Ernie Johnson called him "the mayor of Statesboro, Georgia."
As a little kid, I wondered if Vic Correll really was the mayor of a town. And if he was, how'd he spend so much time playing baseball? Was he as bad a mayor as he was a catcher?
One thing was clear to me even then: Ernie didn't call him that because he could hit. In four seasons with the home team, he mostly had the Statesboro Blues: a .222 combined batting average, no on base percentage better than .317 and a season with 13 errors. Those 13 errors, as far as I could find, are the most ever made by an Atlanta catcher.
And Vic did it in just 97 games! Ozzie Virgil had that many boots one season, as did Earl Williams. Correll did hit 27 homers and knock in 100 runs, spread over four years and 871 at-bats. For his ineptitude, Vic earns a spot on the Office's Worst 10 of the 1970s. If you got released by the Braves in 1978 -- which he did -- you were abysmal. That was the middle year in a run that rang up 101, 93 and 94 losses.
As we've established and long-time Bravos fans well know, Correll is hardly alone in the gallery of failed Braves catchers. The litany is astoundingly awful: Bob Tillman, Paul Casanova, Joe Nolan, Bill Nahorodny, Johnny Oates (bad as a Brave), Larry Owen, Matt Sinatro (.136 in 81 ABs in 1982), Rick Cerone, Ozzie Virgil, Mike Heath, Ernie Whitt, Jody Davis, Bako, Blanco, Pratto. Puke-o!
Back to the nickname. Correll played college ball at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, so I presume that's why Ernie anointed him mayor of that city.
--CD
Vic was a neighbor of ours in Cincinnati. While you may not be impressed with his career, Vic and his family were some of the nicest people I've had the pleasure to know. I wish that more athletes possessed the character that Vic did.
Posted by: Katherine Rollins | August 19, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Don't look now, but Vic's one of the Braves alumni signing autographs at today's game.
Posted by: Reid Davis | July 19, 2009 at 03:29 PM
My family knew Vic when he was with Atlanta. We live up in NJ and every time the Braves came to Shea, he made sure to get my grandfather extra tickets so us grandkids could come along.
He once took my brother into the locker room before the game. A moment my then 11-12 year old brother will never forget.
After the game, he would take us all out to dinner at some fancy NY place.
I find this site by chance and really don't know who you are, but don't call Vic a hack unless you have major league stats to back up that you were an all-star.
Seems Vic was around for some signicant events. When Aaron crosses the plate after 715, that's Vic in the catcher's gear greeting him. When Rose broke the NL consecutive hit streak in Shea, we were there again courtesy of Vic.
Leave the BirdMan alone...
Posted by: dtpoet | July 26, 2008 at 02:46 AM
Hello Rowland
I was your Bat Boy "BB" in 1977. I know you won't remember me, but how are you?
Posted by: Glenn Anderson | May 03, 2008 at 09:15 AM
I'm pretty sure Ernie called him "the Squire of Statesboro", not the mayor.
Does that ring any bells for you?
Posted by: Random | February 12, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Aah, Bob Didier! He hit .256 as a 20 year old rookie in the 69 division championship year; all while catching three knuckleballers throughout the year (Knucksie, Hoyt Wilhelm, Ken Johnson). The next year, though, he hit .149 and was on the road to oblivion.
One guy who I never saw play, but have faint memories of in his first year as a broadcaster with the Braves in '69 was Bob Uecker. His hitting stats in '67 are terrible, but he served as Niekro's personal catcher that year, when Knucksie had a breakout season and won the ERA title. Knucksie has always given Uecker a lot of credit for giving him confidence in throwing the knuckleball in tight situations.
Posted by: clete boyer fan | May 02, 2007 at 09:02 AM
p.s. Can we only refer to Bako as Gabor II? He was about as charasmatic as stale meatloaf.
Posted by: atlpaddy | May 01, 2007 at 12:28 PM
Hey, can Charlie O'Brien's perm-fried mullet be classified as an individual entity? Cause, if so, that was also bad.
Posted by: atlpaddy | May 01, 2007 at 12:24 PM
Vic Correll is a hero of mine for one reason when I was a kid heading in to the hospital for sternum surgery I received an autographed baseball from him and an autograph from him out side the stadium
You may not have liked him as a player, that's fine but don't EVER discredit him as a man!! if you do that then sir you are a disgrace!!!
Chris Jackson
Posted by: Chris Jackson | April 30, 2007 at 11:17 PM
Somebody who doesn't make the list is Bob Didier, the semi-regular cather in 1969. Couldn't hit a lick, but made the club because, in fact, he could catch Niekro pretty well.
Correll was a hack. As I recall, he hit a little when he first came up, for about 2 weeks or so. Everybody spent the next several years waiting for him to get hot again.
Posted by: Jack Straw | February 26, 2007 at 07:29 PM
I suspect a lot of those errors were on throws to second. Knucksie would cause more passed balls than errors, I think.
Posted by: CD | February 26, 2007 at 04:34 PM
I once chased Vic Correll halfway the length of Perimeter Mall to get him to autograph my baseball at the conclusion of a Braves Pre-Season Caravan Appearance. He was wearing 70's vintage checked double-knit slacks, white loafers with no socks. Statesboro-stylee!
I'd cut him some slack on those error numbers. Most catchers who caught Niekro didn't have the best defensive statistics. They spent the day before catching him thinking about catching him the next day.
Posted by: rankin' rob | February 26, 2007 at 03:08 PM