Yankees legend, who is the oldest living Major League Baseball player, has passed away at the age of 100, the league announced Saturday. Over five MLB seasons with the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, the left-handed pitcher appeared in 59 games, including one in the 1953 World Series.
Schallock’s Yankees teams won the World Series in each of his first three seasons (1951-53). His lone postseason outing came in Game 4 of the 1953 World Series, where he pitched two innings and allowed one run in a 7-3 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, the Yankees went on to win the series in six games, marking their fifth consecutive championship.
Born in Mill Valley, California, just north of San Francisco, Schallock excelled at Tamalpais High School before his baseball career was put on hold due to World War II. Drafted into the Navy two weeks after graduation, he served as a radio operator and didn’t play baseball for three years. He was decorated for his service in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, earning 11 battle stars.
After the war, Schallock resumed baseball in semi-pro leagues before signing with the Dodgers in 1946 at age 22. He spent several years in their minor league system before the Yankees acquired his contract in 1951. That July, he was called up to the big leagues for the first time—a move that coincided with 19-year-old rookie Mickey Mantle being sent down to Triple-A.
