George Shuba

Infobox MLB retired
name = George Shuba
bgcolor1 =
textcolor1 =
bgcolor2 =
textcolor2 =


width =250
caption =
position = Outfielder
birthdate = birth date and age|1924|12|13
deathdate =
bats =Left
throws = Right
debutdate =July 2
debutyear =1948
debutteam =Brooklyn Dodgers
finaldate =September 25
finalyear =1955
finalteam =Brooklyn Dodgers
stat1label = Batting average
stat1value =.259
stat2label =Home runs
stat2value =24
stat3label =Runs batted in
stat3value =125
teams =
*Brooklyn Dodgers(1948-1955)
highlights =
*1955 World Series Championship
*National League Pennants: 1952-1953, 1955
hofdate =
hofvote =
hofmethod =

George "Shotgun" Shuba (December 13, 1924 – ) is a former utility outfielder and lefthanded pinch hitter in Major League Baseball who played seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His seven seasons included three World Series as well as a World Series championship in 1955. He was the first National League player to hit a pinch-hit home run in a World Series game.cite news
first = John
last = Kovach
title = 'Shotgun' George Shuba recounts his baseball life
work = The Vindicator
page = C-3
date = August 12 2007
accessdate = 2007-08-12]

Shuba is often remembered for his symbolic role in breaking down Major League Baseball's tenacious "color barrier".cite news
first = Christine
last = Davidson
title = 'A silent, seminal moment in baseball history'
work = The Metro Monthly
page = 8
date = April 2007
accessdate = 2007-06-26] While playing for a farm team in the 1940s, Shuba offered a congratulatory handshake to rival team player Jackie Robinson, who went on to become the first African American to play in a major league since the late 19th century. The moment was captured in a well- known photograph.

In the early 1970s, Shuba's major league career was featured in a chapter of Roger Kahn's "The Boys of Summer", a tribute to the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers. Kahn observed in his book that Shuba earned his nickname, "Shotgun", by "spraying line drives with a swing so compact that it appeared as natural as a smile".Kahn (1972), p. 224.]

Early life

Shuba was born the youngest of 10 children to Slovak immigrants in Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-manufacturing town with a strong tradition of amateur and minor league baseball. His father, Jan Shuba, emigrated from eastern Czechoslovakia in 1912. Jan Shuba was 45 years old at the time of George's birth, and he did little to encourage his son's interest in sports.Kahn (1972), p. 231.] As a child, George Shuba attended Holy Name Elementary School, a parochial school on the city's heavily Eastern European west side.

Shuba was an avid baseball player throughout his youth, and he usually served as a second baseman in neighborhood games.Kahn (1972), p. 232.] In 1943, when he was 17 years old, he participated in a tryout for the Brooklyn Dodgers and eventually signed a contract.Kahn (1972), p. 233.] As Shuba later recalled, an ear injury sustained while being disciplined by a teacher prevented him from entering the U.S. Army during World War II. He would gain valuable experience playing for minor league clubs throughout the war years.

Baseball career

After signing a contract with the Dodgers, Shuba played for farm teams in New Orleans and Mobile.Kahn (1972), pp. 234–235.] He later recalled that his father opposed the move, because he "thought I should go and work in the mills like him".Kahn (1972), p. 233.] Shuba pursued his goal, however, developing his "natural" swing by practicing for hours with a rope that was tied to the ceiling. He made knots in the rope where the strike zone would be and swung a bat at the rope 600 times a day. This rigorously observed ritual prepared Shuba to compete in the major leagues, where his powerful line drives later earned him the nickname, "Shotgun".

In the mid-1940s, Shuba was recruited by the Montreal Royals, a major farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers. On April 18, 1946, the Royals took on the Jersey City Giants, whose players included future baseball legend Jackie Robinson. During the game, he was captured in an iconic photograph shaking hands with Jackie Robinson, who had just "smacked a convert|335|ft|m|sing=on home run over the left fence at Roosevelt Stadium". The moment was described as "the first interracial handshake" in North American baseball's recent history.cite news
title = Having a hand in baseball history
work = The Chicago Tribune
date = April 17 2006]

Despite a record that seemed to merit promotion, he spent the 1947 and 1948 baseball seasons with the minor league Mobile Bears.Kahn (1972), p. 235.] Shuba later told Roger Kahn that in 1947, he hit 21 home runs and knocked in 110 runs. The next year, Shuba worked up a batting average of .389. In response, Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey complained that Shuba's "power fell off", adding that the team needed "someone who can hit them over that short right-field wall in Ebbets Field". Frustrated, Shuba returned to Mobile in the spring of 1948. "What could I say?" Shuba explained in an interview with Kahn. "As long as he could option me, you know, send me down but keep me Dodger property, Rickey would do that so's he could keep some other guy whose option ran out. Property, that's what we were. But how many guys you know ever hit .389 and never got promoted?"

