Charles Thomas Dobson (January 10, 1944 – November 30, 2021) was an American professional baseball player who played nine seasons for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics and the California Angels of Major League Baseball.

Chuck Dobson
Pitcher
Born: (1944-01-10)January 10, 1944
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Died: November 30, 2021(2021-11-30) (aged 77)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 19, 1966, for the Kansas City Athletics
Last MLB appearance
May 26, 1975, for the California Angels
MLB statistics
Win–loss record74–69
Earned run average3.78
Strikeouts758
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Life and career

edit

Dobson played college baseball for the University of Kansas.[1] He represented the United States in baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics as a demonstration sport, one of seven pitchers on the team.[2]

He made his Major League debut for the Kansas City Athletics on April 19, 1966. This marked the first time that a starting pitcher made "his big league debut in his team's home opener in the state in which he was born".[3] This feat was repeated 51 years later by Kyle Freeland of the Colorado Rockies.[3] In 1970, Dobson earned a career-high 16 wins and threw five shutouts, tying with Jim Palmer and Gaylord Perry for the major league lead. Despite a 15–5 record in 1971, Dobson experienced significant pain in his pitching elbow due to growing calcium deposits. Surgery that off-season kept him out of the majors throughout 1972. Although he returned to the majors for brief stints in 1973 and 1974, his career was effectively ended by the elbow injury.

Dobson died on November 30, 2021, at the age of 77.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "NCAA News" (PDF). Vol. 1, no. 4. September–October 1964. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 24, 2012 – via Wayback Machine. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  2. ^ Pete, Cava (1991). "Baseball at the Olympics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Freeland wins debut as Rockies top Dodgers 2-1". ESPN. Associated Press. April 8, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  4. ^ Former Kansas City A's player Chuck Dobson dies
edit