Charles Hamilton "Chuck" James (born November 9, 1981) is a former 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 ...

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 ...

who pitched for the

Atlanta 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) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

and the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

Playing career

Atlanta Braves

He was signed by the Braves on July 29, , after he was selected in the 20th Round of the

2002 Major League Baseball Draft The 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 4 and 5. It is featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 book '' Moneyball''. First round selections Supplemental first round compensation selections * ...

. In , he was named the

Danville Braves The Danville Braves were a Minor League Baseball team in Danville, Virginia. They were an Advanced Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League and were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have played home games at American Legion Post 3 ...

' Pitcher of the Year, with a 1.25

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 ...

and 68

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s. In , he was named the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

Pitcher of the Year, while playing for the

Rome Braves The Rome Braves are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2020, the team served ...

, and was also named the April Player of the Month. He led the Braves minor league organization in wins. James also had the lowest ERA in his league. During May of , opponents only hit .109 against him. James began the season with the Class A

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which open ...

. Later in the season, he went 9-1 with a 2.01 ERA with the AA

Mississippi Braves The Mississippi Braves, or M-Braves as they are referred to locally, are a Minor League Baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson. The team is the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and plays in the Southern League. T ...

. On September 28, 2005, he was called up to the majors and made his debut against 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 ...

. He started the season in the Atlanta bullpen, and also spent some time playing for the AAA

Richmond Braves The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the ...

. On June 25, 2006 James made his debut as a starter for the Atlanta Braves against the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

going eight innings and allowing only one run with eight strike outs. He proceeded to win eleven of his eighteen starts with a 3.78 ERA. James went a disappointing 11-10 while leading the league in home runs allowed with 32 in the 2007 season which also included his first disabled list stint. As of May 18, 2008, James has spent the season up and down from Triple-A and has had 5 major league starts going 2-3 with an ERA of 8.22. He was again optioned down to Triple-A Richmond on May 16, 2008, following a rocky start against Philadelphia. James underwent surgery on his shoulder in September 2008, repairing a torn labrum as well as a torn rotator cuff. James said he first felt problems in 2007, but "nothing was found" in his MRIs. James was non-tendered by the

on December 12, 2008, making him a free agent. In 64 appearances (55 starts) with the Braves, he was 24-19 with a 4.53 ERA, striking out 242 in 326 innings.

Washington Nationals

James missed all of 2009 recovering from the surgery, and on January 25, 2010, James signed a minor league contract with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. He began the year in Triple-A Syracuse's rotation, but after five starts, he was demoted to Double-A

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

, where he spent the rest of the year in their bullpen. He did make a start on June 10, pitching five innings as part of a seven-inning no-hitter. In 26 appearances (7 starts) in 2010, he was 10-1 with a 2.32 ERA, striking out 69 in 66 innings.

Minnesota Twins

On December 20, 2010, James signed a free agent contract with the

. He was assigned to Triple-A

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

to begin 2011 after giving up 6 runs in 8 innings during Spring Training. James made 19 appearances in the Red Wings bullpen before he had his contract purchased on May 28, 2011. He was 1-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 37 strikeouts, used mainly as a long reliever. He made 4 scoreless appearances with the Twins before being optioned back to Rochester on June 16 when

Glen Perkins Glen Weston Perkins (born March 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and a television analyst. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins. He made his major league debut with the Min ...

returned from the disabled list. He had another 4-game stint with the Twins in July before spending the rest of the year in Rochester. In 8 games with Minnesota, he had a 6.10 ERA in 10.1 innings, striking out 8. In 38 appearances with Rochester, he was 3-2 with a 2.30 ERA, striking out 67 in 62.2 innings. He was designated for assignment on September 6 after he wasn't recalled when the rosters expanded, and he became a minor league free agent after the season.

New York Mets

On December 15, 2011, James signed a minor league contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. He began 2012 with Triple-A Buffalo, where in 18 appearances, he was 0-1 with a 4.57 ERA, striking out 22 in 21.2 innings. He was released on July 5, 2012, and he retired soon thereafter.

Personal life

While in college, James was bitten by a

copperhead Copperhead may refer to: Snakes * ''Agkistrodon contortrix'', or copperhead, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America * '' Austrelaps'', or Australian copperhead, a genus of venomous elapids found in southern Australia and Ta ...

, a venomous snake, and never sought medical treatment. During previous

offseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

s, he has worked as a home installation technician for

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...

hardware stores. However, at the end of the 2007 season, James said he would not continue to work in the offseason. Following his retirement from baseball, James worked for Window World, a window installation service in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Chuck Living people 1981 births Chattahoochee Valley Pirates baseball players Baseball players from Atlanta Major League Baseball pitchers Atlanta Braves players Minnesota Twins players Danville Braves players Mississippi Braves players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Richmond Braves players Rome Braves players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Syracuse Chiefs players Harrisburg Senators players Rochester Red Wings players