Clay Hopper: Outstanding Minor League baseball manager and much more (Part III)

Part II ended with a post-script on Lou Limmer, who starred for Clay Hopper’s 1950 St. Paul Saints team. Part III covers Hopper’s final five seasons as a minor-league manager in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), 1952-1955 Portland Beavers, and 1956 Hollywood Stars. It includes his induction in the Mississippi State M Club Sports Hall of Fame (1970), managing legacy and justification for induction in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, in the capital city of Jackson.

Portland Beavers, 1952-1953 PCL

Hopper’s Beavers posted identical 92-88 marks in 1952 and 1953. Portland was not affiliated with a big league team in Hopper’s four seasons at their helm.  In 1952, Carlos “The Comet” Bernier was one catalyst in the Hollywood Stars (109-71) winning the 1952 PCL pennant by five games over the Oakland Oaks. Bob Boyd of the San Diego Padres led the loop with a .320 batting average (BA). Johnny Lindell (24-9) was the league’s top hurler, with Hollywood. Five years earlier, Lindell was an outfielder with the New York Yankees. Lindell provided two free tickets to friend “Uncle Al” and his nephew, 15-year old Leland Speed, to see Game Five of the 1947 World Series in Brooklyn, against the Yankees. (Leland Speed relayed this story to the author when Leland headed the Mississippi Development Authority.) After Game Five, Leland was allowed to ride on the Yankees’ team bus, back to Brooklyn, where he met Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and other players. Lindell and many other 1952 PCL players were ex-big leaguers.

The 1953 Beavers finished fourth, as did the 1952 edition. Royce Lint (22-10) was a bright spot with Portland’s 1953 pitching staff, with nine pitchers ages 31-39, compared to two in their 20’s. Lint once pitched for the Aguadilla Sharks, in Puerto Rico’s Winter League (PRWL). The author’s father (Sam J. Van Hyning Jr.) grew up in Portland, Oregon, graduating from Washington High School (1932), and Reed College (1936). He recalled that Portland was affiliated with Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s, 1931-1932. As a 19-year old college student at Reed College, and playing with a semi-pro team circa 1933, he got to bat against Lefty Grove in a barnstorming game held in Portland. Sam also recalled that Jim Thorpe played for Portland in 1922. So did Mickey Cochrane two years later. Portland has a rich pro baseball history dating to the 1901 Portland Webfoots (73-35), champions of the Class D Northwest League. Portland was a charter member of the Class A Pacific National League in 1903, renamed the PCL, in 1904.

A Dismal 1954 Season

Portland faltered to a 71-94 last-place finish in 1954. Home attendance dropped 43 percent from 236,762 in 1953, to 135,058 in 1954, 1,004 fewer fans/home game: 1,627 in 1954 versus 2,631 in 1953. In 1954, Portland was no-hit twice—August 3, by Bubba Church of the Los Angeles Angels; and, on September 12, the final day of the regular season, by Roger Bowman, Hollywood Stars. Hopper continued to preach sound baseball fundamentals.          

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A 1955 Rebound

Hopper’s fourth and final season at Portland’s helm showed a 86-86, fifth-place finish. The team’s top four hitters were Luis A. “Canena” Márquez (.312 BA), Ed Mickelson (.308), Artie Wilson (.307, and Dick Whitman (.304). Author Gaylen H. White, in his 2015 book, Singles and Smiles: How Artie Wilson broke baseball’s color barrier, noted that first baseman Mickelson was chosen first in the minor-league draft. The Beavers’ front office, after Hopper encouraged them to do so, acquired Artie Wilson from the Seattle Rainiers for two players and cash. Gaylen H. White wrote: “Hopper wanted a holler guy to liven up the team and admired Artie’s hustling and scrappy all-around play. It reminded him (Hopper)  of the first Black player he managed—Jackie Robinson at Montreal in 1946.”

