New Britain herald., 1923-01-22
RAY SCHALK SETS
 A CATCHING RECORD
White SOS Backstop Has Been Mainstay Of Comiskey's Club

A mite of an athlete. weight isI
 pounds. height s feet 6 inches, is thi
 iron man Of the mask and mitt, hnti
 Raymond w. sehalk joined the Chi
 eago White sok in the fall of 1919 l
 was the custom Of major leagu'
 clubs to be supplied with two ans
 three regular eatehers, II was ae eepted hy managers and magnaiel
 that the physical strain attached t' the job was entirely too great 10 make
 it a one-man poStion,
 For the seven regular positions however, there has been no under study. inielders and outfielders have
 been expected to patrol their beat I throughout the season, barring injury since long before the introduction oi the foul strike rule.
 It was a case of work today and rest tomorrow and the catcher wh6 handled from is to 90 games had
 considered that he earned his scason'f salary.
 In the days of not so long ago, about IS years hack, there were the
 catching staffs of prominence. They came in pairs as is shown by the combinations of sehreck and Powers with the Athletics. Bresnahan and powerman with the Giants, King and | Archer with the Cubs. Moran and Needham with Boston. Schiel and Street with Cincinnati. Bergen and Ritter with Brooklyn. Kleinow and McGuire with the New York Yankees, Sullivan and Mcfarland with the Chi caGo White Sox. clarge and Bemis with Cleveland. sugden and Spencer with the St. Louis Browns. Dooin and Roth with the Phillies, and so on down the line.
 Comiskey Risl,ed and Won. It isn't beef and brawn that win games and pennants. Along came the boom of this catching Lilliputian in the summer of 1921. His arms of iron moving down base runners attracted the attention of the major leaguers. They gazed at him and all but one moved hurriedly out of Milwaukee.
 That kid hold big league pitcher, much less stop base-runner?" was the remark of all big league owners with the exception of Charles A. Comiskey Well, anyway, Schalk ar rived in the American league. He caught in g games and Immediately became the successor to that master Billy Sullivan.
 In his first year as a regular he was behind the plate in 12s games and then started career that not only has been in the century class of games annually. but a record-151 games caught in 1920.
 No major league catcher ever be- fore had reached that mark.
 And, with the development of Schalk came the passing of the two- man catching staff The catching staff today has the regular and one or two kids who sit around, get em- ployment in the bullpen, during the batting practise and catch seldom more than dozen games.
 Schalg, quiet and unassuming, recently was requested to- come out of his shell and deliver a few words | about himself. He answered with the | written with his own pen:
 T have been asked to write a few lines about the iron man behind the | mask. The iron man subject is never | looked upon in such light by me. Never in my mind have l had one | thought of going out and breaking | any catching games record a season l until the fall of 1920, along about the time the scandal on our ball club broke out.
 Passes Gibson's Recnrd.
 T figured that I had to catch all he remaining games of the season to break the record held by George Gib- son of 1S0 games out of 154, so by he good graces of the Lord I have 'ne record which is as dear to me as Everett Scott's, of the New York Y Yankees. It is 151 out of 154 for a 
 Tn all probability it will be broken md the catcher who catches every game of the season is deserving of ,old medal.
 T have never found d catcher who owes foul tips. The ball player who plays other positions will never real ze what he has missed.
 "Catchers sometimes kid other players for the soft positions they lave picked; no wild pitchers to 'atch, no foul tips to stop with the humbs and fingers, no call down to eceive or the reason Well, why Iidn't you call for something else in- tead of giving him a fast one?' but ve are human and know we would tarve to death trying to take first ase away from George Sisler, second f ase from Eddie Collins and so on II own the line. SC we just take whats $ store for lis and be pleased to f now we can play the game alongside t hese stars and receive a salary for oing it. z
 4 tip to young catchers calling for lgns. Work in harmony with the allow who is q good pitcher. He kes to have his own way once in a E nile and the results will more than ay you.
 Be absolutely sure you know what c Is going to pitch. The young itcher should never question tbe 'dgment of an experienced catcher he manager will take care of that nd with the catcher. and if the stcher is wrong. let the manager. not ie recruit pitcher, do the criticizjng,'
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