Howard Henry "Howie" Schultz, nicknamed "Stretch" and "Steeple", was an American baseball and basketball player from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Due to his height, 6-foot-6-inch, he was not allowed to serve in the armed forces during World War II. From 1943 to 1948, Schultz, played Major League Baseball as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds. He primarily played as a first baseman and has a career batting average of .241. Schultz was traded by Brooklyn to make room for Jackie Robinson. In the offseason, Schultz played professional basketball. He was with the Anderson Packers of the NBL for three seasons. When the Packers moved to the NBA, Schultz served as their player-coach before being traded to the Fort Wayne Pistons midseason. Schultz later played two seasons with Minneapolis Lakers, winning a championship in 1952. Schultz averaged 9.7 points per game in the NBL, and 5.3 in the NBA Schultz was one of the few players who qualified for pensions from both major league baseball and the NBA. [More at Wikipedia]

July 3rd, 1922 in Saint Paul  /  Died:   Oct 30th, 2009 - aged 87