I said "Play it, Fritz" and you replied with "It's pronounced BalZ etc.". I thought you were correcting me on "Fritz". Now that I reread your post I see you were asking a question, not making a statement, and it was related to "Baltz" vs "Balz", and you ended with "I suspect it is Baltz". It is indeed "Balz" without the 'T', which is not silent even when it's not there. "Balz" is still pronounced "Baltz".

I was confused by Fritz's sporadic hit-and-miss playing - he gets sloppy when he's trying to hit on a miss.