Boss Schmidt

Charles Schmidt

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 200 lb.

• Debut April 30, 1906
• Final Game October 8, 1911
• Born September 12, 1880 in London, AR USA
• Died November 14, 1932 in Altus, AR USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Boss Schmidt, from London, AR, played six years in the majors and 16 in the minors, primarily as a catcher. Schmidt appeared in the 1907, 1908 and 1909 World Series with the Detroit Tigers. He also managed at least nine years.

In perhaps his best year with the bat, 1908, he hit .265 in a league which hit only .239. In contrast to most of the catchers of the 1900s, he was known primarily for his bat and not for his glove; he was eventually replaced by Oscar Stanage, a more typical "defense-first" catcher. He made a key mistake in Game 1 of the 1907 World Series, pitting the Tigers against the Chicago Cubs: with Detroit leading 3-2 with 2 outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th, he dropped the third strike pitch by Wild Bill Donovan to Del Howard, allowing Harry Steinfeldt to score the tying run. Schmidt was charged with an error on the play, and the game ended up as a 12-inning tie as neither team scored again before darkness ended the game. The Cubs stole seven bases during the game, and Schmidt committed another error on a wild throw, so it was an all-around woeful performance.

He tried pugilism during the off-season between 1910-1911, and according to the New York Times of March 18, 1911, was successful. However, he decided that baseball was more his style, and came back to Detroit.

He was part of the gang that picked on Ty Cobb in his rookie year; he broke Cobb's nose in a fight. Things got so heated that the Tigers were thinking of separating the two, and even received offers from other teams to take Cobb from their hands, before thinking better of it.

Schmidt is the only player ever to make the last out in two World Series, consecutive or otherwise (1907 and 1908). Three players have done this in two consecutive postseason series: Bill Spiers in 1997-1998, Omar Vizquel in 1998-1999, and Edgar Renteria in 2004-2005.

He umpired a total of 3 American League games in 1906 and 1907. His brother Walter Schmidt was also a major league catcher.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Playoffs	Notes
1915	Mobile Sea Gulls	Southern Association	68-86	7th	none
1916	Mobile Sea Gulls	Southern Association	39-57	--	--	replaced by Matty McIntyre (6-34) on August 4
1919	Sioux City Indians	Western League	69-69	5th
1920	Fort Smith Twins	Western Association	80-58	2nd
1921	Fort Smith Twins	Western Association	83-61	2nd	Lost League Finals
1924	Springfield Midgets	Western Association		--	--	replaced by Alvin Malone
1926	Kalamazoo Celery Pickers	Central League	16-8	1st	League merged with Michigan-Ontario League on June 13
	Kalamazoo Celery Pickers	Michigan State League		--	--	replaced by Fred Hutton
1927	Quincy Red Birds	Illinois-Iowa-Indiana League	3-4	--	--	replaced by Mack Allison (22-23) on May 5

Further Reading

• Matt Monagan: "The man who wrestled a bear and has a unique place in Series history", mlb.com, October 31, 2023. [1]

Related Sites

• Boss Schmidt at the SABR Bio Project