Walter Henry “Wally” Schang 5’10”, 180 lbs., Batted Both, Threw Right |
Wally Schang was originally a shortstop, but moved behind the plate to replace his brother on a town team in Buffalo, New York. Less than two years later, he was with the Philadelphia Athletics. On September 8, 1916, Schang became the first major league player to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game. He finished the season with 7 home runs, third best in the American League.
Schang was traded to Boston in December 1917 along with Joe Bush and Amos Strunk. In his career, he played in six World Series: 1913 and 1914 (Philadelphia), 1918 (Boston) and 1921, 1922 and 1923 (Yankees). Schang was stocky and very strong; two of his off-season jobs were as a blacksmith and sewing covers on Pullman mattresses. His brother Robert Schang was a catcher for the Pirates, Giants and Cardinals (1914-15, 1927).
Batting Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH HBP 1913 23 PHA AL 79 207 32 55 16 3 3 30 4 34 44 .266 .392 .415 86 2 9 1914 24 PHA AL 107 307 44 88 11 8 3 45 7 7 32 33 .287 .371 .404 124 7 9 1915 25 PHA AL 116 359 64 89 9 11 1 44 18 3 66 47 .248 .385 .343 123 12 14 1916 26 PHA AL 110 338 41 90 15 8 7 38 14 38 44 .266 .358 .420 142 13 10 1917 27 PHA AL 118 316 41 90 14 9 3 36 6 29 24 .285 .362 .415 131 12 9 1918 28 BOS AL 88 225 36 55 7 1 0 20 4 46 35 .244 .377 .284 64 9 2 1919 29 BOS AL 113 330 43 101 16 3 0 55 15 71 42 .306 .436 .373 123 7 5 1920 30 BOS AL 122 387 58 118 30 7 4 51 7 7 64 37 .305 .413 .450 174 8 7 1921 31 NYY AL 134 424 77 134 30 5 6 55 7 4 78 35 .316 .428 .453 192 6 5 1922 32 NYY AL 124 408 46 130 21 7 1 53 12 6 53 36 .319 .405 .412 168 23 6 1923 33 NYY AL 84 272 39 75 8 2 2 29 5 2 27 17 .276 .360 .342 93 7 9 1924 34 NYY AL 114 356 46 104 19 7 5 52 2 6 48 43 .292 .382 .427 152 13 4 1925 35 NYY AL 73 167 17 40 8 1 2 24 2 1 17 9 .240 .310 .335 56 7 0 1926 36 SLB AL 103 285 36 94 19 5 8 50 5 5 32 20 .330 .405 .516 147 11 4 1927 37 SLB AL 97 264 40 84 15 2 5 42 3 2 41 33 .318 .414 .447 118 4 2 1928 38 SLB AL 91 245 41 70 10 5 3 39 8 2 68 26 .286 .448 .404 99 8 4 1929 39 SLB AL 94 249 43 59 10 5 5 36 1 4 74 22 .237 .424 .378 94 4 7 1930 40 PHA AL 45 92 16 16 4 1 1 9 0 0 17 15 .174 .309 .272 25 6 1 1931 41 DET AL 30 76 9 14 2 0 0 2 1 0 14 11 .184 .311 .211 16 1 0 19 Seasons 1842 5307 769 1506 264 90 59 710 121 49 849 573 .284 .393 .401 2127 160 107 Fielding Year Ag Tm Lg Pos G PO A E DP FP lgFP RF lgRF 1913 23 PHA AL C 72 317 97 14 9 .967 .969 5.75 5.73 1914 24 PHA AL C 100 498 154 30 11 .956 .968 6.52 5.81 1915 25 PHA AL 3B 43 64 81 18 9 .890 .928 3.37 3.03 OF 41 66 12 13 2 .857 .959 1.90 2.01 C 26 110 46 9 1 .945 .965 6.00 5.46 1916 26 PHA AL OF 61 130 10 5 0 .966 .963 2.30 2.06 C 36 136 67 14 6 .935 .974 5.64 