Charles Thomas Workman (January 6, 1915 – January 3, 1953) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player. A left-handed hitter who threw right-handed, Workman played all or part of six seasons 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), ...

for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, Boston Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates, most often as a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. The native of

Leeton, Missouri Leeton is a city in southeast Johnson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 566 at the 2010 census. History Leeton was platted in 1895, and named after J. J. Lee, the original owner of the town site. A post office called Leeton ha ...

, stood tall and weighed .

Career

Workman entered pro ball in 1937 in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

in the Class C

Middle Atlantic League The Middle Atlantic League (or Mid-Atlantic League) was a lower-level circuit in United States, American minor league baseball that played during the second quarter of the 20th century. History The Middle Atlantic League played from 1925 in base ...

. After a banner year in 1938, when he batted .364 and was named an outfielder on the Middle Atlantic circuit's All-Star team, he made his

MLB 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), ...

debut on September 18, 1938, with the Indians at age 23. But Cleveland would only give Workman one further brief look, at the outset of the campaign, and that year he was acquired by the Nashville Volunteers, where, playing in Sulphur Dell, a haven for left-handed hitters, he would enjoy his greatest success later in the 1940s. After Workman hit .326 and led the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

with 29 home runs for Nashville in 1942, the Braves obtained his services. The Braves' regular right fielder in , veteran future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Paul Waner Paul Glee Waner (April 16, 1903 – August 29, 1965), nicknamed "Big Poison", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams between 1926 and 1945, most notably playing his first 15 se ...

, was released in January, and Workman was given the starting job, which he held in and . In 1943, he hit .249 in 615 at bats in 153 games, but the next year, Workman's batting average declined to .208 in 418 at bats in 140 games. In , Workman had his breakout year. With the Braves continuing to lose players to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

service, a vacancy opened at third base when Dee Phillips joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. Workman was moved to Phillips' old position, with center fielder

Tommy Holmes Thomas Francis Holmes (March 29, 1917 – April 14, 2008) was an American right and center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played nearly his entire career for the Boston Braves. He hit over .300 lifetime (.302) and every year fro ...

moved to right and Carden Gillenwater brought in to play center. The change in position seemed to agree with Workman, as he hit .274 with 25 home runs, both career best marks. His home run total placed him second in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, and first in home runs per at bat (one for every 20.560). Workman's batting average was third-best on his team. But, in 1946, Workman got off to a slow start, hitting only .167 in his first 48 at bats. The Braves traded him on June 12 to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Johnny Barrett. In Pittsburgh, Workman hit .221 in 145 at bats. It was his final season in the major leagues. However, he was able to return to Nashville in 1948 and the cozy confines of Sulphur Dell, where he won the Southern Association's Most Valuable Player Award, leading the Double-A circuit in home runs (52) and amassing 182

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

, which set a new league mark. Although Workman hit .353 that year, he was 33 points behind the league's batting champion, teammate

Smoky Burgess Forrest Harrill "Smoky" Burgess (February 6, 1927 – September 15, 1991) was an American professional baseball catcher, pinch hitter, coach, and scout, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to . A nine-time All-Star, Burgess became kno ...

, who hit .386. The following season, Workman clubbed 41 homers for the 1949

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

to lead the Triple-A

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 ...

, but it did not earn him a recall to the majors. He played the 1950 and 1951 seasons in the minors, then retired from pro baseball. As a major leaguer, Workman had a career batting average of .242 with 423 hits in 526 games, including 57 doubles, seven triples, 50 home runs, and 230 RBI. His lifetime fielding percentage was .959. Chuck Workman died from a bleeding ulcer in Kansas City, Missouri, three days before his 38th birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Workman, Chuck 1915 births 1953 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Missouri Boston Braves players Cedar Rapids Raiders players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cleveland Indians players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball right fielders Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Nashville Vols players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Johnson County, Missouri Pittsburgh Pirates players Springfield Indians (baseball) players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players Deaths from ulcers