Charles Henry Dees (born June 24, 1935) is a retired 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 Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

whose career extended from 1957 through 1966. The

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

appeared in 98

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

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), ...

over parts of three seasons (1963–65) for the Los Angeles/California Angels. He threw and batted

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, and was listed as tall and . Dees was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He played for the Louisville Clippers of the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

in 1957 before signing with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

' organization the following year. He batted over .300 in three of his first five minor league seasons, culminating with a breakout year for the 1962

El Paso Sun Kings EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. Dees led the Texas circuit in batting (.348) and

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

(179), and reached career highs in

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

(23) and

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(115). He was selected as a member of the Texas League all-star team. The following March, the Giants sold his contract to the Angels. Dees split between the big-league Angels and their Triple-A affiliate, the

Hawaii Islanders The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987. Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played ...

, and batted over .300 at both levels. In his MLB debut, May 26 at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...

, he doubled off

Orlando Peña Orlando Gregorio Peña Guevara (born November 17, 1933) is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher. The right-hander played in Major League Baseball for all or parts of 14 seasons between and for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Athletic ...

of the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

in his first

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

, driving home

baserunner In baseball, base running is the act of running from base to base, performed by members of the team at bat. Base running is a tactical part of the game with the goal of eventually reaching home base (home plate) to score a run. Batters strive to ...

Billy Moran for his first big-league run batted in. Then Dees embarked on a torrid stretch at the plate. Over his first 20 games, he batted .382 and took over the Angels' starting first base job. But in the middle of June, his hot hitting began to cool. During a 4-for-35 drought that lasted into early July, his average fell below .300 and he was sent back to Hawaii at month's end, batting .281. Recalled to Los Angeles in September, however, he enjoyed another hot stretch, particularly against the

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 eight ...

. Dees started ten games between September 9 and 28, and put up six multi-hit contests, with four three-hit games. Three of those came against Boston, against whom he went 11-for-21 (.524).

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...

The 1963 LA A Batting Log for Charlie Dees
/ref> He finished his rookie year at .307 in 60 games for the Angels. But Dees' season was disastrous. He began the year as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

and started only three games for the Angels in almost two months. Worse, he collected only two hits and one

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in 28 plate appearances, and was batting .077 when the Angels loaned Dees to the

Houston Colt .45s The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

' top affiliate, the

Oklahoma City 89ers Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, where he played the rest of the season and batted only .257. The Angels retained his rights, however, and in optioned him to the Triple-A

Seattle Angels Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

and then to the Double-A Sun Kings, which was now an Angels' affiliate. Back in the hitting-friendly confines of El Paso, three years after his strong 1962 campaign for the Sun Kings, the 30-year-old Dees batted .377 and earned a last call-up to the Angels in September. But his struggles continued: he hit only .156 in 12 games. Dees split 1966 between Triple-A and Double-A before leaving baseball. In his three seasons with the Angels, Dees batted .265. His 69 hits included 12 doubles, one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

and three

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dees, Charlie 1935 births Living people African-American baseball players Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama California Angels players Corpus Christi Giants players El Paso Sun Kings players Hawaii Islanders players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball first basemen Oklahoma City 89ers players Portland Beavers players Seattle Angels players Springfield Giants players Tacoma Giants players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople