Karl Schnell

In 1922, pitcher Karl Schnell became the first graduate of Palo Alto High – a school with several notable alumni in athletics1 – to make it to the majors in baseball. The son of German immigrants had starred in college for the Saint Mary’s Phoenix ball club. Playing with and against future Hall of Famers, Schnell got into 10 games with the Cincinnati Reds as they competed for the National League pennant that year. He made one more big-league appearance for the Reds in 1923 but – plagued by a mysterious shoulder ailment – did not continue in pro ball after that season.

Karl Otto Schnell was born on September 20, 1899, in Los Angeles. His parents were Fidelis and Victoria (Burth) Schnell from the Province of Hohenzollern in Prussia.2 His father was a woodworker and cabinetmaker. Karl had two older brothers, Eugene, born in 1894, and Delis, born in 1896. Eugene was a prolific half-miler at Stanford.3

Karl grew up in Mayfield and Palo Alto, California where he played baseball and rugby.4 In baseball, Schnell was mainly an infielder before he developed his curveball and became a full-time pitcher. In addition, like his brother Eugene, Schnell competed in track and field. As a senior in 1917, he scored the most points (11) at an interclass meet held at the Stanford track. He won the 220-yard dash, the four-man relay with his senior teammates, and finished second in the shot put.5          

A day later, Schnell threw a no-hitter on the mound against Campbell High, putting “himself in the ranks of the Class A brand of heavers.”6 Less than a week after that, he tossed a one-hitter against a San Jose school.7 He graduated from Palo Alto High School in June 1917.

In March 1918, pitching for a San Jose Bears squad of the semipro Mission League, Schnell fell in an exhibition, 2-0, to Eppa Rixey – his future teammate in Cincinnati – and a Camp Fremont nine.8 Schnell spent the summer pitching for the Bears; he had young Hal Rhyne as his third baseman.

During World War I, the 18-year-old Karl was enrolled at a military training school in Oregon. Brother Eugene served as a lieutenant based in Camp Lewis, Washington. The other Schnell brother, Delis, served in the quartermaster department in France.9

At the behest of his San Jose manager, G.C. Bradford, Karl was given a tryout at the Oakland Oaks’ camp in February 1919, being described as a youngster “from San Jose rather highly touted.”10 After being cut in mid-March, he played once more for the San Jose Bears of the Mission Winter League, including an exhibition against the San Francisco Seals.11 By the summer of 1919, Schnell was laboring in central California for the Shell Oil team of the semipro San Joaquin Valley League.12

Schnell enrolled at Saint Mary’s College, then located in Oakland, and played baseball for the school. Speed Martin, then a pitcher for the Cubs, was a coach.13 The best known player from St. Mary’s in that era was Lew Fonseca, who, like Schnell, would make his major-league debut with Cincinnati (a year earlier, in 1921). Schnell pitched well during his time at St. Mary’s. He would, in 1974, be inducted into the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Among his notable performances for St. Mary’s, in March 1920, Schnell threw a three-hitter in an exhibition against the Sacramento Senators of the Pacific Coast League. The next month, he bested his former San Jose semipro team, 8-2, fanning 13 batters.14 Fellow future big-leaguers Bill Doran (third base) and Willie Ludolph (left field, normally a pitcher) were also in the lineup in support of Schnell.

By month’s end, Schnell began playing for Lodi of the Central California League, then later for Coalinga of the SJV League. By September, he had moved to the Hanford squad of the same circuit. In October, and back in the Bay Area, Schnell played for Crystal Laundry in the Oakland Midwinter League.

On February 26, 1921, Schnell twirled a no-hitter for the Phoenix against the Kenealy Seals of San Francisco.15 On March 13, he allowed just four hits in a rain-shortened, seven-inning, 2-2 tie against the Sacramento Senators.16 Three days later, he fell to the same Senators, 4-0. A week later, Schnell was shellacked by Cal-Berkeley. But he and the Phoenix quickly righted themselves by defeating Stanford 7-5 on March 30.

