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Oscar Charleston
Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder, first baseman and manager in Negro league baseball and the Cuban League. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Negro league baseball's leading teams in the 1930s. He also played nine winter seasons in Cuba and in numerous exhibition games against white major leaguers. He was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
One of the Negro leagues' early stars, Charleston was, by 1920, generally considered "the greatest center fielder and one of the most reliable sluggers in black baseball." He and Josh Gibson share the record for Negro league batting titles with three. He was the second player to win consecutive Triple Crowns in either batting or pitching (after Grover Cleveland Alexander), a feat matched just one time by a batter. He is now credited with having won the Triple Crown (leading in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in) three times, which is the most for any player in Major League Baseball. He holds the third-highest career batting average, behind Gibson and Ty Cobb, and the fourth-highest career on-base plus slugging (1.066).
In 1915, after serving three years in the U.S. Army, the Indianapolis native continued his baseball career as a professional with the Indianapolis ABCs. He played in the Negro National League's inaugural doubleheader on May 20, 1920. His most productive season was with the St. Louis Giants in 1921, when he hit 15 home runs, 12 triples, and 17 doubles, stole 31 bases, and had a .437 batting average. In 1933, Charleston played in the first Negro National League All-Star Game at Chicago's Comiskey Park and appeared in the League's 1934 and 1935 all-star games. In 1945, Charleston became manager of the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers and helped recruit black ballplayers such as Roy Campanella to join the first integrated Major League Baseball teams. His career ended in 1954 as a player-manager for the Indianapolis Clowns.
Oscar McKinley Charleston was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 14, 1896, the seventh of eleven children; his younger brother Bennie Charleston played alongside him on the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords. Charleston's father, Tom Charleston, was a construction worker and a former jockey. Oscar spent his youth playing sandlot baseball and was a batboy for the Indianapolis ABCs.
On March 7, 1912, fifteen-year-old Charleston lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Company B of the Twenty-Fourth Infantry Regiment and served in the Philippines, where he ran track and played baseball on the regiment's team. In 1914 the seventeen-year-old, left-handed pitcher played a season representing the regiment in the Manila League. Charleston also pitched a 3–0 shutout and scored a run during a local all-star game. At the end of his tour of duty, Charleston decided not to reenlist. He returned to Indianapolis in April 1915.
On November 24, 1922, Charleston married Jane Blalock Howard, a widow from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The couple often traveled together during the early years of their marriage when he was a player and manager for the Harrisburg Giants. The Charlestons had no children and separated during the 1930s, but they never divorced.
Between 1915 and 1954, Charleston was a player and/or manager for the Indianapolis ABCs, Lincoln Stars, Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, Saint Louis Giants, Harrisburg Giants, Hilldale Club, Homestead Grays, and Pittsburgh Crawfords, as well as the Toledo Crawfords, Indianapolis Crawfords, Philadelphia Stars, Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, and the Indianapolis Clowns. Charleston was a player-manager until 1941, but his thirty-nine year baseball career continued as a team manager until his death in 1954. In addition to his play in the Negro leagues, Charleston participated in numerous exhibition games against all-white teams in the years before major league baseball became integrated in 1947. He also played nine winter seasons in Cuba.
Official statistics for the Negro league players are incomplete and vary among sources. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's website and Baseball Reference's website reported as of March 6, 2018, that Charleston's career batting average over 239 Negro league games and twenty-six seasons (1915–1941) was .339, with a slugging percentage of .545. The Hall of Fame website also noted that Charleston had a .326 lifetime batting average in exhibition play against white major leaguers. Data from other sources provided different statistics, but do not include specific periods of time. For example, the online version of Encyclopædia Britannica lists Charleston's lifetime overall batting average as .357, as did baseball historian James A. Riley in his book The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (1994). Riley further stated that Charleston had a .326 batting average in exhibition games against white major league players and a .361 batting average in nine seasons of winter games in Cuba.
