George Shuba
Encyclopedia
George "Shotgun" Shuba is a former utility outfielder
and left-handed pinch hitter
in Major League Baseball
who played seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers
. His seven seasons included three World Series
as well as a World Series championship in 1955. He was the first National League
player to hit a pinch-hit home run in a World Series game.
Shuba is often remembered for his symbolic role in breaking down Major League Baseball's tenacious "color barrier". While playing for a farm team in the 1940s, Shuba offered a congratulatory handshake to rival team player Jackie Robinson
, who went on to become the first African American
to play in a major league since the late 19th century. The moment was captured in a well- known photograph.
In the early 1970s, Shuba's major league career was featured in a chapter of Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer, a tribute to the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers. Kahn observed in his book that Shuba earned his nickname, "Shotgun", by "spraying line drives with a swing so compact that it appeared as natural as a smile".
immigrants in Youngstown, Ohio
, a steel-manufacturing town with a strong tradition of amateur and minor league
baseball. His father, Jan Shuba, emigrated from eastern Czechoslovakia
in 1912. Jan Shuba was 45 years old at the time of George's birth, and he did little to encourage his son's interest in sports. As a child, George Shuba attended Holy Name Elementary School, a parochial school
on the city's heavily Eastern Europe
an west side.
Shuba was an avid baseball player throughout his youth, and he usually served as a second baseman in neighborhood games. In 1943, when he was 17 years old, he participated in a tryout for the Brooklyn Dodgers and eventually signed a contract. As Shuba later recalled, an ear injury sustained while being disciplined by a teacher prevented him from entering the U.S. Army during World War II
. He would gain valuable experience playing for minor league clubs throughout the war years.
. He later recalled that his father opposed the move, because he "thought I should go and work in the mills like him". Shuba pursued his goal, however, developing his "natural" swing by practicing for hours with a rope that was tied to the ceiling. He made knots in the rope where the strike zone
would be and swung a bat at the rope 600 times a day. This rigorously observed ritual prepared Shuba to compete in the major leagues, where his powerful line drives later earned him the nickname, "Shotgun".
In the mid-1940s, Shuba was recruited by the Montreal Royals
, a major farm team
for the Brooklyn Dodgers. On April 18, 1946, the Royals took on the Jersey City Giants
, whose players included future baseball legend Jackie Robinson. During the game, he was captured in an iconic photograph shaking hands with Jackie Robinson, who had just "smacked a 335 feet (102.1 m) home run over the left fence at Roosevelt Stadium". The moment was described as "the first interracial handshake" in North America
n baseball's recent history.
Despite a record that seemed to merit promotion, he spent the 1947 and 1948 baseball seasons with the minor league Mobile Bears. Shuba later told Roger Kahn that in 1947, he hit 21 home runs and knocked in 110 runs. The next year, Shuba worked up a batting average of .389. In response, Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey
complained that Shuba's "power fell off", adding that the team needed "someone who can hit them over that short right-field wall in Ebbets Field
". Frustrated, Shuba returned to Mobile in the spring of 1948. "What could I say?" Shuba explained in an interview with Kahn. "As long as he could option me, you know, send me down but keep me Dodger property, Rickey would do that so's he could keep some other guy whose option ran out. Property, that's what we were. But how many guys you know ever hit .389 and never got promoted?"
Shuba made his major league debut with the Dodgers on July 2, 1948. At the peak of his playing career, Shuba delivered a pinch-hit homer in the 1953 World Series opener, which the New York Yankees
won 9-5. Ultimately, he worked up a career batting average of .259 on 211 hits in 814 trips, with 125 RBIs, 106 runs scored, and 45 doubles and 24 homers. Playing for the Dodgers, Shuba watched as teammate Jackie Robinson won the National League
's "Rookie of the Year" award (1947) and the league's MVP (1949). A recent feature article noted that Shuba's "best year was in 1952 when he batted .305 (78-for-256) with nine homers, 40 RBIs and 40 runs scored". Knee surgery, however, reduced his effectiveness after that season. Shuba played his final game on September 25, 1955.
