Bill Schuster

{{Short description|American baseball player (1912–1987)}}

{{for|persons of a similar name|William Schuster (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Bill Schuster

|position=Shortstop

|image=Bill Schuster.jpg

|caption=

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{birth date|1912|8|4}}

|birth_place=Buffalo, New York, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1987|6|28|1912|8|4}}

|death_place=El Monte, California, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 29

|debutyear=1937

|debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 29

|finalyear=1945

|finalteam=Chicago Cubs

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.234

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=1

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=17

|teams=

• Pittsburgh Pirates ({{baseball year|1937}})
• Boston Bees ({{baseball year|1939}})
• Chicago Cubs ({{baseball year|1943}}–{{baseball year|1945}})

}}

William Charles Schuster (August 4, 1912 – June 28, 1987) was an American professional baseball player who played shortstop in the Major Leagues from 1937 to 1945. He would play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Bees, and Chicago Cubs.

Schuester attended Seneca Vocational High School before signing a professional contract in 1934.{{cite news |title=This and That |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103712489/this-and-that/ |access-date=13 June 2022 |work=Buffalo Evening News |date=10 September 1934 |page=21}}

Schuster scored the winning run in the Chicago Cubs' last victory in a World Series game, prior to 2016. He was a pinch-runner in the 11th inning of Game 6 at Wrigley Field in the 1945 World Series and scored from first base on Stan Hack's walk-off double for an 8-7 Cub win over Detroit. It turned out to be Schuster's last appearance in a Major League game.

After retiring as a player, Schuster managed the Vancouver Capilanos of the Western International League in 1950 and 1951, served as a third base coach for the Seattle Rainiers, worked in the press room of the Los Angeles Times and worked at a gas station in Woodland Hills, California before dying of a heart attack at age 74.{{cite news|last1=Eskenazi|first1=David|last2=Rudman|first2=Steve|title=Wayback Machine: The One And Only Bill Schuster|url=http://sportspressnw.com/2148925/2013/wayback-machine-the-one-and-only-bill-schuster|accessdate=14 June 2016|work=Sportspress Northwest|date=April 9, 2013}}

For his long career in the minor leagues, which included 2,168 hits over 16 seasons, Schuster is a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.