He was a lefty with the heart of a lion.
My father used to regale me with stories about old baseball players and teams. I suppose that’s the reason I’m more interested in the old times than the modern game. Dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, so I heard a lot of stories about “Dem Bums” growing up, but he also had an appreciation for any player with talent. He admired stars like Stan Musial and Willie Mays and even some oddballs like Van Lingo Mungo. His admiration for Musial passed to me, though I’d never seen The Man play. He also spoke often of Bobby Shantz, a diminutive left-handed pitcher. I’d had a few baseball cards of Shantz but had never given his career much of a look until recently. What a mistake that was. Bobby Shantz had a remarkable and fascinating career.
First, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Bobby Shantz was a small man by any generation’s standards. He went about 5’6 and 140 pounds. Over history, there have been many men of small stature that were outstanding major league players, guys like Jose Altuve, Dustin Pedroia and our own Freddie Patek, just to name three. As you grow older, you realize that physical size does have some advantages for an athlete and the fact that someone of smaller stature can make it in any professional sport is a testament to their athleticism and their heart.
Shantz was a native of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, born September 26, 1925. He is currently the last living Philadelphia A’s player, the oldest living former MVP and the only surviving player who debuted in the 1940’s. Amazing!
After graduating from Pottstown High School, where he was a multiple sport star, Shantz went to work, first in the cafeteria of an aircraft plant then later at a saw company in Philadelphia. Once he grew past the US military’s five-foot height requirement, he was drafted and sent to the Philippines just months prior to the end of World War II. Prior to his military service, Shantz played sandlot ball and while overseas, played on service teams. That experience, playing against established major leaguers, gave Shantz the confidence that he too could play big league ball.
There are a couple of things about this story that amazes me. First, how many professional athletes have come out of Pennsylvania. The state is legendary for the number and quality of football players it has produced. It’s also a hotbed of outstanding wrestlers. And the state has produced some of the greatest baseball players of all time. There must be something in that water.
The second thing is how many old-time players came up through the sandlot system. Things are so different today and I suppose in a good way. Players are identified at a much younger age and are funneled into organized baseball, with high school teams and AAU travel ball being at the forefront. Kids today play more baseball in one summer than I played in my entire six-year school career. Back in the old days, cities and towns had their own town teams, often sponsored by one of the town’s larger employers, and kids often played pick up ball.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a group of kids playing a pickup game of baseball. A few years ago, all our children were home for Labor Day, so one evening we went to a local ballpark and started playing workup. Before long six or seven neighborhood kids joined in and we had ourselves a little game. Those kids ranged in age from five to fifteen, but that didn’t matter. We had a blast. I still think kids would play spontaneous games, you just have to get them off their phones and out of the house.
By the time Shantz was discharged from the Army in 1946, he had grown to his current 5’6. He also possessed a devastating curveball and immaculate control. The Philadelphia Athletics signed him and his younger brother Billy, who was a catcher, in November of 1947 and assigned the brothers to Class A Lincoln (NE) A’s of the old Western League. Many scouts had taken a pass on Shantz because of his height, which proved to be a mistake.
He sailed through the Athletics’ minor league system and by May of 1949 was in Philadelphia. He made his debut on May 1 against the Senators and on May 6 picked up his first major league win with 10 innings of two-hit relief, as the Athletics beat the Tigers in 13 innings. Can you imagine that today, a team just needing two pitchers to cover 13 innings? The crazy thing is, Detroit also only used two pitchers.
Shantz made the first of his three All-Star teams in 1951 then blew up in 1952, going 24-7 with a 2.48 ERA over almost 280 innings of work, all good for a league-leading 8.8 WAR. That production was enough to earn him the Most Valuable Player award over such notables as Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Larry Doby. Shantz made his second All-Star team that summer and it was notable as he entered the game in the fifth inning and stuck out Whitey Lockman, Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial in succession. He was set to come out in the sixth in an attempt to duplicate Carl Hubbell’s 1934 masterpiece of striking out six consecutive batters, but rain washed the game away.
