THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION ALMANAC INTERVIEWS

DICK KRYHOSKI

BORN: Richard David Kryhoski on March 24, 1925 at Leonia, New Jersey

DATE OF INTERVIEW: July 14, 2005

MAIN TOPIC: Playing at Blues Stadium in Kansas City

INTRODUCTION

Dick "Kry-Kry" Kryhoski, lefty first-baseman with the 1948 Kansas City Blues, hitting .294 in 545 at-bats with 160 hits, 30 doubles, 7 triples and 13 home runs with 87 RBI during his only season with the Kansas City Blues. In his only other appearance in the American Association, Kryhoski performed with the Toledo Mud Hens in 1950, hitting .333 in 120 at-bats with 11 doubles and six circuit-clouts.

In his major league career, Dick In 569 major league games he hit .265. He appeared in 467 games as a first-baseman with a .990 fielding average, playing with the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns and Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Athletics.

Kryhoski hung up his cleats after short stints with the Columbus Jets of the International League and the Kansas City Athletics of the American League in 1955. His best season in pro ball came in his introductory season, hitting .396 with 19 home runs and 85 RBI with the Wellsville (NY) Yankees of the PONY league in 1946.
In 1949 as a member of the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League Kryhoski hit .328 with five homers and 50 RBI.

Dick Kryhoski currently resides in Beverly Hills, Michigan.

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HI DICK, DID YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO PORE OVER THOSE SCRAPBOOKS?

Noooo, no I didn't. But that wasn't a good ball club. We didn't have any pitching. The '48 team did not have good pitching. We had some good ballplayers. We had Bauer in right field, we had Ralph Houk catching and we had Al Rosen on third who we borrowed from Cleveland, ya remember?

I WAS BORN IN '57...ROSEN HIT .327 THAT SEASON. 110 RBI. I'm using Marshall Wright's American Association roster book for this stuff.

Yeah, he was a good ball player. Bauer didn't hit bad.

HE HIT .305.

Then he went to the Yankees the next year and he stayed.

HE HAD A LOT OF STOLEN BASES THAT YEAR.

Oh, he could run. Yeah, Bauer could run.
Second-baseman was Witek.

LOOKS LIKE HE WAS TRADED THAT YEAR.

Shortstop...I forget who we had...I'm thinkin' hard!

AL STRINGER.

Yeah, OK, Stringer. His brother played in the major leagues. [Al] Stringer was a good ballplayer. I don't know how much he hit though.

STRINGER... .250.

Yeah, that's about it. But a shortstop can do that if they play well enough. And we had an old Red Sox player in center field...Monaco played in the outfield...Jimmy Dyck was with us too...Dyck was an outfielder...Culberson was the center fielder who came from the Red Sox, Leon Culberson. He didn't hit much, did he?

.259.

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT BLUES STADIUM, DICK?

It was a tough park to hit in. The fences weren't close.

WHAT WAS THE DEEPEST PART OF THE FIELD?

Oh, center field. But they had an embankment in right field and the year before, Cliff Mapes hit one on top of that embankment. It had to be the longest ball ever hit there. It was way back there. The fence was below it and you had an embankment rising up behind it, he hit that thing, it must have been four hundred and... I don't know what...seventy-five or eighty feet. It was a long ball. The right field lines were long too, I think they were 345-350 down the line. I was a left-handed hitter...I only hit 13 home runs or somethin', didn't I?

LET'S SEE HERE...13 HOME RUNS.

But I hit pretty good for average.

YOU SURE DID, .294 IN 545 AT-BATS...WERE YOU THE LEAD OFF MAN?

No, I was battin' third.

YOU LED THE TEAM IN AT-BATS.

I didn't know that. I never walked very much [Kryhoski had 50 walks and 58 strikeouts in 1948], I liked to hit too much and that didn't help me be a better hitter, OK?

WHAT ELSE DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT BLUES STADIUM, DICK?

