Today's "Super Veteran" is a guy I always knew of, but never realized just how long a career he actually had: Dick Schofield Sr.
But before I get into the man himself, check out my 1971-style "Then and Now" card:
I was fully aware of Schofield because of his son, Dick Jr., who played in the '80's and 90's.
Actually, the Schofield's were one of the subjects of the Topps 1985 "Father/Son" sub-set.
What I never realized is that the senior Schofield played for 19
years in the Major Leagues, between 1953 and 1971, for a handful of
teams in both leagues.
By the time he retired after the 1971 season, Schofield had played
in 1321 games for seven different franchises: Cardinals, Pirates,
Giants, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Brewers.
A light hitting infielder, he was a member of the World Champion
1960 Pirates, as well as the 1968 Cardinals, who lost to the Detroit
Tigers in the World Series.
Of his 19 years in the big leagues, he appeared in over 100 games in only three seasons, 1963-1965.
Nevertheless, he was a solid fielder who was an asset off the
bench, even leading the league in fielding in 1965 with a .981
percentage among N.L. Shortstops.
One last tidbit: not only is he the father of a future big leaguer,
but he's also current big league player Jayson Werth's grandfather. Not
a bad bloodline going on here…
