WALLY SCHANG

He was one of those ballplayers you take for granted, an excellent reciever and .284 career hitter, but always under the shadow of guys like Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth, Lou Gerhig, George Sisler and Jimmie Foxx. He seemed to enjoy collecting World Series shares, playing in six Fall Classics and sitting in on a seventh. He was a good luck charm. Three times he came to a new ballclub and helped them to a pennant his first season there (A's, 1913; Red Sox, 1918; and Yankees, 1921). Twice he was dealt away in his prime because an owner was clearing off the shelves. Connie Mack, who felt Philadelphia fans were bored because the A's won four pennants in five years, cleaned house in 1915 and fell to the cellar. Schang was dealt to the Red Sox, whose capricious owner, Harry Frazee, was more interested in producing Broadway musicals than pennants. After the powerful Red Sox won the 1918 World Series, Frazee dealt most of his great club to the Yanks: Ruth, Carl Mays, Jumpin' Joe Dugan, Herb Pennock, and several others, including Wally Schang in 1921. Schang was the first in the great string of Yankee recievers that continued after him in Dickey, Yogi and Howard and Munston.

Whichever team he was on, he was recognized as one of the finest backstops of his day, but he was more appreciated by baseball pros than by fans or writers. Tbe self-effacing switch hitter was an excellent handler of pitchers, rarely having a sign shaken off. He had a cannon for an arm; in one game he threw out six would-be base stealers. In another game he collected eight assists. In the 1921 World Series alone, he started three double plays by fielding a bunt, then nailing the runner on first with a bullet to second base. He appeared in 100+ games eight times, including 134 in 1921. No slouch with the bat, he hit over .300 six times, peaking at .319 in 1922. Comparing his stats to Ray Schalk, his contemporary and rival catcher who did make the Hall, has become one of the classics of the "If so-and-so is in the Hall, then why isn't this other guy?" debates.

Discovered in the sandlots of upstate New York by George Stallings (wbo went on to manage the Miracle Braves of 1914), Wally was an immediate sensation with Buffalo in 1912, at age 21. Following his only year in the minors, he platooned as a rookie, then became a regular until his mid- 40's. He was valued as a part-timer as well as teacher to young catchers and pitchers until he hung 'em up at age 42. Then he managed in the minors for another decade.