Leo Schrall Explained

Leo Schrall
Current Title:Manager / Head coach
Birth Date:April 7, 1907
Birth Place:Cresson, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:Peoria, Illinois, U.S.
Player Years1:1927–1928
Player Team1:Notre Dame
Player Years2:1929
Player Team2:Peoria Tractors
Player Years3:1930
Player Team3:Decatur Commodores
Player Years4:1931
Player Team4:Jeannette Jays
Player Years5:1931
Player Team5:Altoona Engineers
Player Years6:1931
Player Team6:Beaver Falls Beavers
Player Years7:1932
Player Team7:Dubuque Tigers
Player Positions:Shortstop
Coach Years1:1947–1949
Coach Team1:Peoria Redwings
Coach Years2:1949–1972
Coach Team2:Bradley
Coach Years3:1957–1959
Coach Team3:Hastings Giants
Overall Record:346–188–3
Awards:
  • Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Display (1988)
  • Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Induction (1983)

Leo Schrall (April 7, 1907  - February 3, 1999) was an infielder and manager in minor league baseball and a head coach in college baseball.[1]

Born in Cresson, Pennsylvania, Schrall attended University of Notre Dame, where he enjoyed a successful career as three-sport student-athlete. He excelled at baseball, being considered by many critics as one of the premier shortstops in college baseball. Schrall was the regular shortstop for Notre Dame from 1927 to 1928, and started his professional baseball career after graduating in 1928.[2] [3]

Schrall played from 1929 through 1932 in the Three-I, Middle Atlantic and Mississippi Valley leagues, compiling a .252 batting average with six different teams in 324 games.[1]

A highly successful head coach, he led the Bradley Braves squad from 1949 to 1972.[2]

Besides Bradley, Schrall also managed the Peoria Redwings of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). He took over the leadership of the Redwings late in 1947 and managed them in the 1948 and 1949 seasons. He later managed for the Hastings Giants of the Class D Nebraska State League from 1957 to 1959.[1] [4] [5]

Honors

In 1983 Schrall was named to the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.

Schrall is featured in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum display Women in Baseball, the AAGPBL permanent display in Cooperstown, New York, which was inaugurated in 1988 in honor of the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities.[6] [7]

Personal

Schrall was a longtime resident of Peoria, Illinois, where he died in 1999 at the age of 91.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Baseball Reference minor leagues – playing and managing career . 2018-03-27 . 2015-06-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150628011641/http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=schral001leo . live .
  2. Web site: Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Inductees . 2010-11-27 . 2010-05-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100508054156/http://www.gpshof.org/Inductees/schrall.html . live .
  3. Web site: University of Notre Dame Archives . 2010-11-27 . 2010-10-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101004023903/http://archives.nd.edu/findaids/ead/index/ASI012.htm . live .
  4. Web site: 1948 Peoria Redwings . 2010-11-27 . 2010-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101124213044/http://aagpbl.org/teams.cfm?ID=76 . live .
  5. Web site: 1949 Peoria Redwings . 2010-11-27 . 2010-09-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100917052853/http://aagpbl.org/teams.cfm?ID=54 . live .
  6. Web site: Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame – 1983 Inductees . 2010-11-27 . 2010-11-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101115160752/http://www.gpshof.org/Inducyear1980.html . live .
  7. Web site: All-American Girls Professional Baseball League History . 2010-11-27 . 2011-04-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110422084111/http://www.aagpbl.org/league/history.cfm . live .