Johnny Logan

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John Logan Jr.
(Yachta or Yatcha)

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Johnny Logan was an overshadowed albeit solid performer for the Milwaukee Braves during their heyday in the the late 1950s. He shortstop for 18 years (1947-1964) - 13 in the majors (1951-1963); six in the minors (1947-1952); and one in Japan (1964). After graduating from High School in 1945, he served in the U.S. Armed Forces (GB) and attended Harpur College one year.

Signed by scout Dewey Griggs of the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent in 1947, he broke into Organized Baseball at age 20. He played for Evansville in the Three-I League (1947); Dallas in the Texas League (1948); Pawtucket in the New England League (1948); and the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association (1950) when, at 24 years of age, he broke into the big leagues on April 17, 1951, with the Boston Braves. His best year in the minors was 1947, when he played in 127 Games, and had 161 Hits, 95 Runs, 32 Doubles, 13 Triples, 6 Home Runs, 82 RBI and a Batting Average of .331.

After his major league debut, he was sent back to Milwaukee, where he played in 1951 and 1952, splitting shortstop duties with Bus Clarkson, and was called up for the Braves' last season in Boston (1952). With the Braves moving west to Milwaukee, he married Dottie Scheilt on October 24, 1953 and played for the Milwaukee Braves from 1953 to 1961. His best year offensively in the majors was 1955 when he played 154 games and had 177 hits, 95 runs, 37 doubles, 5 triples, 13 homeruns, 83 RBI and a batting average of .297. He was the shortstop for the 1957 and 1958 National League pennant winners; in 1957, he led the league with 37 doubles and reached career highs with 83 RBI and a .297 batting average.

He moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade and played his final MLB game on September 27, 1963 at age 36. He played in Japan with the Nankai Hawks of the Pacific League in 1964, ending his playing career at age 37 after a pitiful .189/.245/.287 campaign for the Hawks. He played in the World Series twice (1957 and 1958) and the Japan Series once (1964) and was selected for the National League All-Star Team four times (1955, 1957, 1958 and 1959). He was the first player to play in both a World Series and Japan Series - it would be 10 years before Jim Lefebvre became the second and 17 years until Gary Thomasson and Roy White became the third and fourth.

Scrappy Johnny Logan never backed down from a fight and supposedly never lost one. His quick hands compensated for an average arm at shortstop and were an asset when, outraged by beanballs, he took on opponents as big as Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale. The leadership role he played on the great Braves teams of the 1950's with his fiery personality was arguably an integral part of the team's success.

Only Logan and Rick Burleson handled more successful chances per game since 1946 than did Ozzie Smith, and both had far shorter careers than the Wizard. His Major League Totals are: 1503 Games, 1407 Hits, 216 Doubles, 41 Triples, 93 Home Runs, 547 RBI and a .268 Batting Average. His Minor League Totals are: 652 Games, 713 Hits, 123 Doubles, 29 Triples, 33 Home Runs and 315 and a .301 Batting Average.

On August 25, 2005, Logan and Bob Uecker were honored at Milwaukee's Miller Park. Logan was cited as part of the Turn Back The Clock celebration before the Milwaukee Brewers took on the Atlanta Braves.

After his playing days, Logan remained in Milwaukee and spent time as a broadcaster, ran for sheriff and was engaged in a variety of other endeavors in and out of baseball. He has scouted for the Brewers, primarily in the state of Wisconsin, for quite a few years and knows the talent there. He was one of the founders and president of the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association.

He had black hair and blue eyes, his ancestry was Russian and his principal hobby was golf. He celebrated his 79th birthday on 23 March 2006 at his current residence in Milwaukee, WI.

Records Held[edit]

World Series Record for most assists by shortstop, game (10), 5 October 1957

Career highlights[edit]

  • Johnny Logan led the American Association in Games Played (154) and Assists by Shortstop (495), 1949
  • Led the American Association in Assists by a Shortstop (481), 1950
  • With the 1952 Boston Braves, he hit all four of his homers at the Polo Grounds in New York.
  • Led National League in Fielding Percentage by a Shortstop (.972), 1952
  • Led National League in Putouts (295) and (Fielding Percentage by a Shortstop (.975), 1953
  • Led National League in Games Played (154), Assists (489) and (Fielding Percentage by a Shortstop (.969), 1954
  • Logan was the first major league batter Sandy Koufax faced in his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955.
  • Led National League in Games Played (154), Doubles (37), and Assists (489) by a Shortstop (511), 1955
  • Led National League in Assists (440) and Errors (29) by a Shortstop, 1957
  • Led National League in Errors (32) by a Shortstop. 1957

Quotes[edit]

  • "I think he (Eddie Mathews) was one of the greatest third basemen of all time. He had one of the sweetest swings I ever saw."
  • "I didn't mind starting fights. Mathews was always there to finish them for me."
  • "Warren Spahn had great control ... and knew how to pitch to opponents' weaknesses. All the young players respected him. He was a winner."