, a suburb of Youngstown. Shuba and his wife, Katherine, who was nine years his junior, raised three children.
Despite the visibility he gained as a professional athlete, Shuba remained deeply connected to his ethnic and religious roots. Kahn recalled that during a visit to the Shuba household in the early 1970s, the ex-ballplayer recited a mealtime prayer in the Slovak language. Shuba explained to Kahn that his father had recited the prayer before every family meal.
noted that he continues to take pride in the photograph of his groundbreaking handshake with teammate Robinson. A copy of the photo currently hangs behind his favorite living room chair.
During a 1996 interview with a Youngstown news reporter, Shuba recalled his impressions of the legendary Robinson: "To me, Jackie was like all the other guys, a player who came to play and we knew he would be a good one, but what me or anyone else at the time didn't know was how good he would be". In a 2007 reference to Robinson's courage and determination, Shuba credited the other player with imparting "a lesson about life that I have never forgotten". That same year, Shuba highlighted the event in his memoir, My Memories as a Brooklyn Dodger, which he co-wrote with Youngstown-area writer Greg Gulas.
On September 18, 2007, Youngstown's Borts Ball Field, a west side recreational spot that Shuba frequented as a child, was renamed as the George "Shotgun" Shuba Field at Borts Park.
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
and left-handed pinch hitter
Pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead ; the manager may use any player that has not yet entered the game as a substitute...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
who played seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
. His seven seasons included three World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
as well as a World Series championship in 1955. He was the first National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
player to hit a pinch-hit home run in a World Series game.
Shuba is often remembered for his symbolic role in breaking down Major League Baseball's tenacious "color barrier". While playing for a farm team in the 1940s, Shuba offered a congratulatory handshake to rival team player Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, who went on to become the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
to play in a major league since the late 19th century. The moment was captured in a well- known photograph.
In the early 1970s, Shuba's major league career was featured in a chapter of Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer, a tribute to the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers. Kahn observed in his book that Shuba earned his nickname, "Shotgun", by "spraying line drives with a swing so compact that it appeared as natural as a smile".
Early life
Shuba was born the youngest of 10 children to SlovakSlovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
immigrants in Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, a steel-manufacturing town with a strong tradition of amateur and minor league
Minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...
baseball. His father, Jan Shuba, emigrated from eastern Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in 1912. Jan Shuba was 45 years old at the time of George's birth, and he did little to encourage his son's interest in sports. As a child, George Shuba attended Holy Name Elementary School, a parochial school
Parochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
on the city's heavily Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an west side.
Shuba was an avid baseball player throughout his youth, and he usually served as a second baseman in neighborhood games. In 1943, when he was 17 years old, he participated in a tryout for the Brooklyn Dodgers and eventually signed a contract. As Shuba later recalled, an ear injury sustained while being disciplined by a teacher prevented him from entering the U.S. Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He would gain valuable experience playing for minor league clubs throughout the war years.
Baseball career
After signing a contract with the Dodgers, Shuba played for farm teams in New Orleans and MobileMobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
. He later recalled that his father opposed the move, because he "thought I should go and work in the mills like him". Shuba pursued his goal, however, developing his "natural" swing by practicing for hours with a rope that was tied to the ceiling. He made knots in the rope where the strike zone
Strike zone
In baseball, the strike zone is a conceptual right pentagonal prism over home plate which defines the boundaries through which a pitch must pass in order to count as a strike when the batter does not swing.-Definition:...
would be and swung a bat at the rope 600 times a day. This rigorously observed ritual prepared Shuba to compete in the major leagues, where his powerful line drives later earned him the nickname, "Shotgun".
In the mid-1940s, Shuba was recruited by the Montreal Royals
Montreal Royals
The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, that existed from 1897–1917 and from 1928–60 as a member of the International League and its progenitor, the original Eastern League...