Canena Márquez and Frankie Austin were the first two to integrate the 1949 Portland Beavers. Canena had a magnificent 20-year career in the PRWL, plus seven fine seasons with Portland. In 1950, he had 775 AB for Portland, in 194 games, with 241 hits, including 41 doubles, 19 triples, nine homers, 86 RBI, 38 RBI, and a .311/.371/.448 slash line, .819 OPS. Six years later, Canena’s 207 hits for Portland resulted in a .344/.385/.547 slash line, .932 OPS. Among his hits were 27 doubles, 10 triples, and 25 homers. He had 122 runs and 110 RBI.

Hopper’s childhood farming skills helped him “defeat” Bobby Bragan, Hollywood Stars manager, pre-game cow milking contest.  

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Last Go-Around, 1956 Hollywood Stars

Branch Rickey Sr. may have recommended that Hopper “manage the 1956 Hollywood Stars.” Rickey’s five-year contract as Pittsburgh’s VP, GM and limited partner ended by early November 1955. His respect for, and friendship with, Hopper was a determining factor in the latter managing Pittsburgh’s PCL affiliate in 1956. Hollywood was 85-83, fourth in the eight-team PCL It was fitting that Hopper’s last season as a manager came in Hollywood with the Stars. He managed two fellow Mississippians: lefty hurler Fred Waters, from Benton; and RHP Laurin Pepper, from Vaughan. Both starred at Mississippi Southern, now University of Southern Mississippi. Waters and Pepper pitched for the parent Pirates, mid-1950s, with Waters having success in winter ball, Águilas Cibaeñas, Dominican Republic, as Bill Mazeroski’s teammate. (Mazeroski was the final Cooperstown inductee managed by Hopper.) Pepper, an All-American halfback at Mississippi Southern, led them to a 1953 football upset win versus fifth-ranked Alabama and QB Bart Starr, with a 66-yard touchdown run and 45-yard touchdown reception.

Bernier, from Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, played his only MLB season with the 1953 Pirates. He had a storied PCL and minor-league career, stealing 594 bases, 10^th all-time, minor-league history. In 1956, he stole a PCL league-leading 48 bases and hit 15 triples in 159 games. Bernier should be considered Pittsburgh’s first Black player, but that franchise incorrectly lists Curt Roberts, in this category. (Bernier made his MLB debut one year prior to Roberts.)

Luis “Tite” Arroyo had a 7-5 record for Hopper in 1956, and was 3-3 with Pirates (4.71 ERA), in 28.2 innings. He was a 1955 NL All-Star with the St. Louis Cardinals, but Frank “Trader” Lane dealt him to Pittsburgh, in exchange for Max Surkont, May 7, 1956. “Clay Hopper encouraged me to throw the screwball, the pitch that I had success with in the PRWL, and later (1960-1961) with the New York Yankees,” said Arroyo. “Hopper gave me encouragement and confidence…I appreciated him, after St. Louis traded me…” Danny Kravitz, one of Hollywood’s catchers, also

appreciated Hopper’s managing skills.

Table I: Contributors (Hitting) to 1956 Hollywood Stars (100+ AB)

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG
Carlos Bernier	159	626	91	177	22	15	3	57	48	.283	.351	.380
Román Mejías	166	594	76	163	20	9	15	71	32	.274	7	.414
Dick Smith	146	505	63	136	24	2	2	48	16	.269	.358	.337
Joe Durham	139	449	56	115	16	2	13	68	5	.256	.310	.388
R.C. Stevens	125	427	70	112	15	2	27	72	3	.262	.358	.496
Spook Jacobs	81	302	48	103	19	2	0	24	4	.341	.415	.417
Bill Mazeroski	80	284	47	87	12	3	9	36	4	.306	.358	.465
Jim Baumer	101	288	36	76	14	3	6	34	1	.264	.316	.396
Paul Petit	114	284	39	67	11	0	10	45	1	.236	.344	.380
Gair Allie	69	219	29	64	11	1	4	21	1	.292	.379	.406
Gene Freese	68	223	36	61	10	2	11	36	6	.274	.321	.484
Bill Hall	91	253	21	50	7	3	3	24	0	.198	.248	.285
Danny Kravitz	39	117	13	31	5	2	5	21	0	.265	.326	.470
Pete Nation	33	94	11	21	2	0	3	9	0	.223	.298	.340
Others	NA	769	82	186	39	6	11	77	2	.242	NA	.351
Totals	168	5434	718	1449	227	52	122	643	123	.267	.333	.395

