Charles Gilbert King (November 10, 1930 – July 9, 2012) was a

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 ...

who played for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1954–1956),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(1958–1959), and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

(1959).

Biography

Born in

Paris, Tennessee Paris is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,316. A replica of the Eiffel Tower stands in the southern part of Paris. History The present site of Pari ...

, King was the youngest of seven sons. He played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track at Grove High School. He obtained the nickname "Chick" as a boy. Years later, he told a reporter, "I don't know how I got it, but I was young. And it has been with me ever since." As a senior, he was named to the All-American high school football team. In August 1950, King appeared in the All-American high school football game and ran 91 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the second half. He initially signed to attend the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, but he was ruled ineligible by the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

after an investigation of "scholarship inducements." He opted instead to attend Memphis State College where he was a star football player in 1950. He also competed in basketball, baseball and track at Memphis State. In April 1951, he signed with the

to play professional baseball. Memphis State football coach

Ralph Hately Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

complained at the time, "It's a terrible condition when guys can come on your campus and lure your athletes away from their college educations. It isn't fair for major league clubs to pull a stunt like this." King played in Detroit's farm system from 1951 to 1954. In late August 1954, he was playing for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

team affiliated with the

when two Detroit outfielders,

Bill Tuttle William Robert Tuttle (July 4, 1929 – July 27, 1998) was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he appeared in 1,270 games played in Major League Baseball over 11 seasons for the Detroit Tigers (1952; –1 ...

and

Al Kaline Albert William Kaline ( ; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. For most of his career, Kal ...

were injured. King was called up to the Tigers and made his Major League Baseball debut on August 27, 1954. Following his debut against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, ''The Sporting News'' called King "a towering 190-pounder" and a "swift outfielder" who had stolen 31 bases for Buffalo. He appeared in 25 games for the Tigers between 1954 and 1956. In February 1957, the Tigers traded King and an unnamed player to be named later to the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

in exchange for

Jack Dittmer John Douglas "Jack" Dittmer (January 10, 1928 – May 31, 2014) was a Major League Baseball second baseman. He played six seasons in the majors, from until , for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves and Detroit Tigers. As an amateur, Dittmer was a t ...

. King was immediately assigned to the Braves'

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 ...

farm club in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. He remained in the minor leagues for the 1957 season and was sent from Wichita to the Cubs' farm club in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

in December 1957. King briefly returned to the majors, appearing in eight games for the

in 1958. He spent most of the 1958 season with the minor league team in

. In May 1959, he was traded by the Cubs to the

in exchange for

Irv Noren Irving Arnold Noren (November 29, 1924 – November 15, 2019) was an American professional baseball and basketball player. He was an outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1950 through 1960 for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees, Kansas C ...

. He played in only five games for the Cardinals, appearing in his last major league game on May 30, 1959. Over his five seasons in Major League Baseball, King played in 45 games, 29 as an

and the rest 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 ...

. He had a career batting average of .237 and an on-base percentage of .306. King continued to play minor league baseball until 1961.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Chick 1930 births 2012 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Tennessee Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Senators players Chicago Cubs players Dallas Rangers players Detroit Tigers players Durham Bulls players Fort Worth Cats players Jamestown Falcons players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball outfielders Memphis Tigers baseball players Omaha Cardinals players People from Paris, Tennessee St. Louis Cardinals players Salt Lake City Bees players Wichita Braves players