George Warren "Barney" Schultz (August 15, 1926 – September 6, 2015) was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
player and
coach. He was a
knuckleball-throwing
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
in the
Major Leagues for all or parts of seven seasons between 1955 and 1965 for the
St. Louis Cardinals,
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
and
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
. In October 1966 he was briefly reactivated by the Cardinals so that he could receive a Major League pension. Born in
Beverly, New Jersey, he threw and batted
right-handed, stood tall and weighed .
Schultz was signed by the
Philadelphia Phillies in 1944 after playing at
Burlington City High School. Throughout much of his career, Schultz lived in Beverly with his wife and children, working in the off season as a carpenter and haberdasher.
Schultz was strictly a relief pitcher, appearing in 227 games without any starts. He was an early specialist in the
knuckleball. He had two good years with the Cubs, then was traded to the Cardinals where he had his best season, 1964, with 14 saves (a significant quantity in those days) and a 1.64 earned run average. Probably his most visible moment was in Game 3 of the
1964 World Series, in which he gave up a game-winning home run to
Mickey Mantle in the nationally televised Saturday game. However, he had been credited with a save in Game 1, and the Cardinals ultimately won the Series in seven games.
Cardinals' utility catcher
Bob Uecker was sometimes called upon to catch when Schultz was brought in to pitch. It was from that experience that Uecker drew some of his material when joking about the difficulties of catching the knuckleball.
In between, Schultz played winter ball in
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
for the
Gavilanes de Maracaibo club of the
Western Professional Baseball League, where he won seven consecutive strikeout titles from 1954 through 1960.
After his playing career ended, Schultz was the Cardinals' roving minor league pitching instructor from 1967 to 1970 and Major League pitching coach from 1971 to 1975. He was a member of the Chicago Cubs' coaching staff in 1977.
Schultz was a resident of
Edgewater Park, New Jersey, where his home was filled with memorabilia of his baseball career.
Schultz is a member of the South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame. He died on September 6, 2015, the 50th anniversary of his final MLB game.
See also
*
List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Barney
1926 births
2015 deaths
Baseball players from Burlington County, New Jersey
Bradford Blue Wings players
Burlington City High School alumni
Charleston Senators players
Chicago Cubs coaches
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago Cubs scouts
Columbus Red Birds players
Denver Bears players
Des Moines Bruins players
Detroit Tigers players
Gavilanes de Maracaibo players
Hagerstown Owls players
Hollywood Stars players
Houston Buffaloes players
Houston Buffs players
Jacksonville Suns players
Macon Peaches players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball pitching coaches
Omaha Cardinals players
People from Beverly, New Jersey
People from Edgewater Park, New Jersey
Rock Hill Chiefs players
St. Louis Cardinals coaches
St. Louis Cardinals players
Schenectady Blue Jays players
Sportspeople from the Delaware Valley
Terre Haute Phillies players
Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players
Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players
20th-century American sportsmen