Karl made his professional baseball debut with the Calgary Bronchos of the Western Canada League in May 1921, being recruited by Bay Area-based manager Joe Devine. Schnell shut out Winnipeg 4-0 on four hits on August 22.17

Earlier that month, his contract had been sold to the NL’s Cincinnati Reds for $5,000, the same value as another Bay Area product, pitcher John Gillespie, for delivery the following spring.18 As of early September, Schnell had won 21 of 27 decisions and allowed but one home run.19 He also hit .300 in 90 at-bats. Schnell pitched Calgary to the pennant of the WCL on September 18, 9-2, over Winnipeg.20

Schnell joined the Reds the next spring in Marlin, Texas, a town known for its mineral springs.21 This team featured noteworthy players under manager Pat Moran, including future Hall of Famers Eppa “Jephtha” Rixey (previously an opponent of Schnell’s) and Edd Roush. Pete Donohue, a starter and eventual member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, had a personal connection to Schnell. Donohue’s first wife, Frances Meyer, was the sister of Karl’s first wife Beatrice (known as “Lesette”).

Schnell broke camp with the Reds. He made his major-league debut on April 24, 1922, walking three batters but giving up no runs in the ninth inning of a 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched in five games in May, including his longest appearance: on May 31 at Forbes Field against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On that day, Schnell entered with the bases loaded and one out in relief of Johnny Couch. He allowed just one inherited runner to score, which made the score 4-0 for the home team. He went the remaining seven innings, giving up the final seven runs, four earned, in an 11-2 loss. He did, however, fan future Hall of Famer Max Carey. Schnell also recorded the first and only hit of his major-league career, a single off Earl Hamilton.

Schnell earned the nickname “Jug Handle” from teammate Sam Bohne, after his curveball.22 However, the rookie would appear in only three regular-season games over the rest of the season, and none after September 1. Ten days later, though, in an in-season exhibition for the Reds, Schnell did beat Newark, Ohio, 2-1. The game report stated that “Manager Moran has thought all summer that this lad had a good deal of stuff and might develop into a winner, but his lack of control has kept him out of the line in championship games. He had good command to-day…he looks as if he may be about ready for a trial in a more important event.”23 Indeed, Schnell walked 18 in his 20 innings of work that season. Even so, his ERA was just 3.15. He was not the pitcher of record in any of his appearances.

The Reds ended up with a record of 86-68-2 in 1922, second in the National League, seven games behind the New York Giants, who dominated the senior circuit that year. However, Edd Roush played in just 49 games owing to a contract dispute. Schnell believed the Reds would have won the pennant had Roush joined the team sooner.24

After the season, in a letter addressed to Reds President August “Garry” Herrmann, Schnell claimed “my arm is in the best of shape,” in his request for a salary increase.25 However, during the following spring training in Orlando, Karl hardly pitched; he did not think he would be with the team much longer. He made only one appearance for the Reds in 1923, an inning on April 19 against the St. Louis Cardinals in which he gave up two hits (including a triple to Rogers Hornsby) and two walks, accounting for four runs, all without retiring a batter.

Schnell was soon dispatched to the Nashville Volunteers of the Southern Association. After less than two weeks, it was reported that he was being shipped to Spartanburg, South Carolina. In late June, he was sent to the Seattle Indians of the Pacific Coast League, where he lasted but four games. By September, he was pitching for Stockton of the San Joaquin Valley League.

In 1924, Schnell was sighted pitching for the Ambrose Tailors of the Industrial League against the Sacramento Senators in a March exhibition. Towards the end of his career, he had, in his words, “lost all confidence in himself” as a pitcher.26 Schnell claimed he had hurt his shoulder while in Canada; after that he had seen countless doctors, but they never figured out what was wrong with him.27

Though Schnell’s time in the majors may have been short, he lived a long and happy life and left a legacy as a family man.

Karl met his first wife, Beatrice “Lesette” Meyer in Cincinnati; they married in 1926.28 They had two daughters, Frances Bea and Carla Mae.29 Carla’s future husband, Nort Thornton, was the head swimming coach of the California Golden Bears from 1974 to 2007. Their son Richard was selected for the US Olympic swim team in 1980 but did not participate because of the country’s boycott.30 After Lesette passed away in 1939, Karl later married Dorothy McCoy, an Ohio native, in 1950.

