Partee was born in Los Angeles to father Clair C. Partee and mother Eutha Wyche. He was an Arizona–Texas League All-Star in 1938 when he batted .365 with nine home runs for the Bisbee Bees. His performance got him signed with the Chicago Cubs\' St. Joseph Angels the following season, however, after batting .245 with five home runs, he was let go. He returned to the Bees in 1940, now the Salt Lake City Bees of the Pioneer League, and resumed his hitting ways, batting .284 with seven home runs while also showing a dramatic increase in defensive skills.\n', '

He joined the San Francisco Seals in 1941 (at the time, a Detroit Tigers affiliate), but managed to bat just .180 in 65 plate appearances. When coach Tony Lazzeri left the club to manage the Portsmouth Cubs in 1942, he brought Partee along with him back to the Cubs organization. He batted .299 and committed only four errors behind the plate in 560 chances. After the season, his contract was purchased by the Boston Red Sox.\n', '

Upon his arrival in Boston in 1943, Partee was immediately plugged into the starting line-up for the Red Sox and batted .300 for most of the season (he would finish at .281) in the number eight hole in their batting order, while starting 86 games at catcher. In 1944 he started 76 games as catcher and was called up by the U.S. Military in June, but was rejected due to a bad ankle. He returned to the Red Sox, and in his first game back he clubbed his first major league home run, a walk-off to defeat Atley Donald and the New York Yankees, 8-7. He finished the season with a .243 batting average, and then enlisted at Fort MacArthur in California on October 19, 1944 thus missing the 1945 season due to his military service during World War II.\n', '

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