Source: https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-hs12042/y-1956

Table II:  Contributors (Pitching) to 1956 Hollywood Stars (27+ IP)

Pitcher	G	GS	CG	W-L	PCT	IP	H	SO	BB	ERA	WHIP
Ben Wade	37	28	13	13-18	.419	184.1	188	106	56	4.05	1.32
Bob Garber	24	17	7	11-6	.647	129.1	127	75	51	3.76	1.38
George O’Donnell	51	0	0	10-5	.667	94.1	98	33	21	3.15	1.26
Cholly Naranjo	19	16	5	8-6	.571	118	98	90	39	3.05	1.16
Tite Arroyo	22	16	7	7-5	.583	115.1	110	76	45	2.81	1.34
Roger Sawyer	44	15	3	6-4	.600	146.1	141	64	65	3.38	1.41
Bob Purkey	20	14	5	6-8	.429	118	125	60	23	3.36	1.25
Fred Green	33	5	2	5-4	.556	82	85	53	37	4.72	1.49
Curt Raydon	21	14	4	5-5	.500	100	108	59	51	4.23	1.59
Fred Waters	14	11	2	4-3	.571	72	74	29	30	3.25	1.44
Joe Trimble	22	19	6	4-11	.267	124.1	114	82	52	4.49	1.34
Laurin Pepper	4	4	3	2-1	.667	35	27	12	14	1.80	1.17
Lino Donoso	14	3	1	2-2	.500	46.1	57	19	11	5.05	1.47
Olaf Nelson	10	3	0	1-2	.333	27.1	23	13	13	4.28	1.32
Others	30	3	0	1-3	.250	42	68	16	30	8.14	2.33
Totals	168	168	58	85-83	.506	1435	1443	787	538	3.81	1.38

Source: https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-hs12042/y-1956

Hopper’s pre-game PCL duties included special events such as the below-mentioned race between brothers’ Gene and George Freese.

Spook Jacobs shared second base with Bill Mazeroski before the latter’s promotion to the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates. “Mazeroski was a prospect, and I was not,” said Jacobs. “I was the regular second baseman with the 1954 Philadelphia A’s and played a lot of winter ball in Cuba. Hopper was a good manager. He just wanted us to play hard and hustle.”

Table III includes Hopper’s entire minor-league managing record with three organizations—St. Louis Cardinals (1929-1942), Brooklyn Dodgers (1945-1951), Independent (1952-1955), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1956). Hopper’s 1,916 regular season wins are 19^th all-time for minor-league skippers. His 75-54 post-season managing record is impressive.

