Happy birthday to a clown

Al Schacht, left, with Joe DiMaggio at Yankee Stadium

Today marks the 133rd anniversary of the birth of Al Schacht.

Al Schacht

Now this may not mean much to those outside of the Schacht family, but consider the following: Schacht and Nick Altrock are the “Clown Princes of Baseball” well before anyone ever hears of Max Patkin and, two, Schacht somehow finds a way to make the ultra-stoic Joe DiMaggio smile on a baseball field.

Another thing or two about Al Schacht – before becoming an on-field clown, he spends two-plus seasons pitching in the major leagues with the Washington Senators from 1919-21, and before that he spends the 1915 season playing on Harrisburg’s City Island with the minor league Senators.

Schacht also has a fairly well-known teammate and roommate while playing in Harrisburg.

That other guy? That would be outfielder Jim Thorpe. Yes, that Jim Thorpe.

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