Charles Henry Graham (April 24, 1878 – August 29, 1948), known as "Uncle Charlie", was an American
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
,
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
and team owner. Listed at , 190 lb., Graham batted and threw
right-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 ...
. He was born in
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...
.
![Charlie Graham 1909](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Charlie_Graham_1909.jpg)
Graham played and
coached for
Santa Clara College
Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic ...
before entering
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), ...
during the
1906 season with the
Boston Americans
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 ...
. In one season career, he was a .233 hitter (21-for-90) with one
home run
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 ...
and 12
RBI in 30 games, including 10
runs, one
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
, and one
stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
. Following his majors career, he played and coached in the
minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...
.
![CharlesHStrub WilliamHMcCarthy PCLPres BabeRuth GeorgeAPutnam CharlesGraham RecreationPark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/CharlesHStrub_WilliamHMcCarthy_PCLPres_BabeRuth_GeorgeAPutnam_CharlesGraham_RecreationPark.jpg)
In 1918, Graham became
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
and part owner of the
PCL San Francisco Seals. He managed until 1921 and eventually took control of front office. Under his
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
the Seals moved to their own park,
Seals Stadium
Seals Stadium was a minor league baseball stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Francisco, California; it later became the first home of the major league San Francisco Giants. Opened in the Mission District in 1931, Se ...
, in 1931. The Seals won pennants in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1928, 1931, 1935 and 1946, to become one of the most successful teams in PCL history. Their rosters included several future major league stars, such as
Earl Averill
Howard Earl Averill (May 21, 1902 – August 16, 1983) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1929 to 1941, including 11 seasons for the Cleveland Indians. He was a six-ti ...
,
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...
,
Smead Jolley
Smead Powell Jolley (January 14, 1902 – November 17, 1991) was an American outfielder in professional baseball. He played from 1922 to 1941, including four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1930 to 1933. Jolley was considered a good h ...
and
Paul Waner
Paul Glee Waner (April 16, 1903 – August 29, 1965), nicknamed "Big Poison", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams between 1926 and 1945, most notably playing his first 15 se ...
, as well as
Lefty O'Doul
Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American Major League Baseball player who went on to become an extraordinarily successful manager in the minor leagues. He was also a vital figure in the establishmen ...
as the team's manager. In 1946 the Seals had a new co-owner, Paul Fagan, who eventually bought the team outright from Graham.
Graham died in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, at age 70. A dormitory at
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...
is named in his honor. One of his sons,
Robert A. Graham joined the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
and became a leading authority on the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
's
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
history.
References
External links
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Charlie
1878 births
1948 deaths
Major League Baseball catchers
Boston Americans players
Santa Clara Broncos baseball coaches
Minor league baseball executives
San Jose (minor league baseball) players
San Jose Brewers players
Stockton Wasps players
Pueblo Indians players
San Francisco Wasps players
Sacramento Gilt Edges players
Sacramento Senators players
Tacoma Tigers players
Sacramento Cordovas players
Sacramento Sacts players
Sacramento Solons managers
San Francisco Seals (baseball) managers
Santa Clara University alumni
Sportspeople from Santa Clara, California
Baseball players from California