Allen Gettel was born a ways south of the Bronx, down in Norfolk, Virginia. Growing up on the family farm, few could have predicted the journey his life would take. From pitching in Yankee Stadium to acting on the big screen, Gettel became his own type of renaissance man.
Allen Jones Gettel
Born: September 17, 1917 (Norfolk, Virginia)
Died: April 8, 2005 (Norfolk, Virginia)
Yankees Tenure: 1945-46
Gettel graduated from Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach in 1936. The Yankees signed the young right-handed
pitcher to a contract upon graduation after scout Gene McCann found the big 6-foot-3 hurler while scouting local high school games. This kicked off a nine-year stint in the Yankees farm system.
The first three years of his time in the Yankees system were spent in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Gettel’s debut campaign came with the Norfolk Tars, in the city where he was born. The following season in 1937, he split his time between the Butler Yankees and the Bassett Furnituremakers (another Virginia team). Then, in 1938, he had a standout performance for the Snow Hill Billies in the Class D Coastal Plain League, and that performance earned him a ticket to the Augusta Tigers for the 1939 season.
From 1940 through 1943, Gettel found himself in Double-A, playing for both the Newark Bears and Kansas City Blues. Following the 1943 campaign, the Yankees traded Gettel, Ed Levy, and $10,000 cash to the Philadelphia Phillies for Nick Etten. However, Gettel declared he would spend the 1943 season on the farm to ensure he could not be drafted into military service, and on the same note, Levy was classified as 1-A by the Selective Service System, meaning he was immediately eligible to be drafted into the military. The Phillies were essentially giving away a player for no one at that point and got the trade vetoed. The Yankees and Phillies later agreed to new players in the trade, and Etten became a Yankee (a very nice wartime one at that).
After the trade fell through, the Yankees assigned Gettel back to Norfolk. Back home, he could play baseball while maintaining his farm work. This is where Gettel spent the next two seasons, and he dominated. Gettel posted an incredible 1.38 ERA while going 11-11. Then, in 1944, he went 17-7 with a 1.81 ERA.
Prior to the 1945 season, the Yankees were depleted due to the war draft; the previous year had already been challenging as their streak of three consecutive pennants was snapped by the St. Louis Browns of all teams. Gettel was protected due to his farmer status, and after his performance the two years prior, the Yankees finally gave the 27-year-old a chance to play in the majors. Gettel made his debut on April 20th against the Washington Senators. Coming on in relief, he pitched four innings and allowed just one hit while striking out four to pick up a retroactive save.
Gettel went on to have a decent rookie year, tallying 154 innings with a 9-8 record and a 3.92 ERA for the Bombers. He followed that up in 1946 by going 6-7 with a 2.97 ERA in 103 innings. However, following the season and facing a roster crunch as the rest of the boys returned home from war, the Yankees decided to trade Gettel, and this time the trade went through.
On December 6, 1946, Gettel, Hal Peck, and Gene Bearden were traded to Cleveland for Ray Mack and Sherm Lollar. Gettel anchored Cleveland’s starting rotation in 1947, earning 11 wins to go along with a 3.20 ERA. In early June of the 1948 season, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox and thus could not celebrate with his old teammates when Cleveland won the World Series that fall, their most recent title as a franchise. Gettel stayed in Chicago for a year and some change before he was purchased by the Washington Senators. Gettel finished the 1949 season in Washington.
From 1950 through 1959, Gettel bounced around, playing mostly for the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League — though he did play in the majors in 1951 for the New York Giants and in 1955 for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Gettel officially retired from professional baseball in 1959 with 38 career major league victories and 196 minor league wins. Years later in 2001, Gettel and others admitted that the 1951 New York Giants used a system to steal signs from opposing catchers, including on Bobby Thomson’s famous “Shot Heard ’Round the World.” The cheating scheme had a spotter with a telescope buzzing down the catchers finger count to the bullpen who then had various ways to signal to hitters what was coming.
During his time on the Oaks, Gettel used his farm talents to land some roles in movies and television. A skilled horse rider, he appeared in Westerns such as The Tin Star. The acting roles earned Gettel his nickname “Two Guns.” Gettel embraced the nickname and even dressed like a cowboy and rode a horse in from the bullpen when the Oaks would allow.
Gettel continued farming throughout his long life. He passed away at age-87 in 2005 in where else, but Norfolk. Happy birthday to one of Hampton Roads’ great underrated sons!
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