Joe Schultz Jr.
| Joe Schultz Jr. | ||
|---|---|---|
Winning % | .411 | |
| Teams | ||
| As player
As manager As coach | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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Joseph Charles Schultz Jr. (August 29, 1918 – January 10, 1996) was an American Major League Baseball catcher, coach, and manager.[1] Schultz was the first and only manager for the Seattle Pilots franchise during their lone season before they became the Milwaukee Brewers.[2] Seattle entered the American League as an expansion franchise in 1969, and moved to Wisconsin shortly before the following season.[3]
Playing career
Born in
Joe Jr. batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and 180 pounds (82 kg). He had a distinguished prep career at St. Louis University High School and signed his first contract with the Cardinals in 1936, but was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, where his father had become minor league director, after the 1939 season. After appearing in only 22 games for Pittsburgh between 1939 and 1941, Schultz made his way back to St. Louis with the Browns of the American League, where he spent six seasons (1943–48) as a backup catcher and pinch hitter. In 328 major-league at bats over all or parts of nine MLB seasons, Schultz batted .259 with 85 hits, 13 doubles and one home run, struck as a pinch hitter against Pete Gebrian of the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park on August 11, 1947.[1][5]
Coach for Browns and Cardinals
In 1949, Schultz served as a coach with the Browns, and then he managed in the
He became a Cardinals coach in 1963 and worked with three National League pennant winners (1964, 1967 and 1968), and two world championship clubs (1964, 1967) through 1968.
Manager for Seattle Pilots
The success of the Cardinals led to Schultz's 1969 opportunity with the Pilots. Although they were badly outdrafted by their fellow expansion team, the Kansas City Royals, during the player selection lottery, Schultz and general manager Marvin Milkes actually thought the Pilots would finish third in the newly formed American League West. Indeed, Schultz managed to keep his patchwork team within striking distance of .500 for most of the early part of the season. However, a 9–20 July effectively ended any chance at respectability, and the Pilots finished last in the new West, with a mark of 64–98 (.395).[6]
However, it can be argued that Schultz's efforts were hamstrung by the Pilots' off-the-field problems. They played at Sick's Stadium, an aging minor league park that was clearly inadequate even as a temporary facility. The Pilots were also plagued by an unstable, undercapitalized ownership; they were nearly broke by the end of the season.
Schultz was relieved of his duties as manager in mid-November,[7][8] and was replaced by Dave Bristol as the team struggled in limbo during the 1969–70 offseason.[9] Only weeks before the 1970 season opener, the Pilots were purchased by a group headed by Bud Selig and transferred to Milwaukee, where they have remained since.
The Pilots' year of existence was immortalized in Ball Four, the best-selling, controversial memoir of the 1969 season by Seattle pitcher Jim Bouton that was published in 1970. Bouton tells humorous anecdotes about Schultz and some of the motivational speeches he gave to the Pilots. According to Bouton, Schultz's speeches were heavily laced with profanity, even with some original curses (his favorites being the seemingly interchangeable and used for all occasions: "shitfuck" and "fuckshit"). The author claims that Schultz was well liked by his team, but some of his choices were questioned by the players. In a May 28 game against the Baltimore Orioles, he accidentally gave the umpire the wrong lineup card, which came to backfire when opposing manager Earl Weaver noticed they were batting out of order.[10] In a later anthology on managers Bouton edited, I Managed Good, But Boy Did They Play Bad, Bouton noted Schultz's sense of humor and added that, given the circumstances of the last-place team, "I couldn't have had a better manager than Joe Schultz."
Remainder of career
Schultz coached with the Royals (1970) and the Detroit Tigers (1971–76) before leaving baseball.
After Billy Martin was fired with 28 games left in the 1973 season, Schultz took over as interim manager for Detroit for the rest of the way, compiling a mark of 14–14.[11][12] Counting his interim stint with the Tigers, he had a career record of 78–112 (.411) as a major league skipper.[12] Apart from that assignment, Schultz never managed in the majors again after the Pilots collapsed.
Death
Schultz died in St. Louis, Missouri, at the age of 77, and is interred at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Joe Schultz's career statistics". Retrosheet. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ "1969 Seattle Pilots team statistics". Retrosheet. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ "Milwaukee Brewers franchise". Retrosheet. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ Weiss, Bill; Wright, Marshall. "TEAM #42 1931 HOUSTON BUFFALOES (108-51)". Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on January 13, 2008.
- ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Chicago White Sox 5, St. Louis Browns 2 (1)". Retrosheet. August 11, 1947.
- ^ "Joe Schultz Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ "Pilots fire Schultz, seek another manager". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon. UPI. November 19, 1969. p. 11 – via Google News.
- ^ "Seattle Pilots fire Joe Schultz". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 20, 1969. p. 16 – via Google News.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ISBN 1-58261-310-9.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ a b "Joe Schultz Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
- Joe Schultz Jr. at Find a Grave