, a major farm team
Farm team
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team or nursery club, is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher level at a given point...
for the Brooklyn Dodgers. On April 18, 1946, the Royals took on the Jersey City Giants
Jersey City Giants
The Jersey City Giants was the name of a high-level American minor league baseball franchise that played in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the top farm system affiliate of the New York Giants from 1937 through 1950. The Jersey City club played in the International League...
, whose players included future baseball legend Jackie Robinson. During the game, he was captured in an iconic photograph shaking hands with Jackie Robinson, who had just "smacked a 335 feet (102.1 m) home run over the left fence at Roosevelt Stadium". The moment was described as "the first interracial handshake" in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n baseball's recent history.
Despite a record that seemed to merit promotion, he spent the 1947 and 1948 baseball seasons with the minor league Mobile Bears. Shuba later told Roger Kahn that in 1947, he hit 21 home runs and knocked in 110 runs. The next year, Shuba worked up a batting average of .389. In response, Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
complained that Shuba's "power fell off", adding that the team needed "someone who can hit them over that short right-field wall in Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...
". Frustrated, Shuba returned to Mobile in the spring of 1948. "What could I say?" Shuba explained in an interview with Kahn. "As long as he could option me, you know, send me down but keep me Dodger property, Rickey would do that so's he could keep some other guy whose option ran out. Property, that's what we were. But how many guys you know ever hit .389 and never got promoted?"
Shuba made his major league debut with the Dodgers on July 2, 1948. At the peak of his playing career, Shuba delivered a pinch-hit homer in the 1953 World Series opener, which the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
won 9-5. Ultimately, he worked up a career batting average of .259 on 211 hits in 814 trips, with 125 RBIs, 106 runs scored, and 45 doubles and 24 homers. Playing for the Dodgers, Shuba watched as teammate Jackie Robinson won the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
's "Rookie of the Year" award (1947) and the league's MVP (1949). A recent feature article noted that Shuba's "best year was in 1952 when he batted .305 (78-for-256) with nine homers, 40 RBIs and 40 runs scored". Knee surgery, however, reduced his effectiveness after that season. Shuba played his final game on September 25, 1955.
Personal life
Shuba remained single during his professional baseball career. Roger Kahn wrote in The Boys of Summer that the young player spent his years with the Dodgers as "a bachelor living alone and apart from the rest of the players". After retiring from Major League Baseball, Shuba returned to Ohio, where he met his future wife. The couple settled in AustintownAustintown, Ohio
Austintown is a census-designated place in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 31,627 at the 2000 census...
, a suburb of Youngstown. Shuba and his wife, Katherine, who was nine years his junior, raised three children.
Despite the visibility he gained as a professional athlete, Shuba remained deeply connected to his ethnic and religious roots. Kahn recalled that during a visit to the Shuba household in the early 1970s, the ex-ballplayer recited a mealtime prayer in the Slovak language. Shuba explained to Kahn that his father had recited the prayer before every family meal.
Retirement
Shuba has lived in the Youngstown area since his retirement from Major League Baseball in 1955. In the early 1970s, he was interviewed at his Austintown home by Roger Kahn, who was conducting research for The Boys of Summer, a literary tribute to the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers. Over the years, Shuba has received recognition for his symbolic role in promoting interracial harmony in professional baseball. A 2006 article that appeared in the Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
noted that he continues to take pride in the photograph of his groundbreaking handshake with teammate Robinson. A copy of the photo currently hangs behind his favorite living room chair.
During a 1996 interview with a Youngstown news reporter, Shuba recalled his impressions of the legendary Robinson: "To me, Jackie was like all the other guys, a player who came to play and we knew he would be a good one, but what me or anyone else at the time didn't know was how good he would be". In a 2007 reference to Robinson's courage and determination, Shuba credited the other player with imparting "a lesson about life that I have never forgotten". That same year, Shuba highlighted the event in his memoir, My Memories as a Brooklyn Dodger, which he co-wrote with Youngstown-area writer Greg Gulas.
On September 18, 2007, Youngstown's Borts Ball Field, a west side recreational spot that Shuba frequented as a child, was renamed as the George "Shotgun" Shuba Field at Borts Park.