Charles Frederick Seelbach (born March 20, 1948) is a former right-handed pitcher 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), ...

. He 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 ...

between 1971 and 1974.

Amateur career

In 1967, Seelbach played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

, where he was named a league all-star and tossed a no-hitter against a

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

team that included

Thurman Munson Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947 – August 2, 1979) was an American professional baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, from 1969 until his death in 1979. A seven-time All-Star, Mun ...

. He played baseball at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

from 1968 to 1970 and still ranks among Dartmouth's all-time leaders in winning percentage (.688), strikeouts (162), and shutouts (3).

Professional career

Drafted by the

in the 1st round (12th pick) of the

1970 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1970 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign References External links Complete draft list from ''The Basebal ...

, Seelbach pitched four innings for the Tigers in and became the Tigers' closer in , helping them win the American League East Championship. In 1972, Seelbach had a 9–8 record with a 2.89 ERA and was among the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

leaders with 61 games (7th in the AL), 14 saves (7th in the AL), and 34 games finished (9th in the AL). On April 20, 1972, Seelbach combined with

Tom Timmermann Thomas Henry Timmermann (born May 12, 1940) is a former American baseball player. He played professional baseball for 15 years from 1960 to 1974, including six seasons in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (1969–1973) an ...

for a two-hitter but lost to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

, 1–0, on a home run by Paul Blair. Seelbach was also on the mound when the Tigers clinched the American League East championship on October 3, 1972. Seelbach set down the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

1-2-3 in the 9th inning to clinch the AL East title, as the game ended on a

Ben Oglivie Benjamin Ambrosio Oglivie Palmer (born February 11, 1949) is a Panamanians, Panamanian former professional baseball left fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox (1971–1973), Detroit Tigers (1974–1977), and Mi ...

fly ball caught by

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 ...

in right field. Seelbach pitched in two games of the

1972 American League Championship Series The 1972 American League Championship Series was held October 7–12, and matched the Oakland Athletics () and Detroit Tigers () for the right to go to the 1972 World Series. The first two games were played at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseu ...

, allowing four hits and two runs for an 18.00 post-season earned run average. A shoulder injury the next year ended his appearance in the league. He pitched in only 7 innings in and 7-2/3 innings in .

Personal life

For over thirty-nine years, Seelbach was a European and American History teacher at his high school alma mater,

University School University School, commonly referred to as US, is an all-boys, private, Junior Kindergarten–12 school with two campus locations in the Greater Cleveland area of Ohio. The campus located in Shaker Heights serves junior kindergarten through eighth ...

, a preparatory school for boys in

Hunting Valley, Ohio Hunting Valley is a village in Cuyahoga and Geauga counties in the U.S. state of Ohio, and an eastern suburb of the Greater Cleveland area. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 707. At the 2000 census, it was ranked the 6th highest- ...

, a suburb of Cleveland. He retired from

in May 2014 as one of the longest tenured educators in the School's history. Seelbach is the father of Charles "Cory" Seelbach and Broadway actor Michael Seelbach.

References

External links

Official Chuck Seelbach Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights on MLB.com

Chuck Seelbach records on BaseballLibrary.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seelbach, Chuck 1948 births Living people Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Dartmouth College alumni Orleans Firebirds players Sportspeople from Lakewood, Ohio Baseball players from Cuyahoga County, Ohio University School alumni