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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. The Restaurant operated into the 1960's.
This Al Schacht's "Score Card" bi-fold
restaurant menu dipicts the Clown
Prince of baseball in uniform and
tails, with his top hat and baseball
glove raised in the air. The background
illustrats a comical ball game in
progress. At the bottom the slogan
"When It Comes To Food I'm Not
Clowning Around" all printing front and
back in green. The back features the
"All-Time, All-Star Team picked by the
Baseball Writers Association."
The 9 players pictured with Position,
Name, and Nickname are Bill Dickey,
Walter Johnson, Lou Gehrig, Eddie
Collins, Honus Wagner, Pie Traynor, Ty
Cobb, Tris Speaker and Babe Ruth,
The inside of the menu has a heading that reads "Today's Lineup - Big
League." The address at the bottom
left, phone number bottom right. Some
menus have 5 paper bats stapled on the right
for ordering. and reds "Select One for a
Home-Run. Hand your Bat to Your
Bat-Boy." This style menu printed in
green on white was made in slight
variations with the layout, larger, or
and different color backgrounds.
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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