Charles (Pee Wee) Armstrong (December 13, 1914 – January 27, 1990) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player and coach.

Early life

Armstrong was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana and raised in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

. He attended Central High School in Jackson before attending

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

from 1934 to 1937, where he lettered in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, baseball and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

(1934–36). He was All-SEC in 1935 and named Best Athlete in 1937.

Professional career

Armstrong played professional baseball with the

Jackson Senators The Jackson Senators was the name of at least two minor league baseball teams that played in Jackson, Mississippi. First team The first known Jackson Senators club competed in the Delta League in 1904. Jackson also played as a member of the Cott ...

in 1937–38 where he played catcher to future

Boston Redsox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

pitcher and MLB Hall of Famer, Dave "Boo" Ferriss. He coached Mississippi State football in 1938 and was a coach and Athletics Director at Belzoni High School in 1939–40. Armstrong was also a

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

football and basketball official in the 1950s and 1960s, and later officiated football and basketball at the junior college level before retiring. He was a lifelong resident of

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

. Armstrong is most famous for the 65-yard winning pass he threw to

Fred Walters Fred James Walters (September 4, 1912 – February 1, 1980) was a backup catcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the season. Listed at and —and nicknamed "Whale"—Walters batted and threw right-hande ...

when Mississippi State beat undefeated national powerhouse Army in West Point,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

(13–7) in 1935. Armstrong was inducted into the Mississippi State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1972. In 1976, Armstrong was inducted into the

Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Jackson, Mississippi. The hall of fame was established in 1961 and is currently located in a museum that displays the achievements of Mississippi athletes. The museum opened on July 4, 19 ...

Notes

1914 births 1990 deaths Baseball players from Louisiana Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players People from Bogalusa, Louisiana Sportspeople from Meridian, Mississippi Baseball coaches from Louisiana American men's basketball players {{US-baseball-bio-stub