It was a great town to play in. The fans were great. And it was a good field, it was well taken care of...you know, a lot of the infields you play on were not too good but that was a great place to play.

THEY KEPT THE MOUND WELL MANICURED ETC. ?

Oh, yeah, everything. Isn't that the stadium that the Athletics took over?

YES.

That's what I remember. I flew on a plane with Connie Mack, when I was playing with Connie Mack...I was traded to the Athletics three days before they left spring training to go to Kansas City. And Connie Mack and I were both on the plane...he was no longer managing, we had Lou Boudreau then. But he didn't have a good ball club...they finished sixth or seventh, I forget which.

SO YOU PLAYED FOR THE BLUES AND THE ATHLETICS IN THAT SAME PARK?

Yes, I didn't play much for the Athletics. I got sent to the minors in June.

THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN '55?

Yes. And that's when I decided to quit, at the end of the season.

YOU WENT TO COLUMBUS, IT LOOKS LIKE.

Yeah, yeah. Actually, we had Pete Suder there, too, didn't we? Good second-baseman. But they decided to pull him out and made a scout out of him in '55. I was in Columbus when Suder came down. He was scouting a Montreal pitcher. And they had this kid they were scouting, he was a kind of knuckleball/curveball pitcher, and I was talking to Suder before the game, he called me over, and I said, 'What are you down here for', and he said, "I'm lookin' over this pitcher", and I said, "You've got the wrong guy, there's a kid named Drysdale, he pitched last night..." So he said to me, "But you hit a home run off him," and I said, "Yeah, that's because he dudn' know how to pitch me yet." I said, "That kid's gonna be a pitcher." And he looked at me. And they got the other guy, and he never hacked it. But they wouldn't have let Drysdale go, I'm sure they knew what he had goin' for 'im...

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU DID SOME PINCH-HITTING FOR THE BLUES IN '47 DURING THEIR PENNANT WINNING YEAR.

Yeah, I did, but in spring training I fell in the shower and tore all my muscles. I couldn't throw so they sent me home for three months, and then they sent me to "A" ball.

HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

Slipped in the shower (disgustedly).

WERE YOU GUYS GOOFIN' AROUND?

No. I had to go back in, and I excused myself, and I had to go back in, and when I walked through the shower there was some water on this concrete floor and I took a flier and that was it. Hurt my shoulder and then I had this rotator cuff I kept with me the last ten years that I played. They didn't know what to do with it. They put a heating pad on it, couldn't operate on it, didn't know how to. In fact, I don't think they knew how to find what it was. They had X-rays but X-rays don't show that, I was told by my orthopedic guy.

THAT'S A PRETTY SERIOUS TRAGEDY.

I know. I had to throw sorta sidearm and underhand.

YOU HAD A PRETTY RESPECTABLE CAREER, DICK.

Aw, it was alright. Yeah, it got me through college, you know, I enjoyed it and it was fun.

LOOKS LIKE IN '46 YOU WERE WITH AMSTERDAM?

I went there so rusty, I hit .219 there, it was Class C. I'd been on an aircraft carrier for three years, and that's not a good place to keep in shape, in the Navy, and I went to Amsterdam right from there. I couldn't hit, my timing was off. Then I went down to Wellsville and hit .395 down there.

THEY GIVE YOU .396 IN THE BOOK FOR WELLSVILLE AND .224 AT AMSTERDAM. THAT'S NOT BAD...

Not good! .224?

LIKE YOU SAID, YOU WERE A LITTLE RUSTY...

I sure was.

BUT BACK TO BLUES STADIUM.

Yeah, it was a nice park.

YOU PLAYED EVERY DAY AT KANSAS CITY DURING 1948. 145 GAMES. WHAT WAS IT LIKE PLAYING IN THAT PARK EVERY DAY?

It was alright. It was hotter than hell. That's the hottest park around. Kansas City may be the hottest place you've ever been to. It gets hot there.

