Ranking the Catchers With a commanding presence behind the plate and a rocket arm, Johnny Bench was the best defensive catcher in history. But that wasn’t all. The powerful right-handed slugger won a pair of Most Valuable Player awards and led the Reds to six division titles, four pennants, and two championships. He hit…
test Wally Schang Positions: Catcher and Outfielder Bats: Both • Throws: Right 5-10, 180lb (178cm, 81kg) Born: August 22, 1889 in South Wales, NY us Died: March 6, 1965 (Aged 75-196d) in St. Louis, MO Buried: Dixon Cemetery, Dixon, MO Debut: May 9, 1913 Last Game: June 22, 1931 Rookie Status: Exceeded rookie limits during 1913 season Full Name: Walter Henry Schang View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject Relatives: Brother of Bobby Schang Notable Events and…
On June 18, 1972, colorful Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley holds baseball’s first ever “Mustache Day.” Finley agrees to pay $300 to each of his players for growing mustaches by Father’s Day and all do except Vida Blue, who is still bitter about his recent contract negotiations with the team owner. Reggie Jackson had started…
On Opening Day in Oakland, A’s outfielder Reggie Jackson becomes the first player in fifty-eight years to wear a mustache during the regular season. The last time facial hair was worn in a major league game was in 1914 when Wally Schang had hair above his lip catching for Philadelphia Athletics.
On April 15, 1972, Reggie Jackson of the Oakland A’s becomes the first major leaguer to sport a mustache since Wally Schang of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1914. Jackson starts a trend with the A’s, as owner Charlie Finley eventually encourages all of his players to grow mustaches. By the end of the season, the World Champion A’s will become known as the “Mustache Gang.”
Rookie Johnny Lucadello of the St. Louis Browns hits homers from each side of the plate versus the New York Yankees in a 16 – 4 Browns win. Only Wally Schang, in 1916, had accomplished the same in the American League. Mickey Mantle in 1955 will be the next AL player to do it. These are the only home runs Lucadello will hit all year.
1926 – The St. Louis Browns acquire catcher Wally Schang from the New York Yankees for pitcher George Mogridge and cash. Although Schang is 36 years of age, he will hold the job as catcher for the Browns for four seasons.
In several pregame fights between Yankee teammates, Bob Meusel and Wally Schang duke it out in the dugout. Then Babe Ruth and Wally Pipp take a turn. The players then turn on the Browns, beating them, 11 – 6. Ruth bangs two homers, Pipp adds another, and Schang chips in with a two-run triple.
Twenty-three fans attending the game against the Yankees at soaked Shibe Park, the smallest crowd in American League history, witness A’s switch-hitter Wally Schang become the first player in major league history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. The feat, not well publicized because reporters thought the heavy rain would postpone the game and did not attend the contest, will not be accomplished again in the Junior Circuit until 1940.
October 10, 1913 At Shibe Park the home team won for the first time in the series, although the visiting Giants made it close in the late innings. Wally Schang had four RBI for the A’s, they now had a 3–1 series lead. Just like in Game 1, Bender struggled but went the distance for…
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