Charles Carrolton Fraser (August 26, 1873 – May 8, 1940) 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), ...

right-handed

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 ...

. He pitched for numerous teams between 1896 and 1909. He ranks second all time among major-league pitchers in the category of hit batsmen, with 219. He lost 20 games five times, but he threw a no-hitter in 1903 and played on

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

championship teams for two years.

Career

Fraser made his major-league debut with the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

on April 19, 1896. He often struggled with control. In his rookie season, he finished with a 12–27 record and he led the league in both

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

and

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third stri ...

es. In 1897, he went 15–19 and led the league in wild pitches again. He was sold to the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

late in the 1898 season. He pitched for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

for two seasons and then went to the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

for the 1901 season where he set the modern day record for most hit batsmen in a season. While a member of the Philadelphia Phillies for a second time between 1902 and 1904, Fraser threw a no-hitter on September 18, 1903. The Phillies committed four errors in that game, but they beat the Chicago Cubs 10–0. Fraser was a member of the

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

and 1908 Chicago Cubs teams that won the

. He appeared in his final game on May 3, 1909. In an era in which

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s were the rule, Fraser had large numbers of decisions in each season. He lost 20 or more games five times in the major leagues, but in each of those seasons there were at least two major-league pitchers with more losses. Since Fraser's retirement, he has been in second place among all major-league pitchers in

hit batsmen In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

Personal life

Before the 1897 season, Fraser married Mina Gray; she was the daughter of a successful glassmaker in Chicago. Mina Gray's sister, Annette Gray, had been a bridesmaid in the wedding. Baseball player and manager

Fred Clarke Fred Clifford Clarke (October 3, 1872 – August 14, 1960) was an American Major League Baseball player from 1894 to and manager from 1897 to 1915. A Hall of Famer, Clarke played for and managed both the Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pirat ...

fell in love with Annette Gray and they later married. Mina Gray died in 1937.

Later life

Late in his life, Fraser ran an alfalfa farm, was a minor-league manager, and scouted for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

and

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 ...

. Fraser died in 1940 and Annette was at his bedside at the time. He had been suffering from an infection that had required the amputation of one of his legs.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Chick 1873 births 1940 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Louisville Colonels players Cleveland Spiders players Philadelphia Phillies players Philadelphia Athletics players Boston Beaneaters players Cincinnati Reds players Chicago Cubs players Pittsburgh Pirates coaches Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Minneapolis Minnies players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Grand Rapids Furniture Makers players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Decatur Commodores players Minor league baseball managers Baseball players from Chicago

Career

Personal life

Later life

See also

References

External links