Carl Scheib was one of the less effective pitchers of his time, but he had some redeeming highlights. For starters, at the time of his debut he was the youngest MLB player to ever take the field. Scheib came in as a relief pitcher at age 16 and is currently the second youngest player ever. He played in 11 seasons and still left MLB at age 27.
Batters connected for a .270 average against him across his career, though not everyone had the same success. The biggest exception was none other than Ted Williams, the greatest hitter of his generation. Williams had a talent for learning what to expect from pitchers after seeing them once or twice and hammering them in subsequent encounters. He could never figure out Scheib, who held him to a lifetime .200 average consisting mostly of singles.
Scheib held his own in the batter’s box, claiming a .250 career average and generating 1.9 games above replacement on offense. His team took note of his hitting prowess and would use him when needed as a pinch hitter. He batted .396 in 56 plate appearances the year before this card was released.
