The veteran didn’t know that Monday was Veterans Day.
“Thank you for reminding me!” Frank Saucier said by phone.
I then thanked him, of course, for his service. The 98-year-old Saucier served in both World War II and the Korean War — and he was a Major League Baseball player for St. Louis of the American League. As for his military service, the old Navy man said: “The thought that goes through my mind: I would do it again.”
Saucier, raised during the Great Depression in the nearby Missouri town of Washington, is one of only five living World War II vets who also played in the majors, per the meticulous research of local historian Ed Wheatley.
And four of the five have St. Louis ties: Ed Mickelson, 98, played for both the Cardinals and the Browns; Bill Greason, 100, was the first Black pitcher for the Cardinals; Bobby Shantz, 99, pitched for the Cards from 1962 until 1964, when he was part of the trade for the Cubs’ Lou Brock; Saucier, who was a minor league phenom but became more famous in the majors due to who once pinch-hit for him.
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Saucier lives in Amarillo, Texas, with his daughter, Sara. On Monday, she sat in the room as he shared his military tales with me by phone.
After, I asked Sara what emotions she felt.
“PRIDE — five capital letters,” she shared. “Because I know he did it willingly, and like he said, they never thought anything else. I mean, that’s just what he did. And it was pride in your country. … I mean, it’s incredible to me to see a 98-year-old man with such pride.”
Francis Field Saucier was born on May 28, 1926. On Monday, he spoke with articulate admiration of his family’s military history, which went back to the Revolutionary War. He also brought up his grandfather, Eugene F. Saucier, who traveled the Oregon Trail as a young boy and later fought for the Union during the Civil War.
Saucier’s uncle died in World War I. And two other brothers and numerous cousins served during World War II.
In 1943, at just 16, Saucier enrolled at Westminster College in Fulton, via the US Navy’s V-12 training program. He played some ball there and hit the heck out of the ball (with a .519 batting average). Shortly after, he was granted a waiver to become commissioned as a Navy officer — at only 17.
Saucier was stationed at an amphibious training base in Coronado, California. His task force was part of what ultimately became the Navy SEALs.
And in 1945, Saucier said, “I was on my way to Japan for the invasion.”
Initially, the United States was going to storm the coast of Japan. Saucier was prepared but feared for his life. And along the way toward Asia, his ship hit a naval mine, which fortunately did not explode. And as the journey continued that summer, his ship ultimately received word.
The atomic bomb had been dropped.
“So,” Saucier said of avoiding warfare, “I thank President (Harry) Truman for saving my life.”
They continued toward Japan to help oversee the occupation and the aftermath.
“I took a picture of Hiroshima,” Saucier said. “There wasn’t much to see, except there was a large metal frame of some building that survived that blast. And the rest was just as flat as the prairie here in the panhandle.”
Saucier ultimately returned to Westminster College — five months after Winston Churchill came to campus and delivered his famous “Iron Curtain” speech. Saucier’s baseball talents earned him a deal with the St. Louis Browns organization. In the minors, he hit .446 in 1949 — the highest average in any pro league — and won a silver bat from Hillerich & Bradsby.
In 1950, he hit .343 and was featured on a January 1951 cover of The Sporting News, which referred to him in the article as “Mr. Slug.”
But Saucier decided to quit baseball.
See, he also owned an oil rig in Oklahoma. And he hit oil in 1951. About 150 barrels a day.
Still, Browns owner Bill Veeck yearned to get “Mr. Slug” on the big league team. On July 4, 1951, Veeck negotiated with the oilman, and they worked out a deal.
But Saucier had missed spring training and hadn’t played ball all summer. He wasn’t necessarily the same guy The Sporting News wrote about. Sure enough, he promptly injured his right shoulder but still played. Saucier got his first big league hit on Aug. 5 against Cleveland.
It would be his only hit.
On Aug. 19, he got the start in right field in a home game. But before he led off the bottom of the first, he was pulled for a pinch hitter.
He was the 3-foot-7 man hired by Veeck as a stunt. Gaedel wasn’t a ballplayer. He wore the bat boy uniform of a club executive’s son — Bill DeWitt Jr., the current owner and chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals. An addition was made to the jersey, though.
Gaedel was given the uniform number 1/8.
Gaedel walked and never played again. Saucier became a trivia answer.
Saucier finished 1 for 14 in his lone MLB season. He is one of the rare ballplayers to have a hit, yet only one, in the major leagues. He returned to service in 1952 for the Korean War, stationed in Florida. Never played pro ball again.
On Monday, asked what he does for fun in Texas, Saucier said, “Well, I’ll be 100 years old in 18 months, so not a whole lot I can do. But my daughter lives with me and helps take care of me — and without her, I’d have to be in a veterans home.”
For years, Saucier was a staple at Dyer’s BBQ. He sure was a well-liked customer. Sara, 71, said that the restaurant is already discussing plans with the family for a 100th birthday party.
“He’s just an incredible man,” Sara said. “Whether it’s business or serving his country or whatever. I mean, he’s just really an incredible man.”
