Clyde Frederick Vollmer (September 24, 1921 – October 2, 2006) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, who played in 685 games in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, Washington Senators and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. During the season with the Red Sox, his hot hitting earned him the nickname "Dutch the Clutch."''"Dutch the Clutch" Remembered as Sox Start Another Season''
(March 28, 2019),

York County Coast Star Seacoast Media Group is a unit of Local Media Group. Seacoast publishes five weekly newspapers and one daily, ''The Portsmouth Herald'', along the coasts of New Hampshire and York County, Maine, United States. The group publisher is John Tabor; its ...

''seacoastonline.com'' As an active player, Vollmer threw and batted right-handed; he stood tall and weighed .

Early career

Vollmer was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. As a youth, he played for the Bridgetown Baseball League in

Hamilton County, Ohio Hamilton County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 830,639, making it the third-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat and largest city is Cincinnati. The county i ...

; Vollmer was a leader on the team that won the Hamilton County Grade School baseball championship in 1935, according to a publication called "News of the Reds" dated May 20, 1947.

Professional career

Vollmer graduated from Western Hills High School in 1938 and signed as a free agent with the

the following year. Enquirer
(October 6, 2016), at

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alth ...

''cincinnati.com''. Vollmer did not appear for the Reds until May 31, 1942. After playing only 12 games, the 21-year-old joined the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. He fought in World War II for three years. After his discharge, Vollmer returned to the Reds. Vollmer played in the major leagues over ten seasons between 1942 and 1954. His torrid stretch as a member of the 1951 Red Sox lasted from July 6–28. In 21

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, Vollmer had 31

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, including 13

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, four doubles, one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

, 40

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI), and 25

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

. The streak saw him raise his

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

from .267 to .287 and included a three-homer game on July 26 against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

. For the season, however, Vollmer leveled off to a .251 average (matching his career mark), although he set personal bests in homers (22) and RBI (85). Boston sent him back to the Senators in 1953, and he finished his MLB career in September 1954 as a reserve outfielder and

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

. In his 685 games in the majors, Vollmer had 508 total hits, including 77 doubles, and 69 homers. Vollmer recorded a .984

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

at all three outfield positions. Vollmer is one of only a handful of Major League Baseball players to hit a home run in their very first at bat.

Personal and later life

In 1947, Vollmer married and later had a daughter, Claudia. Vollmer retired from baseball and acquired the Lark Lounge, which he owned for 20 years. He later was a member of the American Legion, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Cheviot Aerie No. 2197, and the Delhi Senior Citizens. Vollmer died on October 2, 2006, at St. Luke Hospital in

Florence, Kentucky Florence is a home rule-class city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. Florence is the second largest city located in Northern Kentucky, after Covington, and part of the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Area. The population was 31,946 at ...

. He is interred at Old St. Joseph's Cemetery in

.Clyde Vollmer Trades and Transactions

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''baseball-almanac.com''.

References

External links

Clyde Vollmer
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vollmer, Clyde 1921 births 2006 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American people of German descent Baseball players from Cincinnati Bassett Furnituremakers players Birmingham Barons players Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burials at Old St. Joseph's Cemetery Charleston Senators players Cincinnati Reds players Columbia Reds players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball outfielders Montgomery Rebels players Rochester Red Wings players Syracuse Chiefs players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players

Early career

Professional career

Personal and later life

See also

References

External links