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- Walter Henry Schang (August 22, 1889 – March 6, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1913 to 1931 for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns and the Detroit Tigers. Schang was the starting catcher for six American League pennant winning teams (Philadelphia Athletics (1913–1914), Boston Red Sox (1918), New York Yankees (1921–1923), and was considered one of the best major league catchers of his era, performing well both offensively and defensively. He was a switch-hitter who batted above .300 six times during his playing career and posted a career .393 on-base percentage, second only to Mickey Cochrane among major league catchers. In 1916 he became the first Major League Baseball player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game. Standing 5-foot-10 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds, Schang was one of the new breed of catchers that emerged from the Deadball Era who used speed and agility to field their position. His reputation as a defensive stand out is enhanced because of the era in which he played. In the Deadball Era, catchers played a huge defensive role, given the large number of bunts and stolen base attempts, as well as the difficulty of handling every type of pitch imaginable, such as shine balls, spitballs, knuckleballs, and emory balls. (en)
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