opportunity to pitch regularly in the big leagues that season after over a decade and a half of toiling primarily in the minors.15 The journeyman Butcher was nearly as good in his complete-game loss for Pittsburgh outside of his tempestuous third inning.

However, the game’s real star was the local hero Vollmer, who became the fifth player in history to homer on the first pitch of his first major-league at-bat.16 And at age 20 years and 249 days, he remained (heading into the 2024 season) the youngest ever to do so. (Starlin Castro of the Chicago Cubs, at 20 years and 44 days in 2010, is the youngest to homer in his first at-bat overall.) It was disclosed a couple of weeks after the game that sage counsel heeded by Vollmer may have played a key role in the historic event. Just before striding to the plate for the first time in his debut, the green rookie queried his manager about the take sign. “Young man, never mind the take sign,” McKechnie advised. “Just swing at the first pitch.”17

Following his “story-book bow,” things quickly turned sour for Vollmer.18 Over the next nine contests he collected only two hits in 34 at-bats. This earned Vollmer a demotion to the Birmingham Barons of the Class-A1 Southern Association where he spent most of the rest of the campaign. He did return to the Reds in September after roster expansion but played sparingly.

Shortly after the end of the 1942 season, Vollmer joined the US Army, where he served for three years during wartime. He returned to the game in 1946 and spent the next nine seasons in the major leagues, bouncing between the Reds, Boston Red Sox, and Washington Nationals. Characterized during his rookie campaign as a “big boy with power,” Vollmer did reach double figures in round-trippers four times between 1949 and 1953 but never achieved stardom.19 He ended his time in the big leagues with 69 home runs, none of which were as notable as his first.

Sources

The author accessed Baseball-Reference.com (https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN194205312.shtml) for box scores, play-by-play information, and other data, as well as Retrosheet.org (https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1942/B05312CIN1942.htm).

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also accessed GenealogyBank.com, NewspaperArchive.com, Newspapers.com, Paper of Record, Stathead.com, Weather Underground, and Clyde Vollmer’s SABR biography (https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/clyde-vollmer/).

Photo credit: Clyde Vollmer, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Tom Swope, “Injury Raid on Reds Brings Up New Hero,” The Sporting News, June 4, 1942: 5.

2 Russ Needham, “A Dream Comes True/Values Change Quickly,” Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, June 4, 1942: 4-B.

3 “Phils to Open Here Tuesday; Vollmer Hits Over Left Wall,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 1, 1942: 14.

4 Si Burick, “Si-ings,” Dayton Daily News, June 3, 1942: 18; Tom Swope, “Vollmer a Distance Hitter; Starr Leads National League Hurlers in Shutouts Won,” Cincinnati Post, June 2, 1942: 9.

5 Rodger Nelson, “Gossip on Sports,” Bowling Green (Ohio) Daily Sentinel-Tribune, June 9, 1942: 3.

6 “Reds Continue Seeking Picket,” Springfield (Massachusetts) Union, June 13, 1942: 12.

7 “Reds Sweep Pirate Bargain by 8 to 2 and 3 to 0,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 1, 1942: 12.

8 “Reds Sweep Pirate Bargain by 8 to 2 and 3 to 0.”

9 Swope, “Vollmer a Distance Hitter; Starr Leads National League Hurlers in Shutouts Won.”

10 Tom Swope, “Vollmer Makes Story-Book Bow,” Cincinnati Post, June 1, 1942: 7.

11 “Reds Sweep Pirate Bargain by 8 to 2 and 3 to 0.”

12 Swope, “Vollmer Makes Story-Book Bow.”

13 Lou Smith, “Crippled Redlegs Beat Buccaneers Twice,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 1, 1942: 14.

14 Lester Biederman, “Fast-Descending Pirates Threaten Philly Stronghold,” Pittsburgh Press, June 1, 1942: 23.

15 “Reds Sweep Pirate Bargain by 8 to 2 and 3 to 0.”

16 David Adler, “Players Who Homered on First Career Pitch,” MLB.com, April 4, 2021, https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rare-feats-home-run-on-1st-career-pitch-c265964496, accessed June 20, 2024; Ed Eagle, “Players With Home Run in First At-Bat,” MLB.com, September 1, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/home-run-in-first-at-bat-c265623820, accessed June 20, 2024.

17 “Reds Continue Seeking Picket.”

18 Swope, “Vollmer Makes Story-Book Bow.”

19 “Reds Continue Seeking Picket.”