Chuck Schilling dead at 83

Chuck Schilling was born on October 25, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York and passed away on March 30, 2021 in West Chester, Pa. After graduating from high school Schilling attended Manhattan College, majoring in electrical engineering but then switched over to mechanical engineering. While still in college in 1958 Schilling signed a $25,000 bonus contract with the Boston Red Sox, eschewing the New York Yankees, a team he disliked even though they had actually started scouting him first.

Schilling played second base and started his pro career in 1959 playing in Class D ball and after 95 games was bumped up to class B and after just 15 game there was called up by the AAA Minneapolis Millers (managed by Gene Mauch and who also played in 8 games) to see if he could help them in the playoffs. He didn’t make that playoff roster but the next season he played for the Eddie Popowski managed 1960 Minneapolis Millers. Both of these Millers teams are full of names that played in the big leagues at one time or another.

According to Schilling’s SABR Bio –

Two Long Islanders joined the Boston Red Sox in 1961:

Carl Yastrzemski and Chuck Schilling. It was Schilling, a second baseman, who won the team’s MVP award that year. Of course, Yastrzemski went on to become a Hall of Famer and one of the most celebrated Red Sox ever, whereas Schilling’s big-league career ended after 1965. Yet Yaz didn’t get any votes for 1961 AL Rookie of the Year, whereas Schilling’s first season was also good enough to tie him for third place behind another teammate, Don Schwall.

The Boston Red Sox had high hopes for Schilling but before he could join the Red Sox, there was the matter of an obligation to the United States Army. He served six months of active duty from October 1960 to March 1961. He was released from Fort Devens, in Massachusetts, and reported to Scottsdale for Red Sox spring training on March 7. “Schilling will open your eyes when you see him play second base,” said Yastrzemski. Winning the the starting second base jump was no easy task as the 1960 AL batting champ Pete Runnels held that job but since Runnels was known for his bat and not his glove Runnels was moved to first and Schilling took over send base. In his first season (1961) in the big leagues he had a league leading 738 plate appearances.

Schillings weak bat caused him to start to lose playing time over the next couple of seasons and by 1964 he found himself on the bench which is where he also spent most of the 1965 season. In the spring of 1966 the defending AL champion Minnesota Twins were looking for some infield and catching help and on April 6, 1966 swung a trade with the Boston Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox traded Chuck Schilling along with catcher Russ Nixon to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher Dick Stigman and minor league 1B/3B Jose Calero.

At first Schilling was excited about the trade, returning to a city where he had always played well, both for the Minneapolis Millers and as a visiting player for the Red Sox and he would be playing for a winning team, unlike the team that had just traded him. But when he learned that Twins manager Sam Mele wanted him to play at AAA Denver he was not a happy camper.

I believe that in 1966 MLB Opening Day roster sizes were at 28 with the team needing to cut down to 25 within 30 days. Chuck Schilling was a member of the Minnesota Twins during the first few weeks of the 1966 season and wore the number 18 but he never appeared in a game. When he was officially optioned to Denver, Schilling met with owner Calvin Griffith on May 12 and told he that he wanted to be placed on the voluntarily retired list so he could return to his Long Island, New York home and enter the business world.

That ladies and gentlemen is the story of a Minnesota Twin who never played for the Minnesota Twins. Schilling is the first of five players since 1961 that spent time on the Minnesota Twins roster but never appeared in any of their games.

SABR Bio

RIP Baseball Obit

Charles Thomas Schilling Obituary – Donohue Funeral Home