Charles A. Gray (June 1864 – June 1, 1900) was an American

baseball 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 ...

. He pitched five games 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), ...

, four of them as a starting pitcher.

Early life

Gray was born in 1864 in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. The first record of his playing organized baseball is in 1889 when he played for Danville of the Illinois–Indiana League. He also played for Youngstown of the

Ohio State League The Ohio State League was a minor league baseball league that operated in numerous seasons between 1887 and 1947, predominantly as a Class D level league. League franchises were based in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Histo ...

in 1889.

Career

On April 23, 1890, Gray made his debut in

as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

for the

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. He was the winning pitcher in that game and was described as "a freak" by the '' Sporting Life''. He was billed as the team's pitcher "of six fingers and six toed fame." Gray made his debut at a time when the rosters of major league teams were depleted due to the formation of the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

. After his debut as a relief pitcher, Gray appeared in four games as a starter. On May 24, 1890, Gray gave up 11 bases on balls and was charged with four wild pitches. He pitched a total of 31 innings, giving up 35 hits and 24 bases on balls and compiling a 1-4 win-loss record and a 7.55

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). His .200 winning percentage was better than the club as a whole, as the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys compiled a 23–113–2 record (.169 winning percentage). Gray was released by the Alleghenys in early July 1890. He tried out with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

but did not make the club. He played the remainder of the 1890 season with

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

of the

Illinois–Iowa League The Illinois–Iowa League was a Minor league baseball league which operated in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana from 1890 to 1892. History The Illinois–Iowa League began play in 1890 and was nicknamed as the "Two I League". The Aurora Hoodoos, ...

. In 1895, he held an advertising job with ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

''. At the time, he cited being "known as the six-fingered pitcher" as his main claim to fame. He later worked as a bricklayer in Indianapolis. He died from pneumonia in 1900 in Indianapolis.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Charlie 1864 births 1900 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Indiana Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Ottawa (minor league baseball) players Deaths from pneumonia in Indiana