On July 31, 1939, the Pirates made a major acquisition from the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League. As Lester Biederman put it in The Pittsburgh Press of August 1, "the Pirates proudly announced the purchase of John Gee, a lefthander with Syracuse of the International League.
"Gee won't be availabue [sic] until next year, although he may check in here in mid-September, if the Chiefs do not get into the play-offs.
"That the Pirates mean business when a good player is on the open market was indicated when it was revealed that the Buccos had to beat the Giants, Cubs, Yankees (yes, the Yankees), Reds and Senators to Gee's services.
"The Buccos laid it on the line with a big chunk of cash and also four players to be delivered next spring.
"Gee is the biggest fellow in baseball, physically, standing six feet nine, weighing 215 pounds. He's 23 years old and is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he starred in basketball and baseball."
"Manager (Pie) Traynor and President Bill Benswanger made a special trip to Syracuse yesterday, where they met with Joe Schultz, head of the Pirate farm system, and closed the deal with Syracuse officials. Schultz had been scouting Gee and was enthusiastic over him."
With Brooklyn in town, Biederman talked to young Dodger outfielder Art Parks for The Press of Aug. 2. "After watching the Pirates' new southpaw, John Gee (pronounced with the "g" as in gone) for two years, in the International League, (Parks) reports encouragingly on the fellow ... 'He's got a pretty good fastball and a pretty good curve and, for a southpaw, has remarkable control,' Parks says. 'He's so tall that when the ball leaves his hands he is three feet closer to the plate than an ordinary pitcher. He can field and when he bunts, which he usually does, he's at first base in five strides.' "
And once the season ended in the International League, where Gee posted a 20-10 record, Biederman wrote in the Sept. 13 Press that, "Another Pirate rookie, John Gee, 6 foot, 9 inch pitcher from Syracuse will join the Pirates tonight. Gee left Syracuse this morning. Manager Pie Traynor announced Gee would hurl one of the games in the double-header against the Phillies here Sunday.
"Accompanying Gee will be Secretary Howard Roettger and Treasurer George Schindler, of the Syracuse Club. They will talk over the matter of the four players whom the Bucs must deliver to the Stars [sic] for next season to complete the deal which brought Gee here."
The next day's Press included a photo of Gee towering over Benswanger.
In The Press of Sept. 16, sports editor Chester L. Smith wrote in his Village Smithy column, "Cataloging the new Pirates: ... And after watching Johnny Gee warm up, the bullpen wiseacres pronounce him ready ... He has a delivery that reminds you of a lot of people escaping from a burning building."
And the next day, Biederman wrote that, "Long John Gee, the Pirates $70,000 prize southpaw from Syracuse, makes his first major league start when he faces the Phils in the first game of today's double-header."
So the big moment was at hand.
The headline on Biederman's coverage in the Sept. 18 Press was "Gee Suffers Weird Debut."
Gee's pitching line was 8 innings, 6 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 7 runs allowed and 0 earned runs. The Pirates committed eight errors, which was three short of the National League record.
Gee struck out the first two batters he faced. In the bottom of the first, Bob Elliott doubled in Paul Waner to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
In the second, errors by second baseman Jack Juelich and third baseman Frank Gustine, along with a walk, loaded the bases, but Gee got out of it.
Charlie Letchas rolled a single to right to lead off the Philadelphia third, but he was caught stealing. In the bottom of the inning, Arky Vaughan singled in Waner to make it 2-0.
In the fifth, Gee dropped a throw from first baseman Elbie Fletcher while covering first, putting George Scharein on. Bennie Warren walked. Pitcher Syl Johnson bunted, and Gustine's error allowed Scharein to score and Warren to reach third. Letchas grounded to shortstop Vaughan for a double play, with Warren scoring the tying run.
The score remained 2-2 until the eighth inning. Bud Bates led off with a single to center. Stanley Benjamin reached when catcher Ray Mueller committed an error on his attempted sacrifice, and Juelich had to leave the game after colliding with Benjamin at first. Morrie Arnovich walked to load the bases. Gus Suhr reached on an error by Fletcher; Bates and Benjamin scored, and Arnovich took third. Pinky May reached on a fielder's choice, with Arnovich scoring and and Suhr going to second. Scharein hit the second ball out of the infield in the inning when he singled to center, scoring Suhr and sending May to third. Gustine's error on Warren's grounder loaded the bases. Johnson's bunt to third went for a single, scoring May. Letchas grounded to Vaughan, who actually forced Scharein at the plate. Bates and Benjamin both popped to replacement second baseman Bill Brubaker to end the inning. 5 runs (none earned), 3 hits, 3 errors, 3 left.
Chuck Klein batted for Gee in the bottom of the eighth and homered.
In the top of the ninth, Brubaker committed the Bucs' eighth error, but it didn't lead to a run. The final score was 7-3.
Biederman summarized it this way: "History will record the score of the first Pirate-Phil game yesterday as Phils 7, Pirates 3, but in the minds of all of the 8008 fans who came out to Forbes Field, you can't make them believe that was the correct answer to Long Johnny Gee's major league debut."
The Pirates did come back and pound Philadelphia, 10-1, in the nightcap. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Edward F. Balinger noted that "Big Poison's four-bagger made it 18 consecutive engagements in which his bludgeon has boosted his batting figures."
Gee started twice more in 1939, beating Boston, 6-4, while striking out 11, and then giving up 6 runs (all earned) in 2.2 innings in Cincinnati three days later.
On December 23, the Pirates announced that veteran right-handed pitcher Cy Blanton and Juelich would be sent to Syracuse as two of the four players in the deal. (The other two apparently received much less attention. I didn't find their names.)
In 1940, Gee came down with a sore arm in spring training, and didn't pitch at all that season. He went back and taught in upstate New York, which was ultimately his life's work.
He spent most of 1941 in the minors before being called up in September, where he was 0-2 with a 6.14 ERA in his three games.
Gee was in the minors again in 1942, and decided that he would retire rather than be sent to Atlanta.
But he gave baseball another shot in 1943, and made the Pirates. He pitched in 15 games, the most appearances he'd make in a major league season. He went 4-4 with a 4.28 ERA.
Back with the Bucs in 1944, he made four relief appearances. In the June 13, 1944, Post-Gazette, Balinger wrote that, "Waivers recently were asked on Gee and late yesterday President Bill Benswanger was officially notified that the Giants had been awarded his services at the waiver price of $7,500. Johnny was purchased from the Syracuse Internationals in 1939 representing the sum of $75,000.
"He developed soreness in his left shoulder during his first trip to training camp with the Pirates and had several recurrences of the trouble. Early this year, he suffered from cold in the muscles of his salary whip, but recently reported that he felt all right again."
Gee appeared in 19 games for New York through 1946.
He taught and pitched semi-pro after that.
There are plenty of stories of highly regarded pitching prospects who fell victim to sore arms. But no one who saw Johnny Gee's major league debut would ever forget it.
