#28 Barney Schultz - St. Louis Cardinals

George Warren Schultz
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  200
Born:  August 15, 1926, Beverly, NJ
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1955; Detroit Tigers 1959; Chicago Cubs 1961-1963; St. Louis Cardinals 1963-1965
Died:  September 6, 2015, Willingboro, NJ (age 89)

Barney Schultz pitched in parts of seven big league seasons, appearing in 227 games all in relief.  He enjoyed his best season in 1964, saving 14 games as the Cardinals' primary closer and helping the team get to the World Series.  Schultz gave up a game-winning home run in Game 3 of the World Series (#134) to Mickey Mantle (#350) following his Game 1 save (#132).  While he struggled in the World Series, the Cardinals still downed the Yankees in seven games.

Schultz had a career record of 20-20 with 35 saves and a 3.63 ERA.  He stayed with the Cardinals following his playing days as a minor league coach, and he served as the team's pitching coach between 1971 and 1975.  After a season as the Cubs pitching coach in 1977, he spent time in Japan coaching for the Osaka Hawks.  Schultz was inducted into the South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

Building the Set
December 7, 2019 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #13
We were up to 11 cards for our 1965 Topps set, and I honestly had it in mind that I wanted to purchase one fairly major "star" card during our remaining time at the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show inside the Valley Forge Casino.  The showroom floor was packed as we were now into the early afternoon and autograph guests were showing up every 15 minutes or so.  The PA announcer would call out ticket numbers in groups of 10 all while imploring collectors to back away from the entrance that led into the autograph signing area.

That was the backdrop when we came upon the table for MJW Collectibles out of Somerdale, NJ.  This dealer had a bunch of 1960s Topps binders spread out, and the sign on the 1965 Topps binder caught my eye - ALL CARDS $1.  And with Doug's help, I dug in.

I first determined I'd buy 10 cards, and then that went up to 15.  My only criteria was that the cards needed to be a good shape with four sharp corners.  Doug helped me pick the cards in best shape, especially when there were several of the same card to a page.  This Schultz card was one of the 15 commons we added from MJW Collectibles.  Some were fairly random additions, and others had some meaning to me and I'll feature each of the cards acquired in upcoming posts.

The Card
One of many reasons I started this blog was that I wanted to learn a little bit about each of the players featured on the cards in the set.  Schultz is the first card we added to our set that features a player I knew absolutely nothing about.  So while this blog will serve as a record of how and when we added each card, I'm also using it as an opportunity to learn more about players from the 1960s.  I had no idea at the time the first two commons purchased for our set were both knuckleball pitchers - Bob Tiefenauer (#23) and Schultz.

Schultz's fine pitching in September 1964 contributed to the historic collapse of that season's Phillies team.  With six games remaining, and in third place behind the Phillies and Reds, the Cardinals swept the Phillies and Schultz saved two of the games.  He also earned the save in the final game of the season that clinched the pennant and completed the Phillies' collapse.  The nine consecutive game appearance referenced on the back of the card came between May 4th and May 15th, 1962 with the Cubs and included pitching in both ends of a double header on May 13th.

The photo used is most likely from the same session from Schultz's days with the Cubs that yielded the photos used for his 1962 and 1963 Topps cards.

1965 Season
1965 was to be Schultz's last season in the majors, and he appeared in 34 games for the Cardinals, going 2-2 with a 3.83 ERA.  He lost his closing duties to Hal Woodeschick (#179) and was briefly sent down to the Cardinals' top farm club in Jacksonville.  Schultz started the 1966 season as a player-coach for the Tulsa Oilers in the Pacific Coast League.

Phillies Connection
A native of nearby Beverly, NJ, the Phillies signed Schultz as an amateur free agent before the 1944 season.  He spent three seasons pitching in the Phillies system, making it as high as their Class B team in Terre Haute in 1946.  Prior to the 1947 season he joined the Tigers organization in what his Baseball Reference page calls an "unknown transaction."

1962 Topps #89

1963 Topps #452

1973 Topps #497

1974 Topps #236

2008 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BS

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #89
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1962-1963, 1965, 1973-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BSC

Topps created a 1959 Topps card for Schultz for him to sign as part of the 2008 Topps Heritage release.  The card features him with the Tigers and it's notable for being the only baseball card of his showing him with the club.  The photo used is the same appearing on his 1962 and 1963 Topps cards.

23 - Schultz non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Prior Card:  #27 Dick Bertell - Chicago Cubs

Next Card:  #29 Felix Mantilla - Boston Red Sox