| Wally Schang | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: August 22, 1889 South Wales, New York, U.S. | |
| Died: March 6, 1965 (aged 75) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 9, 1913, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 22, 1931, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .284 |
| Home runs | 59 |
| Runs batted in | 710 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Walter Henry Schang (August 22, 1889 – March 6, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and manager.[1] He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1913 to 1931 for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns and the Detroit Tigers. Schang was considered one of the best major league catchers of his era--offensively and defensively.[2]
Schang was the starting catcher for six American League pennant winning teams (Philadelphia Athletics (1913–1914), Boston Red Sox (1918), New York Yankees (1921–1923). He was a switch-hitter who batted above .300 six times during his playing career and posted a career .393 on-base percentage, second only to Mickey Cochrane among major league catchers.[2] In 1916 he became the first Major League Baseball player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game.[2]
Standing 5-foot-10 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds, Schang was one of the new breed of catchers that emerged from the Deadball Era who used speed and agility to field their position.[2][3] His reputation as a defensive stand out is enhanced because of the era in which he played. In the Deadball Era, catchers played a huge defensive role, given the large number of bunts and stolen base attempts, as well as the difficulty of handling every type of pitch imaginable, such as shine balls, spitballs, knuckleballs, and emery balls.[4]
- ^ "Wally Schang statistics". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Geiszler, Don. "Wally Schang". sabr.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
- ^ "Slim Catchers Replace Big Men In Majors". The Pittsburgh Gazette Times. August 6, 1916. p. 8. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
- ^ For Catchers, The Name of the Game is Defense, by George Vass, Baseball Digest, May 2005, Vol. 64, No. 3, ISSN 0005-609X