Le Roy John Schalk (November 9, 1908 – March 11, 1990) was an American baseball player and manager. Schalk was not related to

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

catcher

Ray Schalk Raymond William Schalk (August 12, 1892 – May 19, 1970) was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and scout. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox for the majority of his career. Known f ...

, although both were from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. After playing with unaffiliated minor league teams in

Ottumwa, Iowa Ottumwa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,529 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. Located in the state's southeastern section, the city is split into northern and southern halves b ...

Fairbury, Nebraska Fairbury is a city and county seat of Jefferson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,942 at the 2010 census. Fairbury has been closely connected with railroading for much of its history. It was founded on the projected route of ...

and

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

(where he hit .344 in 1932), 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) Amer ...

signed the second baseman, who joined the team in St. Louis on September 17. Starting three games at second (including both ends of a doubleheader on the 18th) against the hapless Browns, Schalk went 3-for-12 with a double. They would be his only games as a Yankee. The following year, the Yanks assigned him to their top farm club in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

; after bouncing around with minor-league clubs in Newark,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

for a full decade, it looked like Schalk's big-league days were over. Then came

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After a year away from the game in 1943, his hometown White Sox—desperate for fresh bodies—signed the 35-year-old Schalk as their second baseman. After hitting only .220 that year (but playing solid defensively in 146 games), Schalk returned to the Sox lineup in 1945 and batted .248, leading the majors in

sacrifice hits In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...

and even drawing some MVP votes. In 1946, when the top MLB stars headed back from the war, Schalk returned to Oklahoma City—this time as player/manager. Schalk was fired the following year but hooked on with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

' farm club in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, where he played and piloted the club in 1948-49. Finally, he took over the

El Dorado, Arkansas El Dorado, founded by Matthew Rainey, is a city in, and the county seat of, Union County, on the southern border of Arkansas, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 18,884. El Dorado is headquarters of the Ark ...

Oilers in the Class C

Cotton States League The Cotton States League''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball'' – Lloyd Johnson, Steve McDonald, Miles Wolff (editors). Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: Englis ...

in 1950. Unfortunately, Schalk hardly found gold in

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

: the club finished deep in last place at 38-101. It was Schalk's last year in baseball. Roy Schalk eventually relocated to

Gainesville, Texas Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,002 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Texoma region and is an important Agri-business center. History Founded in 1850, the city of Gain ...

, where he died at the age 81 in 1990.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schalk, Roy 1908 births 1990 deaths Major League Baseball second basemen New York Yankees players Chicago White Sox players Baseball players from Chicago Minor league baseball managers Sportspeople from Chicago Ottumwa Packers players Fairbury Jeffersons players Oklahoma City Indians players Newark Bears (IL) players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Little Rock Travelers players Fort Worth Cats players Newport News Dodgers players El Dorado Oilers players