The Oldest living former MLB to celebrate 100th birthday in Sonoma

In 1951, he replaced future Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle on the New York Yankees roster and began rooming with Yogi Berra.|

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Art Schallock, the oldest living former Major League Baseball player, will celebrate his 100th birthday on Thursday, April 25, at Cogir Senior Living on Napa Road in Sonoma. Photographed at Cogir, with career memorabilia on the wall behind him, on Thursday, April 11. (Robbi Pengelly/Index-Tribune.

winning teams, when he was called up to play for the New York Yankees in the major leagues in 1951, he replaced future Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle on the New York Yankees roster and began rooming with Yogi Berra. He went on to earn three World Series rings as a member of the Yankees.

“I’ve been in the right spot at the right time,” Schallock said.

His good fortune will continue in his post-playing “baseball career” on Thursday, April 25, when Cogir on Napa Road Assisted Living and Memory Care in Sonoma, where he began living in 2023, celebrates his 100th birthday in grand style. The public is invited to the event, which will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. at Cogir’s parking lot (see sidebar).

We are so honored to celebrate a living legend that has now become part of our family,” said Wendy Cornejo, the executive director of the facility. “We are very excited to honor Art. The staff can’t stop talking about it. It’s the big buzz at the community.”

Schallock — still witty and able to recall precise details of baseball games he played in more than 75 years ago — relocated to Cogir after living in a home on Crocus Drive in Creekside Village in Sonoma starting in 1988. He previously lived in Novato, San Rafael and Mill Valley, where he was born.

While attending Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, he was a member of the baseball, golf and tennis teams, and during two summers, he played semipro baseball. He dreamed of playing for manager Lefty O’Doul with the San Francisco Seals of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.