Howard Samuel Shanks (July 21, 1890 – July 30, 1941) 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 ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played 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 ...

(MLB) from 1912 to 1925 for the Washington Senators,

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, and

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 ...

. Shanks made his professional baseball debut in 1909. The Senators drafted him and he played for them from 1912 until they traded him to the Red Sox after the 1922 season. After two seasons with Boston, he was traded to the Yankees for his final MLB season. Regarded as one of the better defensive players in baseball, Shanks began his MLB career as an outfielder, but he also played as

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for Washington and 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 ...

for Boston and New York. He was considered an "ordinary hitter". After his playing career, Shanks served as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and coached and managed in the

minor leagues 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 ...

Early life

Shanks was born on July 21, 1890, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. His father, Samuel Shanks, immigrated to the United States from Ireland and lived in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

, before moving to Chicago. He was the second oldest of five children born to Samuel and Elizabeth (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Oatey) Shanks. After living in Chicago, the family moved to

Monaca, Pennsylvania Monaca ( ) is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 5,625 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located northwest of Pittsburgh and is part of ...

. Shanks attended public schools in Monaca, including Monaca High School. In 1907, he began playing

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

baseball in Monaca. Shanks played for a semi-professional team in

Rochester, Pennsylvania Rochester is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio rivers northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 3,472 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropoli ...

, in 1908 that was run by former

player

Tom McCreery Thomas Livingston McCreery was an outfielder and pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Louisville Colonels (1895–1897), New York Giants (1897–1898), Pittsburgh Pirates (1898–1900), Brooklyn Superbas (1901–1903) and Boston ...

Career

Early career

The East Liverpool Potters of the Class C

Ohio–Pennsylvania League The Ohio–Pennsylvania League (1905–1912) was a Class C (baseball), Class C and Class D (baseball), Class D level minor league baseball league that featured franchises based in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The league was founded b ...

signed Shanks as a

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

for the 1909 season on the recommendation of McCreery, and Shanks made his

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

debut that year, finishing the season with a .240

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. In 1910, he returned to East Liverpool, where he batted .223. After the 1910 season, East Liverpool sold the rights to Shanks and seven other players to the Youngstown Steelmen of the Ohio–Pennsylvania League for the 1911 season. After the 1910 season, Shanks was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and given "a couple of weeks to live." The

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 ...

expressed interest in selecting him in the upcoming

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

, but after seeing his medical report, they opted not to. Shanks returned to Monaca, where he recovered. He reported to Youngstown in 1911 and regained of lost weight before the end of the season. He batted .291 for Youngstown in the 1911 season. He also had a .990

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

and committed only three errors.

Major league career

Jimmy McAleer,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of the Washington Senators of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

, scouted Shanks during the 1911 season. On September 1, 1911, Washington selected Shanks from Youngstown in the

. He competed for a role with the Senators in

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 1912 and made their roster as a backup outfielder. Shanks made his major league debut on May 9, 1912. After left fielder Danny Moeller injured his shoulder in a game on May 25, Shanks took over as the regular left fielder. When Moeller returned to the Senators, he played as a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

, with Tilly Walker becoming a

bench player In team sports, substitution (or interchange) is replacing one player with another during a match. Substitute players that are not in the starting lineup (also known as bench players, backups, interchange, or reserves) reside on the bench and are ...

. Shanks played in 116 games in his first season with the Senators. He led all left fielders in the American League with a .962 fielding percentage. On May 31, 1913, Shanks sprained his right ankle

sliding Sliding may refer to: *Sliding (dance), also floating or gliding, a group of footwork-oriented dance techniques *Slide (baseball), an attempt by a baseball runner to avoid getting tagged out *Sliding (motion) See also *Slide (disambiguation) Sl ...

into

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

during a game, and was taken to

Georgetown Hospital The Georgetown Hospital is a community hospital located in the Georgetown area of Halton Hills, Ontario. It is part of the Halton Healthcare Services group of hospitals. Built on of land, it opened in 1961 to serve the Halton Region, but tod ...

for treatment. The injury lingered for the remainder of the year. Shanks went to Bonesetter Reese after the season, who fixed Shanks's ankle by resetting a tendon. By the 1914 season, Senators manager

Clark Griffith Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955, ), nicknamed "the Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Re ...

said "Howard Shanks is, in my mind, the greatest fielding outfielder in baseball". He was also considered an "ordinary hitter". In 1915, Griffith brought in Henri Rondeau, Bill Brown, and Red Massey to compete with Shanks for playing time in an attempt to improve the team's offensive output. Rondeau made the Senators roster for the 1915 season and was given a trial in left field, but was sent to the minor leagues in May. By the end of the 1916 season, Griffith experimented with Shanks as a

. Griffith made Shanks his regular shortstop in June 1917. He returned to playing as a

in 1918, and Griffith had him play shortstop again in the 1919 season. In 1920, Shanks set a career high with a .264 average and tied a career high with four

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s. In , Shanks hit .302 and led the American League in

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

with 18. He also led all American League

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

with a .960 fielding percentage. On April 30, 1922, a

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

hit by Walker, Shanks' former teammate, now playing for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

, broke Shanks'

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...

. It was estimated that he would require three weeks to recover. He returned as the starting shortstop, but broke a bone in his left hand. In his time with Washington, Shanks played every outfield and infield position, but did not play as a

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, ...

or a

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 ...

. The Senators traded Shanks, Ed Goebel, and Val Picinich to the

for

Muddy Ruel Herold Dominic "Muddy" Ruel (February 20, 1896 – November 13, 1963) was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and general manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1934 for the Washington Senat ...

and Allen Russell on February 10, 1923. Shanks opened the 1923 season as an outfielder for the Red Sox, but he played 37 games as a second baseman and 83 games as a third baseman in the 1923 season. In April 1924, the Red Sox dealt third baseman Norm McMillan and played Shanks at third base. He also played second base in the 1924 season. On December 10, 1924, the Red Sox traded Shanks to the

for Mike McNally. He succeeded McNally as the

for the Yankees during the 1925 season. After the 1925 season, the Yankees released Shanks.

Later career

Shanks signed a contract with the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League B ...

American Association for the 1926 season as their regular third baseman. He returned to Louisville for the 1927 season, but he struggled and was released in June when Louisville signed Ed Sicking. He signed with the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

of the Class AA

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

in July 1927. Before the 1928 season, Shanks became a

for the

of the American League under manager

Roger Peckinpaugh Roger Thorpe Peckinpaugh (February 5, 1891 – November 17, 1977) was an American professional baseball player shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1910 through 1927, during which he played for the Cleveland Nap ...

. He was charged with coaching the team's infielders and outfielders. Shanks coached for Cleveland until July 1932, when the team transitioned him into their scouting department. Shanks managed the Beaver Falls Browns of the Class D Pennsylvania State Association in 1938. In 1939, he became a coach and scout for the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

of the Class A1

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 ...

, which were managed by Peckinpaugh.

Personal life

Shanks married Wilhelmina (née Wagner), a resident of Monaca, on February 24, 1915. Shanks died of a

coronary occlusion A coronary occlusion, or coronary artery disease, is the partial or complete Coronary artery disease, obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery. This condition was first discussed in 1910 by William Osler, Sir William Osler. This condition s ...

at his home in Monaca on July 30, 1941.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shanks, Howie 1890 births 1941 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Chicago Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen New York Yankees players Boston Red Sox players Cleveland Indians coaches Minor league baseball managers East Liverpool Potters (baseball) players Youngstown Steelmen players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Rochester Tribe players People from Monaca, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Beaver County, Pennsylvania American people of Irish descent