Art Schallock, Oldest Surviving Major Leaguer, Dies at 100

New York Times

09-03-2025

Art Schallock, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles left-handed pitcher of the 1950s who had been the oldest living former major leaguer, died on Thursday in Sonoma, Calif. He was 100.
His death was confirmed by his family.
When the Yankees sent 19-year-old Mickey Mantle to the minors in 1951, they called up Schallock, who was making his major league debut.
Pitching for five seasons in the majors, he appeared in 58 regular-season games, 14 of them as a starter.
Arthur Lawrence Schallock was born in Mill Valley, Calif., near San Francisco, on April 25, 1924, the fourth child of Arthur and Alice Schallock. His father was a telephone and telegraph lineman.
After pitching for high school and semipro teams, he served in the Navy during World War II as a radio operator on an aircraft carrier.
The Brooklyn Dodgers signed him in 1946, and he pitched in their minor league system until they traded him to the Yankees in July 1951.
He was a member of the Yankee teams that defeated the Dodgers in the 1952 and 1953 World Series, though he had only one postseason appearance: In Game 4 of the last of those matchups, he allowed one run in two innings.
'I roomed with Yogi Berra and he knew all the hitters on each team,' he once said. 'Besides that, I had to run down to the lobby and get his funny books. Every morning.'
The Orioles obtained Schallock off waivers in May 1955.
He had a career record of 6-7, with an earned run average of 4.02 and 77 strikeouts
Schallock's family was struck by tragedy one night in March 1973 when a man who was an outpatient at a mental institution invaded the home of his brother Melvin; Melvin's wife, Ruth; and the couple's son, Daniel, in Mill Valley, Calif. The man set the house on fire and killed all of them with shotgun blasts.
Last April, the Yankees honored Schallock on his birthday when they sent him a team jersey signed by the players.
A list of Schallock's survivors was not immediately available. His wife, Donna, died in 2023.
For all his fortitude, Schallock did not set a record for longevity in professional baseball. The pitcher Si Simmons of the Lincoln Giants of the Negro leagues lived to 111, and the Yankee pitcher Red Hoff reached 107.