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Edwin Douglas Charles
New York Mets
Third Base
Born: April 29, 1933, Daytona Beach, FL
Signed: Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent before 1952 season
Major League Teams: Kansas City Athletics 1962-1967; New York Mets 1967-1969
World Series Appearances: New York Mets 1969
Died: March 15, 2018, East Elmhurst, NY (age 84)
Nicknamed "The Poet," Ed Charles spent nine seasons toiling in the Braves' farm system playing for teams located in the still segregated south and composing poetry dealing with baseball and racism. The Braves had Eddie Mathews as their third baseman, blocking Charles, and he finally got a chance in the majors when the Braves traded him to the Athletics in December 1961. Charles was the regular third baseman for Kansas City between 1962 and 1965, hitting his career high for home runs in 1962 with 17 and for RBIs in 1963 with 79. He was named the third baseman on the Topps All-Star Rookie team for 1962.
In March 1967, Charles was traded to the Mets for Larry Elliot and cash. In 1969, in his final season as a 36-year-old veteran, he split time at third base with Wayne Garrett and provided leadership to the young Miracle Mets team. He hit the final home run of his career off the Cardinals' Steve Carlton (#255) on September 24th, helping the Mets clinch their first division title. In the 1969 World Series, Charles appeared in four games, scoring the winning run in Game 2 on an Al Weis (#269) single.
For his career, Charles appeared in 1,005 games, batting .263 with 86 home runs and 421 RBIs. In 2013, he was depicted in the movie 42, showing a young Charles waving to Jackie Robinson as Robinson departed Florida following spring training in 1946. The movie dramatized the incident, but Charles did in fact watch Robinson train with the Montreal Royals at their spring training home in Daytona, inspiring him to pursue his baseball dream.
Died: March 15, 2018, East Elmhurst, NY (age 84)
Nicknamed "The Poet," Ed Charles spent nine seasons toiling in the Braves' farm system playing for teams located in the still segregated south and composing poetry dealing with baseball and racism. The Braves had Eddie Mathews as their third baseman, blocking Charles, and he finally got a chance in the majors when the Braves traded him to the Athletics in December 1961. Charles was the regular third baseman for Kansas City between 1962 and 1965, hitting his career high for home runs in 1962 with 17 and for RBIs in 1963 with 79. He was named the third baseman on the Topps All-Star Rookie team for 1962.
In March 1967, Charles was traded to the Mets for Larry Elliot and cash. In 1969, in his final season as a 36-year-old veteran, he split time at third base with Wayne Garrett and provided leadership to the young Miracle Mets team. He hit the final home run of his career off the Cardinals' Steve Carlton (#255) on September 24th, helping the Mets clinch their first division title. In the 1969 World Series, Charles appeared in four games, scoring the winning run in Game 2 on an Al Weis (#269) single.
For his career, Charles appeared in 1,005 games, batting .263 with 86 home runs and 421 RBIs. In 2013, he was depicted in the movie 42, showing a young Charles waving to Jackie Robinson as Robinson departed Florida following spring training in 1946. The movie dramatized the incident, but Charles did in fact watch Robinson train with the Montreal Royals at their spring training home in Daytona, inspiring him to pursue his baseball dream.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #290
November 18, 2023 from The TWP Card Show - Sicklerville, NJ (Sal's Sports Cards & Memorabilia)
The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Charles was the opening day third baseman for the Mets, making 45 starts overall at the position and yielding throughout the season to both Garrett (63 starts) and Bobby Pfeil (40 starts). He batted .207 with three home runs and 18 RBIs. Charles started four of the five World Series games against the Orioles, batting .133 (2 for 15) in the series and as mentioned above, crossing the plate as the winning run in Game 2. Charles' final big league action came in Game 5 of the World Series, where he was 0 for 4. The Mets released him on October 28th, ending his playing days.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #595
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1962-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes #62
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 50 in the Beckett online database as of 5/5/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
November 18, 2023 from The TWP Card Show - Sicklerville, NJ (Sal's Sports Cards & Memorabilia)
I wrote about this show back in December at The Phillies Room. My wife Jenna found an announcement on Faceback for a baseball card show to be held at St. Charles Borromeo Hall in Sicklerville, New Jersey on November 18th. That Saturday, I gathered my lists and we made the short drive to what the organizers called the "First Ever Sports Card Show" in Washington Township, which I find hard to believe given the number of baseball card stores in the area back in the 1980s and 1990s. Potential mislabeling aside, it was a decent-sized show with mostly modern stuff and slabbed Pokemon cards.
I found the one dealer selling vintage cards, and cleaned him out of every 1969 Topps card I needed for our set, along with a few 1959 Topps cards for our next set build. This Charles card was one of seven cards added to our 1969 Topps set. Credit to Jenna for finding the show, and if it happens again, I'll gladly make the 10 minute drive over there.
The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is Charles' final appearance in a Topps flagship set, and the photo was likely taken in 1967, along with the photo used for his 1968 Topps card. That's a lot of black ink in the cartoon on the back, and the subject is Charles' team-leading 15 home runs in 1968. The write-up covers his long path to the majors and some Pacific Coast League highlights from the 1961 season.
Accuracy Index: Charles' card scores a +5 for the accurate uniform depiction.
1969 Season
Charles was the opening day third baseman for the Mets, making 45 starts overall at the position and yielding throughout the season to both Garrett (63 starts) and Bobby Pfeil (40 starts). He batted .207 with three home runs and 18 RBIs. Charles started four of the five World Series games against the Orioles, batting .133 (2 for 15) in the series and as mentioned above, crossing the plate as the winning run in Game 2. Charles' final big league action came in Game 5 of the World Series, where he was 0 for 4. The Mets released him on October 28th, ending his playing days.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #595
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1962-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes #62
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 50 in the Beckett online database as of 5/5/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
#244 Indians Rookie Stars / #246 Joe Coleman - Washington Senators
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