5.21 1917 27 PHA AL C 80 267 102 17 11 .956 .972 4.61 5.10 3B 12 18 24 3 1 .933 .942 3.50 3.24 OF 6 8 1 0 1 1.000 .968 1.50 2.18 1918 28 BOS AL C 57 202 52 10 4 .962 .971 4.46 5.00 OF 16 31 1 3 0 .914 .963 2.00 2.21 3B 5 2 8 3 1 .769 .948 2.00 3.30 SS 1 1 1 1 0 .667 .939 2.00 5.25 1919 29 BOS AL C 103 359 131 14 15 .972 .975 4.76 5.03 1920 30 BOS AL C 73 285 76 16 8 .958 .973 4.95 4.62 OF 40 92 7 2 0 .980 .964 2.48 2.19 1921 31 NYY AL C 132 500 101 19 13 .969 .973 4.55 4.45 1922 32 NYY AL C 119 456 102 14 12 .976 .978 4.69 4.35 1923 33 NYY AL C 81 292 60 11 6 .970 .975 4.35 4.24 1924 34 NYY AL C 108 423 89 15 9 .972 .972 4.74 4.08 1925 35 NYY AL C 58 172 55 6 8 .974 .978 3.91 3.84 1926 36 SLB AL C 82 224 75 10 7 .968 .979 3.65 4.01 OF 3 8 0 0 0 1.000 .967 2.67 2.28 1927 37 SLB AL C 75 213 73 7 10 .976 .975 3.81 3.96 1928 38 SLB AL C 82 263 46 5 5 .984 .977 3.77 4.04 1929 39 SLB AL C 85 268 56 4 6 .988 .977 3.81 4.10 1930 40 PHA AL C 36 126 18 4 2 .973 .984 4.00 4.26 1931 41 DET AL C 30 91 20 4 6 .965 .982 3.70 4.39 Position Total C 1435 5202 1420 223 149 .967 .974 4.61 4.58 OF 167 335 31 23 3 .941 .963 2.19 2.10 3B 60 84 113 24 11 .891 .932 3.28 3.09 SS 1 1 1 1 0 .667 .939 2.00 5.30 Overall Total 1663 5622 1565 271 163 .964 .972 4.32 4.28 World Series Batting Year Tm Opp G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG SB 1913 PHA NYG 4 14 2 5 0 1 1 6 2 4 .357 .437 .714 0 1914 PHA BSN 4 12 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 4 .167 .231 .250 0 1918 BOS CHC 5 9 1 4 0 0 0 1 2 3 .444 .545 .444 1 1921 NYY NYG 8 21 1 6 1 1 0 1 5 4 .286 .423 .429 0 1922 NYY NYG 5 16 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 .187 .187 .250 0 1923 NYY NYG 6 22 3 7 1 0 0 0 1 2 .318 .348 .364 0 6 World Series 32 94 8 27 4 2 1 8 11 20 .287 .362 .404 1 Minor League Batting TM LG POS G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SB BB SO BA SLG 1911 Buffalo Pullmans C/SS [local league, not part of organized baseball] 1912 Buffalo IL C 48 138 24 46 5 10 2 77 3 12 33 .333 .558 1918 Cramp Shipyards 1931 Chattanooga SA C 54 154 16 38 2 0 1 13 43 2 18 10 .247 .279 1932 Shreveport/ Tyler TL C 23 42 1 9 1 0 0 4 10 0 3 7 .214 .238 1934 Joplin WA C 71 214 42 55 14 4 1 36 80 8 44 28 .257 .374 1935 Muskogee WA C 39 78 10 20 2 0 1 9 25 2 17 13 .256 .321 1939 Ottawa CAL C 44 98 14 32 8 0 1 10 43 4 26 19 .327 .439 1940 Three Rivers QP C 10 14 6 4 1 0 0 0 5 0 9 3 .286 .357 1942 Owensboro KITTY PH 7 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 0 .500 .500 TOTALS 296 742 113 206 33 14 6 73 285 19 132 113 .278 .384
Minor Leagues: IL – International League; SA – Southern Association; TL – Texas League;
WA – Western Association; CAL – Canadian-American League; QP – Quebec Prv.; Kitty – ?.
� 1997-20243 by Allan Wood.