Ray Schalk A Baseball Biography

Of the nearly 200 major league players enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, few receive as much criticism as Ray “Cracker” Schalk. He is a convenient target. After all, his lifetime batting average is a mere .253, the lowest among position players in the Hall. Certainly, had Schalk been able to add another 10 or 20 points to his batting average—not playing with all those bruises, concussions and broken and dislocated fingers might have made the difference—today’s critics could throw stones at Rabbit Maranville (.258) instead of Schalk. However, if earning a place in the Hall were just a matter of offensive production, selections could be...