Friday, July 5, 2024

#298 Johnny Schmitz - Boston Red Sox


John Albert Schmitz
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Born:  November 27, 1920, Wausau, WI
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1938 season
Major League Teams:   Chicago Cubs 1941-42, 1946-51; Brooklyn Dodgers 1951-52; New York Yankees 1952; Cincinnati Reds 1952; New York Yankees 1953; Washington Senators 1953-55; Boston Red Sox 1956; Baltimore Orioles 1956
Died:  October 1, 2011, Weston, WI (age 90)

Johnny Schmitz appeared in 28 games for the Cubs in 1941 and 1942 before his baseball career was put on hold while he served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theatre of World War II for three years.  Upon his return in 1946, Schmitz had one of his best seasons, going 11-11 for the Cubs and leading the league with 135 strikeouts.  Schmitz made the National League All-Star squad in 1946 and 1948 and was the losing pitcher in the 1948 game when he allowed three runs during his outing.  He pitched in over 200 innings each season between 1946 and 1949.

Schmitz bounced around the majors following his trade from the Cubs in June 1951, playing with the Dodgers, Yankees (twice), Reds, Senators, Red Sox and Orioles.  His last solid season came with the Senators in 1954 when he was 11-8 with a 2.91 ERA in 29 games and 185 1/3 innings pitched.  An excellent fielder throughout his career, Schmitz twice led the league in assists, double plays turned as a pitcher and fielding percentage.  In 13 big league seasons, Schmitz was 93-114 with a 3.55 ERA, 86 complete games and 16 shutouts.

Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #85
We went nuts at the Bridgeton Baseball Card Show in August 1989, buying 12 different cards for our 1956 Topps set, all at $1.50 a piece.  That's an impressive haul for $18!


I have no other information on the location of this show, other than it was held in the nearby city of Bridgeton, New Jersey.  What I do have however is the checklist I brought with us to the show.  I believe this is the second full checklist we carried around, having retired the prior version I created in 1988 and posted with the William Harridge (#1) card.

Just looking at this checklist brings back fond memories of finding the cards, deciding to make a purchase, negotiating a price and then finding a flat surface so that we could cross off the newest additions.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set
This is Schmitz's final appearance in a Topps set, and he'd sign reprints of this card for the 2005 Topps Heritage release.  He'd very likely wearing a Senators jersey and hat here, with the Topps' artists doing some quick edits to put him into Red Sox gear.  I believe he's standing inside Yankee Stadium given the rectangular building beyond the outfield scoreboard with the Ballantine Beer advertisement.  The back of the card highlights his journeyman status and his fine control.

1956 Season
On November 8, 1955, Schmitz was traded from Washington with Bob Porterfield (#248), Tom Umphlett and Mickey Vernon (#228) to the Red Sox for Al Curtis, Dick Brodowski (#157), Neil Chrisley, Tex Clevenger and Karl Olson (#322).  Schmitz must not have been one of the key reasons for the Red Sox to pull off the massive nine-player deal, as they sold him to the Orioles on May 14th.  Schmitz appeared in two games for the Red Sox, pitching 4 1/3 innings before the trade.  With the Orioles, he pitched in the final 18 games of his major league career, going 0-3 with a 3.99 ERA.

1949 Bowman #52
1950 Bowman #24
1951 Topps Blue Backs #41
1952 Topps #136
1954 Topps #33

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #52
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1951-52, 1954-56
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2005 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #RO-JS

38 - Schmitz non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/5/24.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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