Hank Schenz
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Henry Leonard Schenz (April 11, 1919 – May 12, 1988) 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 whose career lasted 14 seasons (1939–1942; 1946–1955), including all or parts of six years in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
as a member of the
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 ...
(1946–1949),
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
(1950–1951) and
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
(1951). An
infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...
, Schenz primarily played
second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...
and was known for his competitive nature and prowess as a bench jockey. The native of
New Richmond, Ohio New Richmond, also known as New Richmond on the Ohio, is a village in Ohio and Pierce townships in Clermont County, Ohio, United States, founded in 1814, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,727 at the 2020 census. Geography New Rich ...
, threw and batted right-handed. He stood tall and weighed .


Baseball career

Schenz'
minor-league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
apprenticeship was interrupted by three years of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
service in the
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. Returning to the game in at age 27, he spent most of that year with the
Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tulsa ...
of the Double-A
Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
, where he batted .333 with 180
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and was selected the loop's Most Valuable Player. In September, he was recalled to the parent Cubs and played in six late-season games, with two hits in 11
at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...
. The campaign saw Schenz back in the minors, this time with the
Nashville Vols The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they became the Nashville Volunteers (regularly shortened to Vols) ...
of the Double-A
Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...
(hitting .331 in 99 games). The Cubs gave him a brief look in two stints, one in April and the other in September, but he collected only one hit in 14 at bats. In , he finally spent a full year at the
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
level. In what would be his best Major League season, Schenz appeared in 86
games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...
for the 1948 Cubs, starting 71 games at second base and five at
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, logging 337 at bats, and batting .261. But he failed to stick in Chicago. In , after using him in only seven early-season games, the Cubs traded him to the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...
on May 16. He spent the rest of 1949 with the Triple-A
St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They previ ...
, where, again, he hit well, batting .345 with 178 hits. The performance impressed the Pittsburgh Pirates, who purchased Schenz' contract and used him as a
utility infielder In baseball, a utility player or utility man is a player who has the ability to play more than one position in the field and is primarily used as a substitute. The term super utility player may be used to refer to a player who can play all or mos ...
from through June of , when they placed him on waivers.


Alleged role in sign stealing (1951)

Claimed by the New York Giants on June 30, Schenz seemingly played no part in the 1951 Giants' furious, and now famous, late-season surge. He appeared in only eight regular-season games as a Giant, all as a
pinch runner In baseball or softball, a pinch runner is a player substituted into a game for the purpose of base running. Description A pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been s ...
, and scored one
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, on July 6. Meanwhile, the Giants won 37 of their last 44 games, including 20 of 23 at home, to overcome the Dodgers' mid-August 13-game lead, tie them at the close of the regular season, and defeat them in the final inning of the decisive third game of the
1951 National League tie-breaker series The 1951 National League tie-breaker series was a best-of-three playoff series that extended Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1951 regular season to decide the winner of the National League (NL) pennant. The games were played on October 1, 2, and ...
. However, a decade after the 1951 season, word began leaking out that the Giants' winning streak coincided with their adoption of using a telescopic spyglass to steal opposing catchers' signs from their center-field clubhouse at their home field, the
Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...
. The spyglass belonged to Schenz, who had also employed it to steal signs for the Cubs and brought it with him to the Giants. It was in use on October 3, 1951—allegedly operated by Giants coach
Herman Franks Herman Louis Franks (January 4, 1914 – March 30, 2009) was an American catcher, coach, manager, general manager and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in Price, Utah, to Italian-American immigrant parents and attended the University ...
—when
Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was an American professional baseball player, nicknamed "the Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants (1946–53, 1957), Milwaukee Brave ...
hit one of the most dramatic
home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...
in baseball history: his "Shot Heard 'Round the World" that delivered a come-from-behind, walk-off, 5–4 triumph over the Dodgers and a National League pennant for the Giants. The sign-stealing rumors began to gain credence in 1991, three years after Schenz' 1988 death, when one of the 1951 Giants, reserve
catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
Sal Yvars Salvador Anthony Yvars (February 20, 1924 – December 10, 2008) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played all or part of eight seasons in Major League Baseball, with the New York Giants from 1947 to 1953 and the St. Louis Cardina ...
, confirmed the accusation in ''The Home Run Heard Round the World,'' by Ray Robinson. Then, in January 2001, journalist Joshua Prager revealed details of the spying plot in ''
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'', and followed with a full account in his 2006 book ''The Echoing Green''. For his ''WSJ'' article, Prager interviewed 22 living players, including Thomson, who, although not denying that the Giants stole signs in 1951, said he ignored purloined intelligence when he batted (he found it distracting) and a stolen signal did not lead to his famous blast. In addition, the Giants posted a 17–4 record in visiting ballparks during their remarkable skein, where Schenz' spyglass would have been harder to employ. However, the telescopic device was influential, according to one 1951 Giant, Spider Jorgensen, who told Prager: “Yeah, we stole signs. Hank Schenz had a telescope that could see the spots on the moon … I was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing.’” Schenz appeared as a pinch runner in one game of the
1951 World Series The 1951 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the New York Giants, who had won the National League pennant in a thrilling three-game playoff with the Brooklyn Dodgers on the legendary home run by Bobby T ...
, which the Giants lost to the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
in six games. He then disappeared back into the minor leagues, playing for four more seasons, including a return to Tulsa as player-manager in 1955. He batted .247 in 207 games during his MLB career; his 133 hits included 22 doubles, three
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and two
home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...
; he was credited with 24
runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...
. He died in
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, aged 69.


See also

*
Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball) In baseball, the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" was a walk-off home run hit by New York Giants outfielder and third baseman Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds in New York City on October 3, 1951, to win ...


References


External links

, o
Retrosheet
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schenz, Hank 1919 births 1988 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Baseball players from Clermont County, Ohio Chicago Cubs players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball second basemen Minor league baseball managers Nashville Vols players Navegantes del Magallanes players New York Giants (baseball) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Patriotas de Venezuela players People from New Richmond, Ohio Pittsburgh Pirates players Portsmouth Cubs players Sacramento Solons players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Salem-Roanoke Friends players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American sportsmen