New York Giants Pitcher : "Prince" Hal Schumacher

Harold Henry Schumaker, nicknamed Prince, was born on November 23, 1910 in Hinckley, New York on the Southern end of the Adirondack Mountains. Hal attended Lawrence University before being signed by the New York Giants. He had to quit school even though he was an exceptional student both in academics & in sports. He told the Giants he’d sign if they paid for him to finish school, he did. He would spend his entire career with the New York Giants pitching 13 seasons and appearing in three World Series.

He made a brief debut in 1931 for John McGraw winning his first game that September. The next season Bill Terry took over as manger and in 1933, Hal was a 19 game winner and the number two man behind Carl Hubbell. He was 19-12 with seven shutouts, and a 2.16 ERA pitching 258 innings. He made baseballs first All Star team and got some votes for the MVP award. In June he graduated from Lawrence University and Terry took the whole team up North for the ceremony. In the 1933 World Series he pitched a five hit complete game win over the Senators in Game #2. He got no decision in Game #5 pitching into the 6th inning leaving in a 3-3 tie.

He had his best season in 1934 winning 23 games, pitching in 298 innings with a 3.16 ERA, & striking out 112 batters. He also led the league with 10 wild pitches. He would win 19 games again in 1935 (19-9) with a 2.89 ERA, making his second All Star game. After an off year in 1936 due to arm problems (11-13) he went on to have four straight seasons of 13 wins and two more with 12 wins.

In the 1936 World Series he got beat up in Game #2 allowing 5 runs in two innings, taking the loss. He came back to win Game #5 (5-4) pitching a complete game with 10 strikeouts. Lifetime he was 158-121 with seven saves and a 3.36 ERA.


Schumacher was one of the best hitting pitchers during his time, belting 15 career HRs, 102 RBIs and a .202 average. In 1934 he hit 6 HRs with 15 RBIs and the following year he drove in 21 more runs.

He enlisted in the Naval Reserves in 1942 during World War II, serving four years and returning briefly with the Giants in 1946. After playing baseball he worked for the Adirondack Bat Company in upstate New York for twenty years. After that he worked at Little League headquartes in Williamsport, PA. He passed away from stomach cancer in Cooperstown, NY in 1993 at age 83.