Art Schallock

Arthur Lawrence Schallock

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 160 lb.
• School College of Marin
• High School Tamalpais High School
• Debut July 16, 1951
• Final Game September 23, 1955
• Born April 25, 1924 in Mill Valley, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Art Schallock spent parts of five seasons in the majors, mostly with the New York Yankees but also with the Baltimore Orioles. As a result, he was on teams that went to the World Series in 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1955, winning them those first three years. His only World Series appearance, however, came in Game 4 of the 1953 World Series, when he pitched two innings.

Schallock was quite successful during his years in the minors, winning over 61% of his decisions.

According to the biography at Baseball in Wartime, he was a star at Tamalpais High School in his native city Mill Valley, CA, located just north of San Francisco Bay. He played a couple of years of semi-pro ball and then joined the Navy in 1943, seeing action in the Pacific as a radio operator. He was decorated for his role in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Contrary to other past or future ballplayers who served at the time, he did not play any baseball during the three years he was in the Navy. He played more semi-pro ball after the war before signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers at the end of 1946. He pitched in the Dodgers system until 1951, when the Yankees purchased his contract.

When he first came up with the Yankees in July of 1951, the team sent down struggling rookie Mickey Mantle, who was 19 at the time, in order to make room for Art on their roster. That demotion would not last long, obviously, but the two joked about it for years afterwards. He roomed with catcher Yogi Berra, who was a great mentor for him. He appeared in 28 games, including 8 starts, in four years with New York. He was picked up on waivers by the Orioles early in the 1955 season and played a career-high 30 games that final season. The final homer he surrendered in his career was hit by Mantle.

The book The Hollywood Stars has a photo of him in a Stars uniform.

His brother, Melvin Schallock, was shot to death along with his wife and 19-year-old son on March 18, 1973.

He became the Oldest Living MLB Player upon the passing of George Elder on July 7, 2022. He celebrated his 100th birthday on April 25, 2024 and received some press overage on the occasion. He was still in relatively good health and living in a retirement home in Sonoma, CA at the time. In fact, the Yankees invited him to attend a game at Oracle Park on June 2nd that year, during which he regaled present members of the team with stories about former teammates Joe DiMaggio, Berra and Mantle.

Notable Achievements

• Won two World Series with the New York Yankees (1951 & 1953; he did not play in the 1951 World Series)

Further reading

• Dan Cichalski: "MLB's oldest living player is turning 100: Art Schallock pitched for the Yankees and Orioles in the 1950s", mlb.com, April 25, 2024. [1]
• Bryan Hoch: "Oldest living MLB player shares stories of Yogi, Mantle, more with Yanks", mlb.com, June 2, 2024. [2]

Related Sites

• Art Schallock at the SABR Bio Project