Leo Schrall (April 7, 1907 – February 3, 1999) was an infielder and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

in minor league baseball and a

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

. Born in

Cresson, Pennsylvania Cresson is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. Cresson is east of Pittsburgh. It is above in elevation. Lumber, coal, and coke yards were industries that had supported the population which numbered 1,470 in 1910. The borou ...

, Schrall attended

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, where he enjoyed a successful career as three-sport student-athlete. He excelled at baseball, being considered by many critics as one of the premier

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

s in college baseball. Schrall was the regular shortstop for Notre Dame from 1927 to 1928, and started his professional baseball career after graduating in 1928. Schrall played from 1929 through 1932 in the Three-I,

Middle Atlantic Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and

Mississippi Valley The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

leagues, compiling a .252

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 ...

with six different teams in 324 games. A highly successful head coach, he led the Bradley Braves squad from 1949 to 1972. Besides Bradley, Schrall also managed the

Peoria Redwings The Peoria Redwings was a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season and remained in the league through 1951. The team represented Peoria, Illinois, playing home games a ...

of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). He took over the leadership of the Redwings late in 1947 and managed them in the 1948 and 1949 seasons. He later managed for the Hastings Giants of the Class D Nebraska State League from 1957 to 1959.

Honors

In 1983 Schrall was named to the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame. Schrall is featured in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum display ''Women in Baseball'', the AAGPBL permanent display in Cooperstown, New York, which was inaugurated in 1988 in honor of the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities.

Personal

Schrall was a longtime resident of Peoria, Illinois, where he died in 1999 at the age of 91.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schrall, Leo 1907 births 1999 deaths Altoona Engineers players Beaver Falls Beavers players Decatur Commodores players Dubuque Tigers players Jeannette Jays players Peoria Tractors players Minor league baseball managers All-American Girls Professional Baseball League managers Bradley Braves baseball coaches University of Notre Dame alumni Sportspeople from Peoria, Illinois Baseball players from Pennsylvania