Back أوسكار تشارلستون Arabic اوسكار تشارلستون ARZ Oscar Charleston Spanish Oscar Charleston French Oscar Charleston Italian オスカー・チャールストン Japanese 오스카 찰스턴 Korean
Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. 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 inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
One of the Negro leagues' early stars,[10] Charleston was by 1920 generally considered "the greatest center fielder and one of the most reliable sluggers in black baseball."[11] 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, RBI) three times, which is the most for any player in Major League Baseball.[12] He holds the third-highest career batting average, behind Josh Gibson and Ty Cobb, and the fourth-highest career OPS.[13]
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 Saint 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.
- ^ "MLB officially designates the Negro Leagues as 'Major League'". MLB.com. December 16, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ "A.B.C.'s Take Three From The Sprudels". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana: 10, column 6. May 19, 1915. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Oscar Charleston: Teams Played For". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
- ^ "Hilldale Team Wins" (PDF). The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 12. August 6, 1919.
- ^ "Harrisburg Takes Two From Chester Team". Chester Times. Chester, Pennsylvania: 8, column 1. July 28, 1924. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "Oscar Charleston Manager Page". seamheads.com. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
- ^ a b "All Time Negro League Managers" (PDF). Center for Negro League Baseball Research. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
- ^ John Holway (1988). Blackball Stars: Negro League Pioneers. Westport, Connecticut: Meckler Books. p. 114. ISBN 0-88736-094-7.
- ^ a b The statistics on the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's website as of March 6, 2018, are based on research that the Negro Leagues Researchers and Authors Group conducted for the years 1920 to 1948. See "Oscar Charleston". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ Gugin and St. Clair, eds., p. 57.
- ^ Strecker, p. 35.
- ^ "MLB Triple Crown Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ "Career Leaders & Records for On-Base Plus Slugging". Baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
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