Fred W. "Fritz" Schulte. Center fielder for the Washington Senators in 1933-1935. 1,241 hits and 47 home runs in 11 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .362. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1927. His best year was 1932 for St. Louis as he posted a .373 OBP with 106 runs scored in 639 plate appearances. He also posted a .366 OBP with 98 runs scored in 622 plate appearances in 1933 as Washington won the AL pennant. He finished his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1936-1937.
Schulte's SABR biography talks to his 1933 season: Spring training in 1933 took place during what was the low point of the Great Depression. In March, an estimated 15.8 million people out of the nation’s civilian workforce of 51.5 million were without jobs. Major-league attendance had fallen from 10.1 million in 1930 to less than 7 million in 1932, so the outlook for the 1933 season was bleak. Yet thanks to Washington’s run to the AL pennant, Griffith Stadium attracted 60,000 more paying customers, even as attendance in both leagues fell to a decade-low 6.1 million in 1933. The Senators’ home attendance was second only to that of the second-place Yankees.
A 13-game winning streak in August separated Washington from New York. By mid-September, the Nats had a 10-game lead over the Yanks. They wound up winning 99 games and finishing seven games ahead. The December trade that sent Schulte to Washington was of no immediate help to the Browns, who finished last with 55 wins.
Schulte got off to a hot start and had his average over .400 as late as May 10. Despite missing time after breaking a finger, he was still hitting .330 in late July. By then the rest of the Washington lineup was picking up any slack. Schulte hit and fielded well enough that fans soon stopped lamenting the loss of (Sam) West (who had been traded away as part of the deal that brought Schulte to Washington).
In a potent Senators lineup, Schulte held his own: second in runs scored (98), fourth in RBIs (87), and fifth in hits (162, one behind Goslin). On a team with four regulars who hit .302 or higher, Schulte’s .295 was just sixth-best. As a team, Washington hit a league-leading .287.
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02-05-2023, 04:57 AM
Fritz Schulte
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