Schang played in 1,842 games, accumulating 1,506 hits in 5,307 at bats for a .284 career batting average along with 59 home runs, 705 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .393. He hit above .300 in six times during his career and appeared in at least 100 games in 10 seasons while being considered one of the premier catchers of the deadball era. In his book, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, baseball historian Bill James ranked Schang 20th all-time among major league catchers. However, he fell short in the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot five times by the BBWAA voting (1948, 1950, 1956, 1958, 1960), receiving a peak of 4.1%. 1916 saw him have both a 20-game hitting streak and the first occasion of a player hitting home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game (September 9, 1916) Schang holds an American League game-record for catchers throwing out six potential base stealers (May 12, 1915) along with the league record for catchers with eight assists in a game (May 12, 1920). He caught pitches from numerous leading pitchers of the league in the first two decades of the 20th century, which included future Hall of Famers Chief Bender, Lefty Grove, Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, Eddie Plank and Babe Ruth. Nearly a century after he retired, he still ranks highly among the all-time list of most career stolen bases at his position with 121 (eighth all-time), behind Roger Bresnahan (212), Ray Schalk (177), Jason Kendall (148), Red Dooin (133), Carlton Fisk (128), Iván Rodríguez (127), and Johnny Kling (123). Trivia In the early 20th century, when players with facial hair became a rarity in baseball, Wally Schang became the last major leaguer to sport a moustache, in 1914. After that, is reported that the first players to sport moustaches during the regular season were Dick Allen (St. Louis Cardinals) and Felipe Alou (Oakland Athletics), both in 1970. References External links 1889 births 1965 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada Boston Red Sox players Detroit Tigers players New York Yankees players Philadelphia Athletics players St. Louis Browns players Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from New York (state) Cleveland Indians coaches Minor league baseball managers Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Shreveport Sports players Tyler Sports players Joplin Miners players Muskogee Tigers players Ottawa Senators (baseball) players Trois-Rivières Renards players Owensboro Oilers