Two 1938 Dodgers: Fred Sington and Pete Coscarart

The 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers weren't particularly good, finishing 69-80, but they did have some interesting players.

Fred Sington was an outfielder on the team who had a gaudy .358 batting average and a near-.500 on-base percentage in just 68 plate appearances. His major league career started with the Senators in 1934 and ended with the Dodgers in 1939, a short career despite a very respectable .271 lifetime batting average and a near-.400 lifetime OBP mark. His Baseball-Reference page only lists the transactions that sent him from Washington to Brooklyn and an "assignment:" from Brooklyn to the Red Sox. But how did the Senators get him?

The Wilson Daily Times of Sep. 8, 1934 tells us:

"Fred Sington, slugging outfielder of the Albany Senators of the International League, has been sold to Washington of the American League for cash and three players, the club announced yesterday. The amount of cash was not disclosed."

Albany was an independent team at the time. And we find out more about the "assignment" to the Red Sox system from a 1939 post-season article in the Louisville Courier-Journal of Dec. 10, 1939:

"the only thing wrong with Fred Sington's batting last season was his average of .254. Homeliness in batting averages, as in looks, frequently is only skin deep; beneath the unattractive batting mark, as well as beneath the ugly mug, redeeming qualities frequently shine. That's why the Colonels have abandoned intentions of selling Big Fred if they had a chance of recouping all or most of the $10,000 they paid Brooklyn for him last season."

So that was a sale rather than just an "assignment."
Sington finished his career in Louisville in 1940. He was better known as a college football star for Alabama, and according to Wikipedia. had a song written about his football prowess.

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Pete Coscarart was just getting his major league career started in 1938, and the useful middle infielder would be traded to Pittsburgh for 1942 and would be out of the majors in early 1946. Quite likely that was due to his support for a baseball player's union at the time.

His Baseball-Reference page doesn't list the deal that sent him from the Pirates out west to independent PCL San Diego, but we found an interesting article from the June 2, 1946 Chicago Tribune:

"The Pittsburgh Pirates today (June 1) announced the sale of Pete Coscarart to San Diego of the Pacific Coast League..."

The article goes on to say that Coscarart was threatening to jump to the Mexican league rather than go to San Diego. The article says that Coscarart thought he could still play in the majors at age 30. Baseball-Reference has him at 33 at the time of the deal.

He DID go to the Padres, and then to Sacramento and Yakima before ending his career.

Sington from Getty Images, Coscarart from www.vintagecardprices.com

Do Not Meet Charley Schanz in St. Louis

Charley Schanz was a pitcher in the majors for the Phillies during World War II, with a brief stop in Boston for the Red Sox in 1950. His Baseball-Reference page has a good list of many transactions of his career, but I've been able to add a few to the beginning and end of the list.

Schanz' transaction list starts with his being drafted by the Phillies from the San Diego PCL club in 1943, but he was owned by San Francisco before that. He had been optioned to Tacoma of the Western League by the Seals in 1940, but then went to the Yakima club in the Western League in a strange trade documented by the July 8, 1940 Ellensburg Daily Record:

“Last week-end the Seals bought Don White, Tacoma outfielder, and Hub Kittle, Yakima pitcher, for $5,000 apiece…”

“Yakima also obtained a couple of players from the Seals in the player deals.”

“Charley Schanz, right-hander formerly with Tacoma, was signed with the proviso San Francisco can repurchase him for $2,500 next year if needed,”

Pitchers Jack Bowen and Ronnie Byrant were also sent to Yakima in the deal.

And, true to the wording of the deal, the Seals re-obtained Schanz. from the Berkeley Daily Gazette of Sep. 19, 1940:

“The San Francisco Seals have purchased Charley Schanz, Giant righthanded pitcher from Yakima of the Western International League for delivery next spring, it was announced today.”

“Schanz was optioned to Tacoma last spring by San Francisco and was later turned over to Yakima, where he won 18, lost 9.”

By the way, the "Giant" reference was to Schanz' height, not to the New York Giants.

The last deal mentioned on Schanz' Baseball-Reference page is a waiver claim the Browns made in 1950 on Schanz from the Red Sox...but Schanz never played for the Browns. Schanz refused to report to St. Louis, so the Red Sox had him returned, and sold to the PCL. From the Lodi News-Sentinel of  July 18, 1950:

“Seattle’s pennant hopes soared today with the announcement by the Rainier front office that pitcher Charley Schanz has been repurchased from the Boston Red Sox.”

“The big right-hander had been claimed by the St. Louis Browns on waivers but refused to report and came home to Sacramento. The Sox took him back, asked and got waivers on him.”

Schanz had won 22 games for Seattle in 1949 (while losing 17!). He didn't perform nearly as well for them in 1950, with an ERA well over 6.00. After a couple years as a swing man for independent Seattle, he finished with Sacramento after a deal I could not find.

Schanz photo stolen from  www.tradingcarddb.com

 

 

 

 

Bud Zipfel and Bob Dillinger

Let's do a couple more one-shots:

Bud Zipfel was a slugging first baseman who was very young when the Senators brought him up for parts of the 1961 and 1962 seasons. His Baseball-Reference page lists a few transactions for Zipfel, but ends after 1960.

Zipfel's career goes from the Senators in 1962 to San Diego of the PCL in 1963, a Reds affiliate. We find out how from the Daily Times of Dec. 18, 1962:

“The Washington Senators sold Marion (Bud) Zipfel, 24-year-old first baseman, to San Diego of the Pacific Coast League yesterday.”

 
Zipfel went to training camp with the Reds in 1963, but never made it back to the majors.
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Bob Dillinger was a very good third baseman in the late forties who put up batting averages of .321 and .324 in the 1948 and 1949 seasons for the Browns. In 1951 he was sold by the Pirates to the White Sox, and Dillinger hit .301 for Chicago the rest of the way. After that season, Baseball-Reference has him going to independent Sacramento of the PCL to finish his career, but doesn't give the how. I found how in the Toledo Blade of March 25, 1952:

“Third baseman Bob Dillinger, who carried a $125,000 price tag two years ago, has been sold by the Chicago White Sox to the Sacramento Solons for $10,000 and a player yet to be named.”

By the way, Dillinger finished his major league career with a .306 batting average, and naild PCL pitching for a .366 average over 170+ games in 1953!

Zipfel from eBay
Dillinger from Wikipedia