Charles Thomas Dobson (January 10, 1944 – November 30, 2021) was an American professional

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 ...

player who played nine seasons for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics and the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

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), ...

Life and career

Dobson played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. He represented the United States in

baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport and consisted of a single game. It was the fifth time that a baseball exhibition had been held, and was the last time that only one game was played. Game The U.S. team of college ba ...

as a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

, one of seven pitchers on the team. He made his Major League debut for the Kansas City Athletics on April 19, 1966. This marked the first time that a starting pitcher made "his big league debut in his team's home opener in the state in which he was born". This feat was repeated 51 years later by

Kyle Freeland Kyle Richard Freeland (born May 14, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Evansville and was drafted by the Rockies with the eighth pick in the ...

of the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

. In 1970, Dobson earned a career-high 16 wins and threw five

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, tying with

Jim Palmer James Alvin Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984). Palmer was the winningest MLB pitcher in the ...

and

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for eight different teams from 1962 to 1983. During a 22-year baseb ...

for the major league lead. Despite a 15–5 record in 1971, Dobson experienced significant pain in his pitching elbow due to growing calcium deposits. Surgery that off-season kept him out of the majors throughout 1972. Although he returned to the majors for brief stints in 1973 and 1974, his career was effectively ended by the elbow injury. Dobson died on November 30, 2021, at the age of 77.Former Kansas City A's player Chuck Dobson dies
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References

External links

Baseball GaugeVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Chuck 1944 births 2021 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Kansas City, Missouri Birmingham A's players Birmingham Barons players Bradenton Explorers players California Angels players Florida Instructional League Athletics players Kansas City Athletics players Kansas Jayhawks baseball players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Lewiston Broncs players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers Oakland Athletics players Salt Lake City Angels players Salt Lake City Gulls players Tigres del México players Tucson Toros players University of Kansas alumni