IT WAS SITTING IN A BOWL, WASN'T IT?

Yeah, the air didn't circulate. You'd never seem to get a breeze down there. You got a little tired at the end of the year. Started using a 32 ounce bat, and that helped.

YOU HAD A .294 AVERAGE.

I was hitting .266 with a month to go. And [Dick] Bartell [Blues' manager] called me in and said I'm gonna send you to the minors if you don't get goin', you know. A first-baseman for a Yankees farm system isn't supposed to hit .266. Then I really hit. I got an awful lot of base hits, finally got used to triple A ball and I really started to hit. So the next year I went to the Yankees [Kansas City's parent club] and played half a season.

WERE MOST OF YOUR 13 HOME RUNS AT HOME OR ON THE ROAD?

Half 'n half. It was a big park.

WHAT DID YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT BLUES STADIUM?

It was in good playing condition, a good field surface and everything. And you didn't have trouble with fly balls blowing away. In other words, you never got a high wind there, those things can be tough. Excuse me, my dog's eating the cat food...I don't know why they like that...(chuckling)
And they had great fans there. They really rooted for you. Even when you lost, they rooted for you. If there was any booing going on, I don't remember. We were not that great a club, I forget where we finished...sixth or seventh?

SIXTH PLACE.

BLUES STADIUM HAD A LOT OF FOUL TERRITORY. DID THAT HELP YOU AS A FIELDER?

Yeah, I caught quite a few foul balls down the line because they were in play... most ballparks were very tight on the foul line. We had enough area.

WHAT DID YOU LIKE LEAST ABOUT BLUES STADIUM?

It was too damn hot there! (chuckling) Who else have you talked to?

BILL WIGHT, THE LEFTY PITCHER.

Yeah, he had a great pickoff move. That's why so many umpires would call a balk, a couple times. But his move was good, tremendous move.

HE TOLD ME HE LEARNED THAT MOVE FROM WALTER MAILS. I TALKED WITH RALPH HOUK YESTERDAY.

Yeah, he was an old tobacco chewer. Yeah, his uniform used to be covered with tobacco (chuckling)...

HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE PLAYING IN BLUES STADIUM WITH THE OTHER A.A. PARKS?

Toledo was not too good. Although, today they a major league facility there. But before it was terrible.

AT SWAYNE FIELD?

Yeah. It had a bad infield, clubhouse facilities were lousy.

TELL ME ABOUT THE CLUBHOUSE AT BLUES STADIUM.

It was fine. It was a good triple A clubhouse. It wasn't the same as major league but it was good, nice clubhouse.

WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD CLUBHOUSE?

The clubhouse manager, the attendant. He makes it good. But I can't event tell you who he was.

WHAT KINDS OF SERVICES DID HE PERFORM ASIDE FROM THE BASIC CLEAN TOWELS AND UNIFORMS?

That's about it, they cleaned our uniforms, they washed our socks that we wore, the underneath, I think the clubhouse guy did that. The uniforms were cleaned by someone else.

THEY DIDN'T HAVE ICE COLD BOTTLES OF BEER WAITING FOR YOU AFTER EVERY GAME?

You could have a beer, but you know, I'd have a beer once in a while, but not all the time.

WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING IN THAT HEAT THAT ALCOHOL DOESN'T DO YOU ANY GOOD.

Well no, I'd rather have a Coke, that was more refreshing...

HOW WAS PLAYING IN BLUES STADIUM DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER A.A. PARKS?

Nicollet Park, for instance, had a nice short right field fence. It had a high fence but you could hit a high fly ball and it'd go over.

AND YOU WERE A LEFTY SO...

I hit two over there, in only one year. They'd pitch you outside on the outside corner. But triple A pitchers made more mistakes, so they hang one on you and you hit it out.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION PARK TO PLAY IN?

I liked Nicollet Park because there was a better chance for me hitting a double or hitting the ball out, you know...so that would be your favorite park, where you could hit well.

