David A. Fisher played one season for the Graceville Oilers
in 1957. His son, Todd, has sent us this remembrance of David’s
experiences in the league.
My father, David A. Fisher, played 3rd base for the 1957 Graceville
Oilers. The Oilers were Co-Champions that year with Panama City.
He enjoyed his time spent playing pro ball and spoke often of
his experiences. As a kid growing up he taught me the game and
I would read his old news clippings and talk baseball with him.
I have fond memories of watching him play for his company softball
teams. He was fun to watch and I’ll always remember the hiss the
ball made when he threw from third to first base. According to
my dad, the playing conditions in Class D weren’t very good compared
to today’s Class A ball. That didn’t matter though, the players
were happy for the chance to realize their dream. My dad has old
snapshots (taken before a game at Graceville’s Sportsman’s Park)
which show that Graceville’s dugouts were more chicken-wire than
wood, and the field had a skinned infield with only a few tufts
of grass here and there. He took pictures of several teammates,
but sadly no good photos exist of him in uniform, except a couple
of team pictures from the newspaper clippings. I was happy to
see my Dad in your website. He’s in the Team Photo section for
the 1957 Graceville Oilers. That picture was of the starting nine
for Graceville before they played against the AFL All-Stars on
July 8th, 1957. The players received a momento of the game which
was a travel-alarm clock with « Ala-Fla League All-Stars 1957 »
inscribed on it. He also has a trophy that says « D. Fisher
1957 South Atlantic League All Stars. » That trophy remains
a mystery, as the South Atlantic League is above Class D and there’s
no official record of him playing in the league. As far as the
living conditions in Graceville go, my father said the humidity
was such that his uniform was still wet with yesterday’s sweat
when they dressed for the next day. Another interesting aspect
of playing ball there was having to deal with rattlesnakes and
black water-mocassins. Apparently they were plentiful in the area,
and nobody went after any balls hit over the fence into any swamps
around the league. There were times that a game or practice had
to be stopped while several players killed a snake in the outfield
with baseball bats. He also said the pool hall in Graceville was
about the only place to hang out in town, and that the movie theater
wasn’t in operation. He also remembers attending the local church
where it was so humid that he would be sweating and sticking to
the pews while the pastor spoke in detail about the team, and
the exploits of team members in attendance. He was also appreciative
of the great Graceville fans. Many years later, an article appeared
in Life Magazine by author Paul Hemphill. It was about Hemphill’s
time spent with the Graceville Oilers. My father framed the article
and put it on the wall of his office. I think Hemphill was at
Graceville two years before my father, but the situation with
the pool hall and the movie theater my Dad had described was exactly
the same in Hemphill’s article. Also regarding Hemphill, my Dad
and I saw the HBO
movie, « Long Gone. » which was based on Hemphill’s fictional
account of the 1956 Graceville Oilers, although we didn’t notice
Hemphill’s name in the movie credits. Although the movie was based
on the Oilers, the movie chose to call the team the Tampico Stogies
When he saw that movie, my father said it was very much like his
playing days with Graceville. It wasn’t until several years after
my father’s passing that I found out about the movie’s Graceville
Oiler roots. On a personal note, my Grandfather made a trip down
to Florida during the 1957 season and watched my Dad play. The
radio announcer in the small pressbox above home plate at Sportman’s
Park in Graceville invited him up there, and interviewed my grandfather
on the air. It was nice to see the pressbox in one of your pictures
of Sportman’s
Park in the website. The top pitchers for the 1957 Oliers were
Bill Kakuske, (19-9, 2.26 ERA) and Bob Beck, (19-7, 2.37 ERA).
Kakuske was from Janesville, Wisconsin. My Dad was from nearby
Whitewater, Wisconsin. It was a stroke of luck they were on the
same team, and could experience traveling and playing baseball
in the South together. My Dad hit .237 in 392 At-Bats and 104
games at 3rd base for Graceville. His fielding percentage was
.917. He had a great experience playing pro ball and his only
regret was quitting baseball after only the one season. He always
felt he could have improved his batting average, as he always
was a top hitter on his high school, American Legion, and college
teams. Had he stayed in baseball, he would have played the 1958
season for either
the Wausau Lumberjacks of the Northern League, or with Wenatchee,
of the Northwest League. My Dad has contracts for both leagues–both
dated Sept.
23, 1957. I don’t think back in the 1950’s a player had much choice
of where he played, so I don’t know why he has the two different
contracts. There
wasn’t much money to be made in minor-league baseball back then,
so my Dad started a family and got a job in market research for
the Dixie Cup Co. in Easton PA. He had a degree in biochemistry
but the man at Dixie liked ballplayers so a career in market research
was launched. Eventually we moved to Rochester, NY in 1966. Dad
worked for The R.T. French Co., and then Rumrill-Hoyt, where he
enjoyed many years in advertising. Even though 1957 Class D baseball
was a bit rough around the edges (there were weeds growing up
through the floorboards of the place he lived in Graceville) he
always spoke of that season with fondness. No doubt, Graceville
was a special place in the Alabama-Florida League
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