At 5-foot-6, 139 pounds, lefty Bobby Shantz wasn’t the most imposing figure standing on the mound. His 16-year career exceeded that height.
More impressively, his 100th birthday (Sept. 26) has him second among living Major League players. Right-hander Bill Greason, who pitched briefly for the Birmingham Barons (1948) and St. Louis Cardinals (1954), reached 101 on Sept. 3.
Shantz’s big league career had him wearing uniforms of the Philadelphia A’s (1949-54), Kansas City A’s (1955-56), New York Yankees (1956-60), Pittsburgh Pirates (1961), Houston Colt .45s (1962), St. Louis Cardinals (1962-64), Chicago Cubs (1964) and Phillies (1964). Other than the Cardinals, he’s the oldest living player of the other franchises.
Tyler Kepner, a Philadelphia native, who is a senior writer for The Athletic, visited with Bobby at his Ambler, Pa., home a few weeks earlier in September. “I grew up near him, but it was the first time I met him. He was so gracious," said Kepner.
In addition to painting a picture with words, Keper used his cellphone to take a photo of Bobby. An ambidextrous journalist. Or, as Hall of Famer Yogi Berra would say, “amphibious.” Excerpts from Kepner’s interview:
“You will find him in his living-room easy chair in the Philadelphia suburbs, right where he’s lived for seven decades. He is trim and tan with a shock of light blond hair, a bad hip, achy knees and a sense of wonder at the heights that a 5-foot-6 dreamer from Pottstown, Pa., could reach.
“‘Boy, I tell you, I really don’t know,’ said Shantz, who was 24-7 with a 2.48 ERA for the Philadelphia A’s in 1952, when he beat out a trio of Yankees -- Allie Reynolds, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra -- for the MVP.
“’When I was growing up, I never thought I ever had a chance to be a big league baseball pitcher. I thought I might have a chance in the Minor Leagues, maybe, but I didn’t realize that I had enough stuff to be in the big leagues.
“’But it turned out awful nice, I’ll tell you that. You know, I lasted more than I thought I would. Boy, what a life. I really enjoyed every minute of it.’”
Shantz lives with his wife, Shirley and a caregiver visits daily. The Shantzes have four children, Robert Jr., Teddy, Danny and Kathy, and one of them is always at home to help their parents. Photos of the Shantzes’ three grandchildren and a great-grandchild decorate the living room, and a friendly rescue dog, Jake, never strays far.
“One morning in August, the mailman dropped off the usual assortment of autograph requests: a baseball, a photo, a dozen or more cards. A light day, Shantz Jr. said. His father signs everything, perhaps 200 items a week, with a penmanship that is still precise -- and right-handed. Pitching was the only thing Shantz did as a lefty.
“Played golf right-handed, hit right-handed, wrote right-handed," he said. "I didn’t do anything left-handed, I don’t think. I don’t know how in the hell I got to pitch left-handed, I really don’t. I’m glad I did."
“Shantz did not win the Cy Young Award in 1952, for a very good reason -- the honor had not been created. But his success landed him on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” (Shantz was nervous, but a $500 appearance fee took care of that) and his size made the story even better. In Shantz’s considerable lifetime, no other pitcher standing 5-feet-6 or shorter has thrown 200 innings in a season, as Shantz did three times.”
“After his retirement, following a late-season stint with the star-crossed 1964 Phillies, Shantz operated a bowling alley and a dairy bar in nearby Chalfont, Pa., with Joe Astroth, his catcher with the A’s. Another who caught him with the A’s, Shantz’s younger brother Billy, died at age 66 in 1993.”
Fun Facts *
One Minor League season (1948), Lincoln (Neb.) A’s, Class A Western League, 18-7, 2.82 ERA, 214 innings, 212 strikeouts. Oh, he met a University of Nebraska student, Shirley Vogel. They married in 1950.
Major League debut, two-thirds of an inning, May 1, 1949, vs. Washington at Shibe Park .... Last game, two-thirds of an inning, Sept. 29, 1964, for Phillies at St. Louis.
Major League career, 119-99, 3.38 ERA, 537 games, 117 starts, 78 complete games, 48 saves, 1,935 2/3 innings ... Arm and shoulder injuries curtailed his 1953-56 seasons.
As a batter, .195 career average, 20 doubles, 46 RBIs. Let’s not forget, he hit one home run, Aug. 12, 1950, fourth inning off Allie Reynolds at Yankee Stadium.
American League Most Valuable Player (1952), 24-7, 2.48 ERA, 279 2/3 innings, 152 strikeouts ... Five days before the end of the season, he broke his pitching wrist when hit by a pitch as a right-handed batter.
Three-time American League All-Star (1951-52) Philadelphia A’s; (1957) Yankees.
Named to the American League All-Star team for the second time (1952), Shantz pitched in the All-Star Game, played that year in Philadelphia. He entered the game in the bottom of the fifth inning and struck out Whitey Lockman looking, Jackie Robinson swinging and Stan Musial looking. Shantz wanted to see if he could duplicate Carl Hubbell’s 1934 record of striking out the side twice in an All-Star Game, but rain came and washed out the game with the National League ahead, 3-2.
Traded from Kansas City to Yankees, Feb. 19, 1957. When all the players to be named later were official, the deal included a total of 13 players.
Selected in 1960 Expansion Draft by the Washington Senators (second round) and 1961 Expansion Draft by Houston Colt .45s (21st round) ... Starter and winning pitcher in Houston’s inaugural game (April 10, 1962), 11-2 complete game vs. the Cubs.
Eight straight Rawlings Gold Glove Awards (1957-64). The award was first issued in 1957.
Member of Yankee pennant winners (1957, 1960) and World Series champions (1958).
On June 15, 1963, Shantz, 38, was dealt to the Cubs in a six-player trade that netted the Cardinals speedy 25-year-old outfielder Lou Brock ... Bobby was sold to the Phillies on Aug. 15. The last batter Shantz faced in his career that September was Brock.
Inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Hall of Fame at Veterans Stadium in 1994 ... In 2010, Bobby received two additional honors. He was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, and Pottstown High School renovated its baseball field and dedicated it in his honor.
* Originally posted here a year ago. Worth repeating on his 100th birthday.