Charles Oscar Hartenstein (May 26, 1942 – October 2, 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 ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

. He played 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), ...

(MLB) for five different teams between the 1966 and 1977 seasons. Listed at , , Hartenstein batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. He was signed by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in 1964 out of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He played for them until 1968, before joining the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1969–70),

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(1970),

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 ...

(1970) and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

(1977).

Career

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

star pitcher, Hartenstein led his team to the 1962 and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

CWS tournaments. After being signed by Chicago, he led the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

with a 2.19

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 1965 while pitching for the

Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs The Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs were an American minor league baseball team in the Texas League from 1965–1971.Austin Braves The Austin Braves were a Minor League Baseball team in the East Division of the Texas League and were affiliated with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. Known as the Austin Senators from 1956 to 1964, they played at Disch Field. In 1965, they became ...

as the starter, the Spurs had a 1–0 lead going into the ninth inning when he gave up a tying run. The game continued that way with Hartenstein pitching 18 innings. He allowed only one run, eight hits, walked four and struck out seven. The game continued through the 25th inning with Austin winning 2–1. At the time it was the longest game in Texas League history. Hartenstein entered the majors in 1965 with the Cubs, appearing in one game as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

. His most productive season came in 1967 while with Chicago, when he went 9–5 with a 3.08 ERA and 10 saves, all career-numbers. He also enjoyed a solid season with the 1969 Pirates, going 5–4 with a 3.85 ERA and 10 saves in a career-high 95

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Hartenstein was traded along with

Glenn Redmon Glenn Vincent Redmon (born January 11, 1948) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who appeared in seven games for the San Francisco Giants in . He batted and threw right-handed. Redmon was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the nine ...

from the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

for

Skip Pitlock Lee Patrick Thomas "Skip" Pitlock (born November 6, 1947) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. A left-hander noted for his unusual wind-up, he had a "herky-jerky" motion which deceived major league batters, and led to 124 career st ...

on February 8, 1973. In a six-season career, Hartenstein posted a 17–19 record with a 3.63 ERA and 23 saves in 187 relief appearances, including 88

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

, a 1.52

strikeout-to-walk ratio In baseball statistics, strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) is a measure of a pitcher's ability to control pitches, calculated as strikeouts divided by bases on balls. A hit by pitch is not counted statistically as a walk, and therefore not counted ...

(135-to-89), and 297 innings of work. After six years of absence pitching in the minors, he played in his last major league season with the expansion

in 1977. His nickname while with the Blue Jays was "Olde Frankenstein". Following his playing career, Hartenstein coached 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 F ...

(1979) and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(1987–89). After he was fired by the Brewers, Hartenstein was hired to be a scout for 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 ...

. In 2004, Hartenstein was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor. Hartenstein died on October 2, 2021.

References

External links

Chuck Hartenstein
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartenstein, Chuck 1942 births 2021 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from Texas Baseball players from Texas Boston Red Sox players California Angels scouts Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians coaches Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Hawaii Islanders players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Milwaukee Brewers coaches People from Seguin, Texas Phoenix Giants players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Cloud Rox players St. Louis Cardinals players Tacoma Cubs players Texas Longhorns baseball coaches Texas Longhorns baseball players Toronto Blue Jays players Tucson Toros players