Charles Hazen Morton (October 12, 1854 – December 9, 1921) was an American

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), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

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 League

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

. As a manager, he led a team whose members included the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

players in Major League history. After retiring from the major leagues, Morton served intermittently as an official and went on to become an influential minor league baseball executive.

Major league career

Morton played for, and managed in, 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 ...

, with the

Toledo Blue Stockings The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park. The following year, they joined the major league American Assoc ...

in and the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

in . He played one season prior to managing, , and managed the

Toledo Maumees The Toledo Maumees were a baseball team originally formed in 1888. The team was based in Toledo, Ohio, and formed part of the Tri-State League for one season. Their home games were played at Speranza Park in Toledo. In 1889, the Maumees moved to th ...

after his playing career was over. He compiled a career managerial record of 121 wins and 153 losses. He was the manager for the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings, who had transferred into the American Association from the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

after the season. It was this team that included

Moses Fleetwood Walker Moses Fleetwood Walker (October 7, 1856 – May 11, 1924) was an American professional baseball catcher who, historically, was credited with being the first black man to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). A native of Mount Pleasant, Ohio, an ...

and his brother Welday Walker, who are now considered the first

players to play in Major League Baseball. On August 10, 1883 before a scheduled exhibition game,

Cap Anson Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. Including his time in the National Association (NA), he played a record 27 c ...

and his Chicago White Stockings had told Morton that his team would not play on the same field as the Walker brothers. Even though he had initially given Walker the day off due to injuries, Morton then re-inserted Moses in the game. He did this to force Anson to either play or lose his portion of the gate receipts. Anson decided to play that day, but when Chicago came to town the following year, they had already signed an agreement that the Walker brothers would not play.

Later years

After his playing career, Morton spent much of his time as an executive, most notably as the founder and president of the

Ohio–Pennsylvania League The Ohio–Pennsylvania League (1905–1912) was a Class C (baseball), Class C and Class D (baseball), Class D level minor league baseball league that featured franchises based in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The league was founded b ...

during its existence from 1905 through 1912. By the end of its seven-year lifespan, the league had enlisted the membership of no less than 40 ball clubs based in over 20 cities. Morton also served as an official, umpiring a number of games during the 1886 season. He died in

Massillon, Ohio Massillon is a city in Stark County, Ohio, Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately west of Canton, Ohio, Canton, south of Akron, and south of Cleveland. The population was 32,146 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Mass ...

at the age of 67, and was buried at Glendale Cemetery in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

References

External links

*Career statistics a
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Charlie 1854 births 1921 deaths 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Ohio Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball player-managers Pittsburgh Alleghenys players St. Louis Brown Stockings (AA) players Toledo Blue Stockings players Detroit Wolverines players Detroit Wolverines managers Minor league baseball executives Minor league baseball managers Toledo Blue Stockings (minor league) players Savannah (minor league baseball) players Akron Acorns players Des Moines Hawkeyes players Des Moines Prohibitionists players Toledo Black Pirates players Rochester Hop Bitters players Minneapolis Minnies players People from Kingsville, Ohio

Major league career

Later years

See also

References

External links