Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 148, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 June 1919 — Passed Up as a “Runt? Young Schalk Developed Into a Great Backstop [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Passed Up as a “Runt? Young Schalk Developed Into a Great Backstop

Back in 1910 Frank Navin heard of ■a kid catcher whose backstopping, running and hitting were startling inhabitants of a small Illinois city Which had a club in a bush league. The Tiger president immediately dispatched one of his hired, manhunters to look at the player. The scout liked the catcher, but did not let his enthusiasm get the better of him because the youngster was hardly five feet five inches tall and of slight build. Whoever heard pf a runt like that being able to stand up under the fire expected of major* league pitchers? In the meantime equally favorable reports were being received of another minor league catching star whose play

attracted much attention in the Texas league. The same scout looked at this catcher. It finally came time for a showdown. Mr. Navin could get both catchers for reasonable prices, but in the meantime he agreed with the traveling representative that the kid catcher in Illinois was probably too slightly built and he took the one with the Texas club, who was a big man and also looked like a valuable prospect. The one he picked was Jack Onslow, a fair catcher but a little shy on big league requirements. The one he passed up because he was a runt was Ray Schalk. The rest is an old story. Schalk has been a star with the White Sox almost ever since and more than once made Mr. Navin holler “ouch I”

Ray Schalk.