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Al Schacht was a Major League pitcher
for the Washington Senators from 1919
to 1921. He later became a 3rd base
coach, and his comedic antics from the
coaching lines with fellow Washington
coach Nick Altrock, earned him the
nickname of "The Clown Prince of
Baseball." During WWII, wearing a
battered top hat and ragged tails,
Schacht took his act on the road,
touring to entertain the troops
overseas. On the home front Schacht was
involved locally, attending events to
raise money through War Bonds. The
Clown Prince of Baseball entertained
the crowd of 50,000, at the
1944 Dodgers Yankees Giants
Tri-Cornered Baseball Game, a War
Bond exhibition played at the Polo
Grounds.
In 1942 Schacht cited that tire and gas restrictions, rationing for the
war effort, forced him to abandon his
diamond antics and he decided to open a
cafe in New York. September of 1942, Al
Schacht Restaurant opened at 102 E. 52
Street, New
York City, NY. It soon became a popular
destination for local sports stars and
celebrities. This Al Schacht Restaurant
advertising matchbook, was manufactured
by the Lion Match Company, famous for
their patented match splints which were
made wider to feature artistically
printed designs on them. The colorful
green tip match sticks feature baseball bats alternated between
the name of Al Schacht.
The front of the matchbook cover depicts Al Schacht in uniform, and tails
with his top hat raised in the air. To
the right is Al Schacht's facsimile
autograph. The section between the
front and back", called the saddle,
reads "Clown Prince of Baseball." The
back features an "odd-striker" in the
shape of a baseball diamond. Above
reads "Al Schacht Restaurant" and below
the diamond is the address. At the
footer, below the staple reads,
"Feature" Match Book Pat. 1,839845-6.
"Feature" is a Lion trademark for
covers with pictures, and or printing
on the match sticks. The inside of
the cover, at the top reads; "Ask Me
For Our 'Million Dollar' Credit card -
When It Comes To Food-I'm Not Clowning"
followed by an Al Schacht's facsimile
autograph. In 1960 the same matchbook
featured a New York Yankees home
schedule on the inside.
The Restaurant operated into the 1960's. Because the restaurant featured a
baseball theme, Schacht decorated it
with various pieces of sports
memorabilia, including many game-used
garments. A gentleman passing by the
restaurant a short time after it had
closed witnessed workers bringing out
piles of garbage to a dumpster on the
street. Among the debris being carried
out were many old uniforms. Being a
baseball fan, he politely asked one of
the workers if he could take some of
the uniforms they were throwing away
and was told to help himself.
Rescued from the dumpster; a Circa 1930s/1940s Johnny Murphy Yankees home
jersey, a 1940s Johnny Lindell Yankees
home jersey, a 1955 Frank Leja Yankees
home jersey, a 1955 Jerry Coleman
Yankees home jersey, and a Circa
1940s-1950s New York Yankees Game-Used
Pants Collection of
4, with Turley and Dressen. We
live in different times.
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