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Oscar Charleston
Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder, first baseman and manager in Negro league baseball and the Cuban League. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Negro league baseball's leading teams in the 1930s. He also played nine winter seasons in Cuba and in numerous exhibition games against white major leaguers. He was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
One of the Negro leagues' early stars, Charleston was, by 1920, generally considered "the greatest center fielder and one of the most reliable sluggers in black baseball." He and Josh Gibson share the record for Negro league batting titles with three. He was the second player to win consecutive Triple Crowns in either batting or pitching (after Grover Cleveland Alexander), a feat matched just one time by a batter. He is now credited with having won the Triple Crown (leading in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in) three times, which is the most for any player in Major League Baseball. He holds the third-highest career batting average, behind Gibson and Ty Cobb, and the fourth-highest career on-base plus slugging (1.066).
In 1915, after serving three years in the U.S. Army, the Indianapolis native continued his baseball career as a professional with the Indianapolis ABCs. He played in the Negro National League's inaugural doubleheader on May 20, 1920. His most productive season was with the St. Louis Giants in 1921, when he hit 15 home runs, 12 triples, and 17 doubles, stole 31 bases, and had a .437 batting average. In 1933, Charleston played in the first Negro National League All-Star Game at Chicago's Comiskey Park and appeared in the League's 1934 and 1935 all-star games. In 1945, Charleston became manager of the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers and helped recruit black ballplayers such as Roy Campanella to join the first integrated Major League Baseball teams. His career ended in 1954 as a player-manager for the Indianapolis Clowns.
Oscar McKinley Charleston was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 14, 1896, the seventh of eleven children; his younger brother Bennie Charleston played alongside him on the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords. Charleston's father, Tom Charleston, was a construction worker and a former jockey. Oscar spent his youth playing sandlot baseball and was a batboy for the Indianapolis ABCs.
On March 7, 1912, fifteen-year-old Charleston lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Company B of the Twenty-Fourth Infantry Regiment and served in the Philippines, where he ran track and played baseball on the regiment's team. In 1914 the seventeen-year-old, left-handed pitcher played a season representing the regiment in the Manila League. Charleston also pitched a 3–0 shutout and scored a run during a local all-star game. At the end of his tour of duty, Charleston decided not to reenlist. He returned to Indianapolis in April 1915.
On November 24, 1922, Charleston married Jane Blalock Howard, a widow from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The couple often traveled together during the early years of their marriage when he was a player and manager for the Harrisburg Giants. The Charlestons had no children and separated during the 1930s, but they never divorced.
Between 1915 and 1954, Charleston was a player and/or manager for the Indianapolis ABCs, Lincoln Stars, Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, Saint Louis Giants, Harrisburg Giants, Hilldale Club, Homestead Grays, and Pittsburgh Crawfords, as well as the Toledo Crawfords, Indianapolis Crawfords, Philadelphia Stars, Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, and the Indianapolis Clowns. Charleston was a player-manager until 1941, but his thirty-nine year baseball career continued as a team manager until his death in 1954. In addition to his play in the Negro leagues, Charleston participated in numerous exhibition games against all-white teams in the years before major league baseball became integrated in 1947. He also played nine winter seasons in Cuba.
Official statistics for the Negro league players are incomplete and vary among sources. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's website and Baseball Reference's website reported as of March 6, 2018, that Charleston's career batting average over 239 Negro league games and twenty-six seasons (1915–1941) was .339, with a slugging percentage of .545. The Hall of Fame website also noted that Charleston had a .326 lifetime batting average in exhibition play against white major leaguers. Data from other sources provided different statistics, but do not include specific periods of time. For example, the online version of Encyclopædia Britannica lists Charleston's lifetime overall batting average as .357, as did baseball historian James A. Riley in his book The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (1994). Riley further stated that Charleston had a .326 batting average in exhibition games against white major league players and a .361 batting average in nine seasons of winter games in Cuba.
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