Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Oscar Charleston. In a career that saw him play in four decades, Charleston established himself as not only one of the greatest Centerfielders but also as one of the greatest players in Negro League Baseball history. Also, for most of his playing career, he served as the Manager for the team he was playing on. While he played for a whole bunch of teams, the prime years of his career saw him play for the Indianapolis ABCs, Harrisburg Giants, Hilldale Club, and Pittsburgh Crawfords. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1915-27; 29; 33-41):

.365 BA 1,210 HITS 143 HR 853 RBI .449 OBP 859 RUNS

  • 3x Triple Crown Winner (1921, 1924-25)

Before I go any further, I will point out that in the Negro Leagues, seasons didn’t last 154 games like in the Major Leagues. The most games that Charleston was able to play was 101 in 1922. As a Left Handed Hitter and Thrower, Charleston was a five-tool player. Being one of the early stars in the Negro Leagues, Charleston was able to hit for power to all fields while being an aggressive baserunner. He played a very shallow Centerfield but had the speed to chase any flyball and the arm to throw out any baserunner. Playing the same position as Willie Mays, he was considered the Willie Mays before Willie Mays. Charleston led in RUNS six times, HR five times, RBI & OBP four times, and three times in HITS, WALKS & AVG. In 1925, Charleston won his third Triple Crown with a stat line of [ .427 BA 109 HITS 20 HR 97 RBI .523 OBP 97 RUNS ] in just 71 games. Over a 162-game pace, Charleston was on pace for 249 Hits, 46 HR, 221 RBI, and 221 RUNS if only all ballplayers were allowed to play in the Major Leagues during that time. Besides Ty Cobb, no player has ever hit for a higher lifetime Average than Charleston. 

As a Player/Manager for twenty-four seasons, he had a Win-Loss record of 420-377. With all his years of pure dominance in the Negro Leagues, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. When the Sporting News came out with their list of 100 Greatest Ballplayers in 1999, he was ranked #67.

References:

  1. Oscar Charleston via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Charleston#
  2. Oscar Charleston Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/charlos99.shtml