Charles William Chech (April 27, 1878 – January 31, 1938) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

between 1905 and 1909. Chech batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

. A curveball specialist, Chech reached the majors in 1905 with the Cincinnati Reds, spending two years with them before moving to the

Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

1908 and

Boston Red Sox 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 eigh ...

(1909). His most productive season came in his rookie year for Cincinnati, when he recorded career-highs in wins (14), strikeouts (79), starts (25), complete games (20) and innings pitched 267, while posting a 2.89

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. After going 11–7 for Cleveland, he was sent to the Red Sox with Jack Ryan in the same trade that brought

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...

to Boston. In a four-season career, Chech posted a 33–30 record with 187 strikeouts and a 2,52 ERA in 606 innings. Following his Major League career, he played for the St. Paul Apostles of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. Chech died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, at the age of 59.

External links

Baseball Library
1878 births 1938 deaths Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers baseball players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Naps players Boston Red Sox players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Milwaukee Creams players Cleveland Lake Shores players Grand Rapids Furniture Makers players St. Paul Saints (Western League) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Toledo Mud Hens players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Venice Tigers players Vernon Tigers players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1870s-stub