Shuba made his major league debut with the Dodgers on July 2, 1948. At the peak of his playing career, Shuba delivered a pinch-hit homer in the 1953 World Series opener, which the New York Yankees won 9-5. Ultimately, he worked up a career batting average of .259 on 211 hits in 814 trips, with 125 RBIs, 106 runs scored, and 45 doubles and 24 homers.cite news
first = John
last = Kovach
title = 'Shotgun' George Shuba recounts his baseball life
work = The Vindicator
page = C-3
date = August 12 2007
accessdate = 2007-08-12] Playing for the Dodgers, Shuba watched as teammate Jackie Robinson won the National League's "Rookie of the Year" award (1948) and the league's MVP (1949). A recent feature article noted that Shuba's "best year was in 1952 when he batted .305 (78-for-256) with nine homers, 40 RBIs and 40 runs scored". Knee surgery, however, reduced his effectiveness after that season.cite news
title = Shuba of Dodgers To Leave Hospital
work = The New York Times
page = 40
date = November 19 1952
accessdate = 2007-08-12] Shuba played his final game on September 25, 1955.cite web | title= George Shuba Player Page | publisher=Baseball Library | url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php? | accessdate=2008-01-24]

Personal life

Shuba remained single during his professional baseball career. Roger Kahn wrote in "The Boys of Summer" that the young player spent his years with the Dodgers as "a bachelor living alone and apart from the rest of the players".Kahn (1972), p. 224.] After retiring from Major League Baseball, Shuba returned to Ohio, where he met his future wife. The couple settled in Austintown, a suburb of Youngstown. Shuba and his wife, Katherine, who was nine years his junior, raised three children.Kahn (1972), p. 228.]

Despite the visibility he gained as a professional athlete, Shuba remained deeply connected to his ethnic and religious roots. Kahn recalled that during a visit to the Shuba household in the early 1970s, the ex-ballplayer recited a mealtime prayer in the Slovak language. Shuba explained to Kahn that his father had recited the prayer before every family meal.

Retirement

Shuba has lived in the Youngstown area since his retirement from Major League Baseball in 1955. In the early 1970s, he was interviewed at his Austintown home by Roger Kahn, who was conducting research for "The Boys of Summer", a literary tribute to the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers. Over the years, Shuba has received recognition for his symbolic role in promoting interracial harmony in professional baseball. A 2006 article that appeared in the "Chicago Tribune" noted that he continues to take pride in the photograph of his groundbreaking handshake with teammate Robinson. A copy of the photo currently hangs behind his favorite living room chair.

During a 1996 interview with a Youngstown news reporter, Shuba recalled his impressions of the legendary Robinson: "To me, Jackie was like all the other guys, a player who came to play and we knew he would be a good one, but what me or anyone else at the time didn't know was how good he would be".cite news
first = Bob
last = Roth
title = Youngstowner's '46 handshake touched nation
work = The Vindicator
page = D-1
date = April 18 1996 ] In a 2007 reference to Robinson's courage and determination, Shuba credited the other player with imparting "a lesson about life that I have never forgotten". That same year, Shuba highlighted the event in his memoir, "My Memories as a Brooklyn Dodger", which he co-wrote with Youngstown-area writer Greg Gulas.cite news
first = Angie
last = Schmitt
title = Ball field renamed for Shuba, known for famous handshake
work = The Vindicator
page = B-1
date = September 19, 2007
accessdate = 2007-09-19]

On September 18, 2007, Youngstown's Borts Ball Field, a west side recreational spot that Shuba frequented as a child, was renamed as the George "Shotgun" Shuba Field at Borts Park.cite news
first = John Patrick
last = Gatta
title = Book to detail Shuba-Robinson handshake, career in Major Leagues
work = The Metro Monthly
page = 8
date = April 2007
accessdate = 2007-06-26]

Notes

References

* Kahn, Roger (1972). "The Boys of Summer". New York: Harper and Row.

Related Links

* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/S/Shuba_George.stm Baseball Library Player Page]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/shubage01.shtml Baseball Reference Player Page]
* [http://www.bayou.com/~brooklyn/robinson.html Robinson-Shuba Handshake]
* [http://www.georgeshuba.com George Shuba's Website]