Howard Henry Schultz (July 3, 1922 – October 30, 2009), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Steeple", was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player from

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

. Schultz won an NBA title with the Minneapolis Lakers in 1952. Schultz played in both

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

and in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

, one of thirteen athletes to do so.

Early life

Schultz was the second of three children to Leo and Minnie Schultz, raised in

alongside older brother Louis and younger sister Lorraine. Leo Schultz worked for

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

for 35 years. His family lived three blocks north from Lexington Park, home of the St. Paul Saints of the American Association (20th century), American Association. Leo Schultz was a member of the St. Paul Municipal Baseball Board and Howie attended many Saints games as a youth with his father. In 1940, Howie Schultz graduated from Central High School in St. Paul, Minnesota. Schultz attended Hamline University near his home in St. Paul. As a sophomore, Schultz led Hamline to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) championship. While in college at Hamline, Schultz played minor league baseball. In 1940, Lou McKenna, the general manager of the Saints, recruited Schultz to play in the Class C (baseball), Class C level Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), Northern League after his freshman year at Hamline. Schultz signed and then played for the 1941 Grand Forks Chiefs (North Dakota). Due to his height, , Schultz was deferred from serving in the armed forces during World War II.

Sports career

Major League Baseball career (1943–1948)

Schultz began his professional career in baseball with the minor league Grand Forks Chiefs in 1941 and 1942. Schultz then was promoted to the St. Paul Saints in 1942, where he was noticed by Branch Rickey general manager of the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1943, Brooklyn called up Schultz from St. Paul. From 1943 to 1948, Schultz, played

. Schultz was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers (1943–1947), Philadelphia Phillies (1947–1948), and Cincinnati Reds (1948). He primarily played as a first baseman and was traded by Brooklyn to Philadelphia to make room for Jackie Robinson. Schultz had a career batting average (baseball), batting average of .241 with 24 home runs and 208 RBI in 470 career MLB games.

NBA basketball career (1948–1952)

In the baseball off-season, Schultz played professional basketball. Schultz first played for the Anderson Packers of the National Basketball League (United States), NBL in 1946. When the Packers moved to the NBA in 1949–1950, Schultz served as their player-coach (21–14), before being traded to the Fort Wayne Pistons during the season. Schultz later played two seasons with Minneapolis Lakers, winning an NBA championship in 1952, alongside teammates George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Vern Mikkelsen and Slater Martin. In the championship against the New York Knicks, Schultz reportedly threw a punch at 6'3" Knick player Ernie Vandeweghe in game 4 of the NBA Championship series. Schultz was ejected after receiving a Technical foul, Technical Foul and received a $50 fine. Schultz averaged 9.7 points per game in the NBL, and 5.3 in the NBA.

NBA and MLB Players

Schultz is one of 13 athletes who played in both the

and

. The thirteen are: Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Hank Biasatti, Gene Conley, Chuck Connors, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton (sportsman, born 1934), Steve Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Cotton Nash, Ron Reed, Dick Ricketts and Schultz.

Death

Schultz died on October 30, 2009, aged 87, after a brief battle with cancer, in Chaska, Minnesota.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Howie 1922 births 2009 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Anderson Packers coaches Anderson Packers players Baseball players from Saint Paul, Minnesota Basketball coaches from Minnesota Basketball players from Saint Paul, Minnesota Brooklyn Dodgers players Deaths from cancer in Minnesota Cincinnati Reds players Fort Wayne Pistons players Grand Forks Chiefs players Hamline Pipers men's basketball players Major League Baseball first basemen Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players Minneapolis Lakers players Montreal Royals players Philadelphia Phillies players Player-coaches St. Paul Saints (AA) players