Paul Schramka Much More Than a One-Year Winner

Baseball was a constant companion through a long and full life

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1977 Fritsch One Year Winners Paul Schramka (#14) - Card of the Day

By all accounts, Paul Schramka lived a long, happy, and eventful life.

Born in Wisconsin in 1928, Schramka grew up around the family business — both his mother and father were funeral directors, as was a grandfather. For most of his adult life, Schramka followed in their footsteps, serving Milwaukee citizens in their time of grief while raising a family.

But before Schramka decided that his family’s calling was also his, he went to college, at both Notre Dame and the University of San Francisco in the late 1940s.

Then, from October of 1950 through October of 1952, Schramka served in Korea as an Army infantryman.

But it’s the in-between years that brought us together here in this space.

Because Schramka was a baseball player through it all.

His talent showed up in college and eventually led USF to induct him into their sports Hall of Fame in 1973. It also led the Chicago Cubs to sign him to a minor league contract before the 1949 season.

Schramka spent 1949 and 1950 with the Single-A Des Moines Bruins. He wasn’t much of a high-average guy, but he made up for it by smacking 11 and 20 homers those years, along with drawing gobs of walks. His roughly .250/.350/.410 slash lines would play well today.

They played well enough in the 1950s that Schramka broke Spring Training with Chicago in 1953. He made it into their first two games, too, as a pinch runner on April 13 and as a left-field sub on April 14.

He didn’t come to bat in either game.

Indeed, Schramka never came to bat in the big leagues, and he never stepped foot on another diamond in the majors as a player. After those two April games, he was back in the minors, spending the summer at Double and Triple A.

Same deal in 1954, except the levels were Single and Triple A.

And then, Schramka was done with pro baseball. He did continue to mash in Milwaukee-area corporate leagues, though, and he always had his hand in the local game in some way or another.

Schramka also left his mark on the Cubs, despite his brief stop. While he was with the Wrigleys early in 1953, Schramka wore uniform #14. When he went back down to the farm, the number fell fallow.

Until a certain young shortstop debuted that September…Ernie Banks never did relinquish his hold on #14, and the Cubs eventually retired the number in his honor.

Thus, Schamka, who was born 96 years ago today and passed away in 2019, is the last Cub to wear #14 before Mr. Cub put it out of reach for good.

Neither Schamka nor Banks garnered a baseball card in 1953. Banks’ rocketing superstardom would land him in collections soon enough.

But Schamka — and collector — would have to wait for Larry Fritsch’s One-Year Winners set in 1977 to see his Cubs exploits committed to cardboard.

Benny and the Jets Cards

Fritsch’s One-Year Winners were not themselves one-year wonders, and by 1983, the hobby legend was leaning on the 1966 Topps design.

One of the players who made the cut in that 64-card run, like Schramka, had something in common with a more famous player.

By 1983, Fernando Valenzuela was a household name, so Benny Valenzuela stuck out of Fritsch’s lineup like a sore thumb to any collector running a finger down the checklist.

You can read a bit more about Benny and his OYW card in this piece from a few years back.

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Hey, hey, it’s Friday! Not only that, we’re heading into the last weekend without regular-season baseball until October.

Buckle up and get ready for the ride, because you know it’s going to be long, bumpy, topsy-turvy, and — most of all — a blast.

Thanks for reading.

—Adam