Ed Charles

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Ed Charles
Charles with the New York Mets
Third baseman
Born: (1933-04-29)April 29, 1933
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Died: March 15, 2018(2018-03-15) (aged 84)
East Elmhurst, Queens, New York, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 11, 1962, for the Kansas City Athletics
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1969, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
Batting average.263
Home runs86
Runs batted in421
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Edwin Douglas Charles (April 29, 1933 – March 15, 2018) was an American

Kansas City Athletics (1962–67) and New York Mets
(1967–69). He was listed as 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and 170 pounds (77 kg).

Playing career

Minor league career

Charles was originally signed by the

farm system in the still-segregated Deep South, during which he wrote poetry concerning baseball and racism. Due to the presence of longtime All-Star Eddie Mathews at third base, the Braves traded Charles to the Kansas City Athletics prior to the 1962 season with Joe Azcue and Manny Jiménez for Lou Klimchock and Bob Shaw.[1]

Kansas City Athletics

In his rookie season of

Municipal Stadium, and though Charles batted .269 that year and .286 in 1966
, his combined home run total was 17—the same number he had hit in his rookie season.

New York Mets

On May 10,

Miracle Mets team that unexpectedly won the World Series, after finishing dead last in five of its first seven seasons and 9th in a 10-team National League in the other two. That year, the Mets had trailed the Chicago Cubs by as many as 10 games in the National League East (both leagues had split into two divisions after expanding from 10 teams to 12) on August 13. On September 24, they clinched the division with a 6–0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, with Charles homering off Steve Carlton (his final Major League home run) and Donn Clendenon homering twice and Gary Gentry
pitching a four-hitter for the victory.

Charles played in four of the five games in the World Series, in which the Mets defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. After losing the first game, the Mets won the next four; Charles scored the winning run in Game Two on an Al Weis single in the ninth inning. He was the oldest of the "Miracle Mets" at age 36.[2]

After the Series, Charles, whose nickname, "The Glider", came from his third base play and graceful base running, was unconditionally released by the Mets.[3] In his career he batted .263 with 86 home runs and 421 RBIs in 1005 games played.

Post-playing career

Charles at a baseball show at Hofstra University in 2007

Charles served as a

at-risk youth in group homes in The Bronx.[4]

Charles died on March 15, 2018, at the age of 84.

Private First Class, he was buried at Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas
.

In popular culture

Ed Charles appears in the 2013 movie

Dusan Brown. The scene depicts Charles' meeting with Jackie Robinson
, when (after Jackie's train had long since departed) Charles dashed out and put his ear to the train tracks, enthusiastically declaring that he could still hear the train.

References

  1. ^ "Braves, A's Happy Over Deal". The Schenectady Gazette. Associated Press. June 6, 1962. p. 15. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  2. ^ "1969 New York Mets Statistics".
  3. ^ "Mets Give Ed Charles Release". St. Joseph News Press. Associated Press. October 25, 1929. p. 13. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  4. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1127121/index.htm [dead link]
  5. ^ Vecsey, George (March 15, 2018). "Ed Charles, a Mainstay of the Miracle Mets, Is Dead at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2018.

External links

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