Joe Schultz

Who was Joe Schultz?

Joseph Charles Schultz, Sr., nicknamed "Germany" Schultz, was an American outfielder and farm system director in Major League Baseball and a manager in minor league baseball.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was the father of former MLB catcher, coach and manager Joe Schultz, and a cousin of Frank Lobert and Hans Lobert. During his career, Schultz Sr. played for every National League club, with the exception of the New York Giants. A right-handed batter and thrower, he hit .285 with 15 home runs in 1,959 major league games. In his finest season, 1921 for the St. Louis Cardinals, he appeared in 112 games, garnered 108 hits and batted .314 with four home runs and 64 runs batted in.

After his playing career, Schultz became a manager in the far-flung Cardinals farm system. He led the 1931 Houston Buffaloes to 108 regular-season victories and the Texas League championship.

In 1939, Schultz became the farm system director of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In April 1941, while on his way to visit one of the Pittsburgh farm clubs in Moultrie, Georgia, Schultz was suddenly stricken with acute toxic hepatitis and died in Columbia, South Carolina, at the age of 47.