Shantz got off to a slow start in 1953 but still managed to throw four complete games in his first eight outings. That ended on May 21 when he tore a tendon off his left shoulder. The injury sidelined him until July 3 and unbelievably he managed to throw a couple of complete games in late July, but ultimately the injury was too severe and limited him to just 16 appearances.
He reinjured the shoulder on Opening Day 1954 and only made one other appearance that season. In 1955 the Athletics moved to Kansas City. Shantz was one of the few bankable stars on those early Kansas City teams. He made 23 appearances in 1955, 17 of those being starts, while throwing 125 innings. His arm trouble persisted and in 1956 Shantz tried to reinvent himself as a relief pitcher. He appeared in 45 games, which included two starts, while throwing 101 innings, and recording nine saves.
Shantz did have some bright moments in Kansas City. On April 29, 1955, in front of a near-capacity crowd of 33,471, Shantz spun a three-hit shutout over the Yankees. On April 19, 1956, in one of those two 1956 starts, Shantz threw a complete game five-hitter at Detroit.
As was their modus operandi in those days, the Athletics sent Shantz to the Yankees as part of a thirteen-player deal. There were no big stars heading to New York (see Maris, Roger) but Kansas City did give up Art Ditmar, Shantz and a player to be named later, which became Clete Boyer. The Athletics got back a lot of spare parts with Tom Morgan being the best of the lot. It was another case of general manager malpractice with the Yankees once again winning that trade.
And as often was the case, Shantz’s arm magically healed when he became a Yankee and over the next four seasons, he went 30-18 with 19 saves and a 2.73 ERA over 461 innings of work. He also won a World Series title with New York in 1958 and nearly won another in 1960.
In the ’60 series, Shantz came into Game Seven with the Yankees trailing 4-0. He gave them five standout innings and left in the bottom of the eighth with New York ahead 7-4. The second to last batter Shantz faced was Bill Virdon, who hit a tailor-made double play ball to short. The ball took a bad hop and hit Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek in the throat, knocking Kubek out of the game and giving the Bucs new life. Former Athletic Joe DeMaestri replaced Kubek. Dick Groat hit a single through the left side to score one. Casey Stengel replaced Shantz with Jim Coates.
Coates got a couple of outs before Roberto Clemente hit a dribbler into the second base hole. Reminiscent of the 2024 Yankees, Coates didn’t cover first base (a play that Shantz regularly made) and Clemente was safe. The next batter, Hal Smith, another former Kansas City player, then hit one of the most overlooked and underappreciated home runs in World Series history, a three-run jack to put the Pirates ahead by the score of 9-to-7.
New York came back to tie the game in the top of the ninth before Bill Mazeroski punched his Hall of Fame ticket with his leadoff, walk-off home run in the bottom half off yet another former Athletic, Bill Terry. It’s amazing how many former Kansas City Athletics took part in that game. I counted seven. The lesson for the Kansas City Athletics was, sometimes you’re better off just keeping who you have. Like Darrell Royal once said, dance with the one who brung you.
Always a fantastic fielder, Shantz’s Yankee years started a streak of six consecutive Gold Gloves. The Yanks traded Shantz to Pittsburgh in 1961 and over the following years he became a bit of a baseball vagabond, playing for Houston, St. Louis, the Chicago Cubs and finally back home to the Philadelphia Phillies. He retired after the 1964 season with a career record of 119 and 99 with 48 saves and a sparkling ERA of 3.38 worth about 35 WAR.
After baseball, he retired to Chalfont, Pennsylvania where he ran a bowling alley and restaurant, which he co-owned with former Kansas City teammate, Joe Astroth. In 1994, Shantz was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame and later to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. The baseball field at Pottstown High is named in his honor. Shantz still makes an occasional public appearance, usually at a baseball event. With his 100th birthday approaching, Shantz is a baseball treasure who should be appreciated while we still have him.