One of baseball’s best catchers throughout most of his 18-year ML career, Schang played for top teams and caught most of the leading AL pitchers of his time, including Hall of Famers Herb Pennock, Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, Babe Ruth, Waite Hoyt, and Lefty Grove. A strong hitter (six seasons over .300) and good baserunner (one of the few catchers to steal more than 100 bases), his defensive work was also outstanding, although he holds the AL career record for most errors by a catcher, 218. When not catching, managers sometimes played him in the outfield or at third base to keep his bat in the lineup.
Schang broke in as a rookie with Connie Mack‘s champions of 1913-14. He was traded to the Red Sox in 1918 and helped them to a World Championship. He was the Yankees’ regular catcher when they won their first three pennants in 1921-23. He was a reserve for the 1930 Athletics, his seventh pennant-winning team. He is the only player to be on three different World Championship clubs. On May 12, 1915, catching for the Athletics, he threw out six Browns runners attempting to steal; on the same date in 1920 he had eight assists for the Red Sox in a game against the Indians. Both feats are AL records. His older brother Bobby caught briefly in the NL before WWI.
