The legendary baseball coach and manager of the Edwardsville American Post 199 baseball team for almost four decades, Ken Schaake, has passed on.
Ken Schaake died on Wednesday, March 23, 2022. He was 68-year-old.
Schaake was the manager of the Edwardsville American Post 199 baseball team for 38 solid years.
Schaake led the team to win state and finished second in the Great Lakes Regional in 2015.
In 2015, the team finished second at both state and regional. The Bears were second in the regional and in 2016, and in 2017, Post 199 won the state tournament and placed fourth in the regional.
In May 2019, Schaake announced his resignation due to his inability to field a team for the summer of 2019.
Schaake had 874 career wins including three state championships and a national championship in 1998.
Schaake resigned as the manager of the Edwardsville American Post 199 baseball team in 2019.
He said, “It was kind of a magical year for Edwardsville baseball, and I can’t say enough for what those kids did,” after he stepped down.
Under Schaake’s coaching wigs, the team won 17 District 22 championships and nine Fifth Division Tournament titles.
The baseball icon had a passion for baseball at a tender age. At age fifteen, he began playing Legion baseball for Post 199 in 1969 under former Edwardsville Tigers coaches Joe Lucco, Bob Gregor, and Bill Funkhouser, as well as Chuck Jones.
In 1978, Schaake started coaching for Post 199 under his father Don Schaake, who died on December 19, 2019, at age 88. Don the was scorekeeper of the team through Post 199’s final season in 2018.
Ken Schaake was married to Evelyn Schaake. Evelyne died with cancer at age 85 on February 27, 2020.
There is no data on the children of Ken Schaake and Evelyn Schaake.
The cause of Ken Schaake’s death has not been revealed. However, his body has been donated to St. Louis University Medical School for research purposes in obedience to legend’s wishes.