Schnell worked for Pan American Petroleum, and later Richfield Oil, as a terminal superintendent for more than 30 years.31 He was a chartered member of the Palo Alto Elks, Lodge #1471.32 Schnell attended Mass at St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church in Berkeley. His second wife, Dorothy, was once president of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sodality of St. Ambrose Parish.33 Karl loved the San Francisco 49ers.

Karl Schnell passed away on May 31, 1992, in Palo Alto, at the age of 92. His survivors included seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He is buried at Alta Mesa Memorial Park.34

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Darren Gibson and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

Sources

In preparing this biography, the author relied primarily on the player file from the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library and an interview with Schnell conducted by Rex Doane of the Society for American Baseball Research on December 11, 1991 (https://sabr.org/interview/karl-otto-schnell-1991/).

Other sources included Retrosheet.org (https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/S/Pschnk101.htm), Baseball-Reference.com; Findagrave.com; Ancestry.com; Newspapers.com.

Notes

1 Other major-leaguers to graduate from Palo Alto High School include brothers Tony and Mike Brewer, as well as the father-son combo of Stu and Joc Pederson. Notables in other sports include basketball’s Jeremy Lin and footballers Jim Harbaugh and Davante Adams.

2 Ancestry.com.

3 “Schnell Informally Breaks 660 Mark”, The San Francisco Examiner, February 18, 1917: 39.

4 SABR interview.

5 “Seniors Win Interclass Meet,” Daily Palo Alto (California) Times, March 17, 1917: 1, 5.

6 “Palo Alto High Baseballers Win First League Game,” Palo Alto Times, March 19, 1917: 8.

7 “Palo Alto Wins from San Jose,” Palo Alto Times, March 24, 1917: 1.

8 “Eppa Rixey Pitches a One-Hit Battle,” Oakland Enquirer, March 25, 1918: 9.

9 “Three Sons Honor Schnell Home in Military Service,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 4, 1918: 3.

10 Al C. Joy, “An Earful of ‘Info’ in Haunts of the Oaks,” San Francisco Examiner, February 15, 1919: 12.

11 “Seals and Bears in Final Contest of Season Sunday,” Daily Palo Alto Times, March 26, 1919: 1.

12 P.E. Ritcha, “Close-Figuring Jinx Still After Pirates; Drop Long Game to Shell at Oil Fields,” Visalia (California) Daily Times, June 30, 1919: 4.

13 “Speed Martin on The Job Coaching St. Mary’s Team,” Oakland Tribune, January 19, 1920: 6.

14  “St. Mary’s Nine Win Two Games Away from Home,” Oakland Tribune, April 6, 1920: 14.

15 “Schnell Hurls No-Hit, No-run Game for Saints,” Oakland Tribune, February 27, 1921: 7.

16 “College Boys Play Tie Game with Senators,” Sacramento Bee, March 14, 1921: 15.

17 “League Leaders Unable to Score in the Opening Game of Crucial Series,” Calgary (Alberta, Canada) Albertan, August 23, 1921: 6.

18 “’Cincy’ Reds Sign Schnell, Former School Boy,” Palo Alto Times, August 5, 1921: 3.

19 “Calgary Hurling Ace Will Oppose Kaufman,” Calgary Herald, September 7, 1921: 16.

20 “Western Canada League Pennant Won for Second Time by Calgary Bronks,” Calgary Herald, September 19, 1921: 12.

21 SABR interview.

22 SABR interview.

23 Jack Ryder, “Reds Trim Pastimes,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 12, 1922: 9.

24 SABR interview.

25 HOF Player File.

26 SABR interview.

27 SABR interview.

28 “Marriage Licenses,” Daily News, June 3, 1926: 6.

29 Ancestry.com.

30 Braden Keith, “1980 US Olympian, San Ramon Valley Swim Coach Rich Thornton Dies, 65,” Swimswam.com, January 4, 2024 (https://swimswam.com/1980-us-olympian-san-ramon-valley-swim-coach-rich-thornton-dies-while-surfing-65/).

31 “Employees Get Emblems,” The Independent, December 13, 1958: 10.

32 “Institute Elks Lodge Here Saturday,” Daily Palo Alto Times, October 2, 1923: 8.

33 “Sodality Re-Elects Mrs. Karl Schnell,” Oakland Tribune, February 17, 1957: 69.

34 Find-a-Grave.com