Table III: Clay Hopper’s Minor-League Managing Record, 1929-1956

Year	Team	W-L	PCT	Finish	Playoffs-Other Details
1929	Laurel	59-63	.484	4th
1931	Scottdale	78-55	.586	4th
1932	Mobile	19-13	.594	1st	League disbanded, May 21, 1932.
1932	Elmira	30-39	.435	8th	Managed Johnny Mize.
1933	Springfield	43-70	.381	5th
1934	Greensburg	57-45	.559	1st	All-Star MGR; won finals, 4 games  (G) to 2.
1935	Greenwood	52-84	.382	8th	Managed Walter Alston.
1936	Greensburg	64-44	.593	2nd	Lost finals, 3 G to 4.
1937	Springfield	76-67	.531	4th	Won semis, 3 G to 1; won finals, 4 G to 3.
1938	Springfield	79-56	.585	2nd	Lost semis, 2 G to 3.
1939	Columbus GA	83-55	.601	1st	Lost semis, 3 G to 4.
1940	Columbus GA	88-63	.583	2nd	Won semis, 4 G to 0; won finals, 4 G to 2.
1941	Columbus GA	68-69	.496	3rd	Lost semis, 4 G to 0.
1942	Houston	81-70	.536	5th
SLC	Sub-Total	877-793	.525		Three championships: 1934, 1937, 1940.
Year	Team	W-L	PCT	Finish	Playoffs-Other Details
1945	Mobile	74-65	.543	3rd	Won semis, 4 G to 2; won finals, 4 G to 1.
1946	Montreal	100-54	.649	1st	Won semis, 4 G to 2; won finals, 4 G to 1; won Junior World Series, 4 G to 2. All-Star MGR.
1947	Montreal	93-60	.608	2nd	Managed Roy Campanella. Lost semis, 4 G to 0.
1948	Montreal	94-59	.614	1st	Managed Duke Snider. Won semis, 4 G to 3; won finals, 4 G to 1; won Junior World Series, 4 G to 1. All-Star MGR.
1949	Montreal	84-70	.545	3rd	Won semis, 4 G to 0; won finals, 4 G to 1; lost Junior World Series, 4 G to 2.
1950	St. Paul	83-69	.542	4th	Managed Lou Limmer. Lost semis, 4 G to 0.
1951	St. Paul	85-66	.563	2nd	Won semis, 4 G to 1; lost finals, 2 G to 4.
BLK	Total	613-443	.580		Four championships: 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949.
1952	Portland	92-88	.511	4th	PCL Manager of the Year.
1953	Portland	92-88	.511	4th
1954	Portland	71-94	.430	8th
1955	Portland	86-86	.500	5th
IND	Sub-Total	341-356	.489
PIT	Hollywood	85-83	.506	4th	Managed Tite Arroyo, Carlos Bernier, and Bill Mazeroski.
ALL	Grand Total	1,916-1,675	.534		Seven League Championships; two Junior World Series Titles; four-time All-Star MGR; managed six Cooperstown Hall of Famers.

Source: https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Clay Hopper  was 75-54 in post-season play, for a .581 PCT.

Post-Managing Career

Hopper continued to work as a “cotton factor.” The “factor” worked with area farmers in selling cotton. Hopper benefitted from Greenwood’s Staplcotn entity, one of the largest cotton-marketing cooperatives in the U.S. Founded in 1921, Staplcotn is owned and operated by, and for, members that it serves. https://www.staplcotn.com/ Webb Franklin noted that Greenwood’s Cotton Row once had 50-60 cooperatives, with Staplcotn the largest and busiest one.

In 1958, the state’s Legislature renamed Mississippi State College, Mississippi State University. In 1961, the Bulldog became the official mascot, after their 11-0 football win over Ole Miss.

During three weeks in 1961, Satchel Paige was a member of the Portland Beavers. Three years later, Luis Tiant went 15-1 for Portland, and was called up by the Cleveland Indians.

In 1970, Hopper was inducted in the First Class, Mississippi State M-Club Sports Hall of Fame, with 13 others including Dudy Noble. Subsequent Bulldogs’ baseball inductees included: Nat “Buck” Showalter (2002), Jeff Brantley and Will Clark, in 2003, Rafael Palmeiro (2008), and Bobby Thigpen (2020). https://msubulldogclub.com/sports/2019/6/6/m-club-hall-of-fame.aspx?id=33 Showalter, current New York Mets manager, had Mississippi State’s highest single-season batting average (BA), .459, in 1977, to lead the Southeastern Conference (SEC). https://static.hailstate.com/pdf/bb/bb_08mg_records.pdf  Clark’s .420 BA (1985) is Mississippi State’s second-best BA. Palmeiro’s .415 BA (1984) is fourth; his .406 (1983) is seventh.   

Clay Hopper passed away in Greenwood, Mississippi, on April 3, 1976. He was 73.

Post-Script

Hopper was inducted in the International League Hall of Fame (2009). He deserves to be inducted in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, to join Dudy Noble, from Learned, Mississippi, and Hugh Critz, ex-big leaguer, who owned a Ford dealership in Greenwood, Mississippi. Greenwood’s baseball web site is https://baseball.aboutgreenwoodmississippi.com/

Thanks to Tite Arroyo, Dr. Bobby Brown, Jack Cassini, Webb and Webster Franklin,  Herman Franks, Spook Jacobs, Danny Kravitz, Lou Limmer, Luis R. Olmo, Henry Riggin, Bert Thiel, and Gaylen H. White. Thanks to Donny Whitehead, for photos. Jorge Colón Delgado, Official Historian, Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League, did the editing and photo placements.