Charley Schanz

Charles Murrell Schanz (June 8, 1919–May 28, 1992) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies (1944–1947) and Boston Red Sox (1950). The 6'3½", 215 lb. right-hander was a native of Anacortes, Washington.

Schanz had a successful rookie season (13-16, 3.32, for the last place Philadelphia Phillies) but was relatively ineffective after that. (5.03 ERA in his last four years) He made his major league debut on April 20, 1944, starting and losing 8-2 to the Brooklyn Dodgers at Shibe Park. His first major league win came in his second start five days later, a 12-inning 4-3 home victory over the New York Giants. He pitched his first major-league shutout on September 3, 1945 vs. the Boston Braves in the second game of a home doubleheader. The score was 5-0.

Schanz's key pitch was his fastball. A 1949 issue of the Pacific Coast Baseball News put it plainly: "Charley is fast - very fast ...."

He had a tendency to be wild, as he finished in the league's top ten for the following categories: bases on balls allowed (1944 and 1945), wild pitches (1944 and 1946), and hit batsmen (1944, 1945, and 1946). One highlight as a relief pitcher, however, was finishing in the TOP TEN for saves three straight seasons (1944–1946).

Career totals for 155 games include a 28-43 record, 72 games started, 23 complete games, 2 shutouts, 49 games finished, and 14 saves. He allowed 302 earned runs in 626.2 innings pitched for an ERA of 4.34.

Schanz died at the age of 72 in Sacramento, California.

Trivia

• Five other players made their major league debut the same day as Schanz: Tommy de la Cruz, Mike Kosman, John McGillen, Barney Mussill, and Al Verdel.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Retrosheet

Persondata
Name	Schanz, Charley
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1919
Place of birth
Date of death	1992
Place of death