Malapropisms[edit]

  • "Rome wasn't born in a day."
  • "I'll have pie a la mode with ice cream."
  • "I heard his footprints coming down the hall."
  • "I will perish this trophy forever."
  • "I know the name but I can't replace the face."
  • "Tonight, we're honoring one of the all-time greats in baseball, Stan Musial. He's immoral." -Logan introducing Musial at a banquet.
  • After playing an exhibition game in Canada, Logan was surprised to learn that "even the kids speak French."
  • Informed that a box score depriving him of a hit was a typographical error, Logan responded, "The Hell it was. That was a clean base hit."

Chronology[edit]

  • 1927: Born 23 March 23 in Endicott, NY
  • 1945-1947:
    • Graduated from High School
    • Served in the U.S. Armed Forces
    • Attended Harpur College one year.
  • 1947:
    • Signed by scout Dewey Griggs of the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent
    • Broke into OB at age 20
  • 1951: Broke into the big leagues on 17 April 1951 with the Boston Braves.
  • 1953:
    • Braves franchise moved to Milwaukee, 18 March
    • Married Dottie Scheilt on 24 October 1953
  • 1955:
    • On 16 April 16, en route to losing their first five games, the Cincinnati Redlegs hit five Home Runs and lose to the Braves 9-5. Logan goes 5-for-5.
    • All-Star Game. He has a single in his first All-Star plate appearance
  • 1957:
    • On 21 April Don Hoak of Cincinnati was on second and Gus Bell was on first when Wally Post grounded to shortstop. Hoak fielded the ball himself, flipping it to a stunned Logan at short. Hoak was out for getting hit by a batted ball, but the Reds still had two on and Post was credited with a single. This led to a rules change.
    • World Series: The World Series opened in New York and the teams split the first two games, with the Yankees winning Game One, 3-1, and the Braves winning Game Two, 4-2. Moving to Milwaukee, the Yankees won Game 3 when rookie Tony Kubek hit two home runs, but despite a two out, three run ninth inning rally to tie Game 4, and despite having a 5-4 tenth inning lead, the Yankees lost when the Braves tied it on a Logan double that scored pinch runner Felix Mantilla (running for Nippy Jones of shoe polish fame), and then won it when Mathews hit a dramatic home run.
  • 1959:
    • On 26 April, Reds pitcher Willard Schmidt is twice hit by pitches in the 3rd inning in an 11–10 win over the Braves. Braves pitchers Bob Rush and Lew Burdette do the plunking. It is a first in the major leagues, but the ML mark will be tied in three years by Frank Thomas. While on the mound in the 4th inning, Schmidt is hit again when a Logan line drive strikes him on the right hand and he has to leave the game. The two teams use 14 pitchers between them to tie a National League record, with the eight pitchers by the Reds tying another NL record. Spahn is tagged for the loss, his 2nd in two days to the Reds.
    • On 26 May, Harvey Haddix relied on his fastball, his slider, and two sparkling defensive plays from shortstop Dick Schofield to preserve the perfect game through 12 innings. Schofield twice robbed Logan of base hits. But the Bucs' fielding would let Haddix down when Milwaukee second baseman Mantilla - a .215 hitter - led off the thirteenth with a roller to third baseman Hoak.
  • 1961: On 15 June, the Braves trade Logan to the Pirates for Gino Cimoli.
  • 1963:
    • Played his final MLB game on 27 September
    • On 18 October, released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • 1964:
    • On 4 October Logan and Kent Hadley hit home runs for the Hawks in game three of the Japanese World Series, but Eiji Fuji's two home runs leads the Osaka Tigers to victory. The Hawks, however, win the Series.
    • Ended his playing career
  • 2005: On 25 August, Logan and Bob Uecker honored at Miller Park as part of the Turn Back The Clock celebration
  • 2006: Celebrated his 79th birthday on 23 March

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • 4-time NL All-Star (1955 & 1957-1959)
  • NL Doubles Leader (1955)
  • 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (1953)
  • Won a World Series with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957

Sources[edit]

Principal sources for Johnny Logan include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs {{{WW}}} (WW), old Baseball Registers {{{BR}}} (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN {{{DAG}}} (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) {{{MORE}}} and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.including Japanese Baseball: A Statistical Handbook by Daniel E. Johnson and The Biographical Encyclopedia: Baseball by the Editors of Total Baseball

Further Reading[edit]

  • Bob Buege: "Johnny Logan", in Gregory H. Wolf, ed.: Thar's Joy in Braveland: The 1957 Milwaukee Braves, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2014, pp. 107-113. ISBN 978-1933599717

Related Sites[edit]

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