I WOULD THINK THAT WITH THE WIDE OPEN OUTFIELD AT BLUES STADIUM THAT THAT WOULD HELP A LOT.

Well, it would give you some extra hits in the gap, that is true. So maybe hitting those was better for me because I didn't hit that many homers, so probably it was better for me to have that big outfield.

YOU HAD 30 DOUBLES FOR THE BLUES IN 1948.

You're right, but I didn't hit enough homers. But I went to spring training the next year and they didn't have any first-basemen around, so I got to play a half a year for the Yankees. It's called timing. Life is full of timing.

WHAT WAS YOUR GENERAL IMPRESSION OF BLUES STADIUM?

It was real professional, very professional layout. The Yankees did everything right. And this was a particularly professional layout because they owned the ball club. And when a major league team owns the club, I think the facilities are generally better.

DID YOU LIKE PLAYING BETTER DURING THE DAY OR AT NIGHT?

I like day baseball, but we played mostly at night. When I went to the Tigers we played mostly day.

THAT'S FUNNY.

It is funny! The Tigers were the last to really play a lot of day games.

YOU HAD A PRETTY DECENT YEAR IN '51 FOR DETROIT.

Yeah, I did. I hit .287.
THEY HAVE YOU DOWN FOR 12 HOME RUNS.

I played half the time and Kolloway (Don) played the other half. He hit pretty good that year too.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT PLAYING AT BLUES STADIUM?

The most challenging thing was how big the park was. You'd hit a good ball on the nose and it'd get caught, in right-center and left-center.

WERE THE OUTFIELDERS A PRETTY FLEET BUNCH IN YOUR DAY?

Oh, yeah. Culberson was a good outfielder. He played center field for us (KC) and Duke Snider played center field for St. Paul, he was another good outfielder. He and Campanella [Roy] were with St. Paul.

WHAT WAS YOUR BEST QUALITY AS A BALL PLAYER, DICK?

I didn't strike out much. I was a good fielder, not a great fielder, but I had a good fielding average [.982; fielded 125 double plays, tops among first-basemen]. But I wasn't any good in Kansas City, I was still finding myself.

YOU WERE BORN IN 1925, SO YOU JUST TURNED 80. YOU SOUND MORE LIKE YOU'RE 60!

I'm 80. You can tell people's age by seeing them (chuckling)...

WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER BASEBALL?

I went to work for an engineering supply company called Keuffel and Esser. I retired as a district manager in 1990.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

Go crazy (chuckling)...No, I do a lot of gardening. I can't golf anymore 'cause my back's too bad. You get older and you start getting deposits in between the vertebrae and you get stiff.

ONE FINAL QUESTION FOR YOU, DICK. WHICH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION TEAM DID YOU RESPECT THE MOST?

Oh, I thought it was St. Paul, the Dodger farm. We hated 'em too. The Yankee/Dodger rivalry was always good, even at Class D.

ST. PAUL FINISHED IN THIRD THAT YEAR. DO YOU REMEMBER AL BRANCATO?

Yeah, didn't he play for St. Paul? I think they had Spider Jorgensen, too, didn't they?

YES, HE WAS THEIR OTHER THIRD-BASEMAN. AND ERIC TIPTON?

Yeah, the old football player from Duke.

AND BOB ADDIS, OUTFIELDER?

Yeah, he played two years for the Cubs! And he played in the Yankee farm system and he played at Wellsville [New York; PONY League] with me! He hit .400 down there! He never played for the Dodgers, I don't think, do you?

NO, HE DIDN'T, BUT HE PLAYED FOR THE A.A. BREWERS LATER.

There was a shortstop at St. Paul, Buddy something...

YES, CLARENCE HICKS. BUDDY HICKS.

Yeah. He was gonna take Pee Wee Reese's place. There was a long list of guys that were gonna take his place (chuckling)!

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transcribed by Rex Hamann
July 16, 2005