Oscar Charleston

⭐ Hall of Fame 1976

Born: 10/14/1896 in Indianapolis, IN, USA

Died: 10/5/1954 in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Bats: L | Throws: L | Height: 5'8" | Weight: 185 lbs

Full name: Oscar McKinley Charleston

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Biography

Oscar Charleston was a prominent figure in baseball history, recognized for his exceptional skills and contributions to the game during the early 20th century. Born in 1896, Charleston played primarily in the Negro Leagues, where he established himself as one of the greatest players of his era. His playing career spanned until 1941, and although he concluded with no recorded statistics in games, hits, home runs, RBIs, batting average, or stolen bases, his impact on the field transcended these numbers. Charleston was known for his remarkable athleticism, powerful hitting, and ability to excel in multiple positions, which made him a key player on various teams during the segregation era of baseball. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976, Charleston's legacy is marked not only by his on-field prowess but also by his role as a trailblazer for African American players in a time when the sport was divided along racial lines. His reputation as a fierce competitor and a charismatic leader helped pave the way for future generations of players. Charleston's contributions to the game went beyond statistics; he was a symbol of resilience and excellence, embodying the spirit of the Negro Leagues and the fight for equality in baseball. His story remains an essential chapter in the history of the sport, celebrating the rich heritage and talent that flourished despite the challenges of his time.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
687.0 602.0 93.0 177.0 40.0 5.0 21.0 65.0 74.0 16.0 18.0 0.294 0.377 0.482 0.859

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1915 4.0 4.0 1.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0.250 0.250 1.000 1.250
1916 7.0 7.0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0.286 0.286 0.286 0.572
1920 9.0 6.0 1.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 0 0.167 0.444 0.667 1.111
1921 37.0 33.0 8.0 11.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 14.0 3.0 5.0 2.0 0.333 0.389 0.788 1.177
1922 4.0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 0 1.0 .000 0.250 .000 0.250
1924 4.0 4.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1925 6.0 6.0 2.0 4.0 1.0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0.667 0.667 1.333 2.000
1926 37.0 33.0 3.0 7.0 2.0 0 1.0 1.0 3.0 0 1.0 0.212 0.278 0.364 0.642
1927 15.0 14.0 4.0 5.0 2.0 0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0 2.0 0.357 0.400 0.714 1.114
1928 26.0 19.0 3.0 4.0 2.0 0 0 0 7.0 0 1.0 0.211 0.423 0.316 0.739
1929 8.0 8.0 1.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 0.250 0.250 0.250 0.500
1930 108.0 93.0 15.0 29.0 5.0 0 5.0 7.0 10.0 1.0 4.0 0.312 0.390 0.527 0.917
1931 19.0 15.0 2.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 0 0 3.0 0 1.0 0.267 0.421 0.533 0.954
1932 41.0 36.0 10.0 14.0 2.0 0 2.0 2.0 5.0 0 0 0.389 0.463 0.611 1.074
1933 15.0 13.0 6.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0 1.0 0 0 1.0 0.231 0.333 0.538 0.871
1934 18.0 17.0 2.0 7.0 2.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 2.0 0 0.412 0.444 0.647 1.091
1935 52.0 45.0 4.0 12.0 1.0 0 2.0 4.0 7.0 3.0 0 0.267 0.365 0.422 0.787
1936 139.0 120.0 18.0 37.0 11.0 0 2.0 18.0 17.0 1.0 0 0.308 0.399 0.450 0.849
1937 48.0 46.0 4.0 9.0 2.0 0 1.0 5.0 2.0 1.0 0 0.196 0.229 0.304 0.533
1938 2.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1939 68.0 62.0 8.0 18.0 3.0 0 1.0 8.0 6.0 0 1.0 0.290 0.353 0.387 0.740
1940 14.0 12.0 1.0 5.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 3.0 0 1.0 0.417 0.533 0.500 1.033
1941 6.0 4.0 0 2.0 0 0 0 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 0.500 0.667 0.500 1.167

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
3 6 30 14 5 0 0 157.0 157 78 11 69 63 4.47 0

Career ERA 4.47 vs. league average 3.47 across their career seasons — 28.7% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1915 ABC WES 1 1 6 5 2 0 0 40.7 38 20 18 23 4.43 2.90 (-53%) -1502.2
1916 NLS EAS 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.7 1 0 0 1 0.00 — 0.0
1917 ABC WES 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 16.3 6 3 9 7 1.65 2.69 (+39%) -158.7
1918 ABC WES 0 1 4 2 0 0 0 15.0 18 10 5 5 6.00 2.83 (-112%) -576.0
1919 CAG WES 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 4 1 3 5 1.00 3.09 (+68%) 0.0
1920 ABC NNL 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 16.3 22 6 6 5 3.31 3.45 (+4%) 66.4
1921 SLG NNL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4.7 13 6 1 2 11.57 — 0.0
1923 ABC NNL 1 2 5 3 1 0 0 29.3 31 15 13 7 4.60 4.03 (-14%) -294.3
1926 HBG ECL 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 16.0 17 10 8 6 5.62 4.11 (-37%) -837.8
1927 HBG ECL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2.7 6 5 2 1 16.88 — 0.0
1933 PC NN2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5.3 1 2 4 1 3.38 — 0.0

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1336 4903 1164 1718 329 112 183 1139 311 647 29 0.350 0.430 0.575 1.005 34753.6

Career AVG .350 vs. league average .275 across their career seasons — +27.4% above league average.

Career OBP .430 vs. league average .338 across their career seasons — +27.0% above league average.

Career SLG .575 vs. league average .384 across their career seasons — +49.9% above league average.

Career OPS 1.005 vs. league average 0.722 across their career seasons — +39.2% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1915 ABC WES 57 221 31 57 9 5 2 31 14 13 0 0.258 .250 (+3%) .318 (-5%) .332 (+12%) .651 (+3%) 38.8
1916 NLS EAS 15 64 18 22 0 1 0 4 5 8 0 0.344 .248 (+38%) .314 (+33%) .326 (+15%) .640 (+24%) 257.5
1916 ABC WES 18 58 7 17 1 2 0 9 2 6 0 0.293 .248 (+18%) .314 (+14%) .326 (+16%) .640 (+15%) 257.5
1917 ABC WES 48 178 26 52 6 4 1 19 3 14 0 0.292 .248 (+17%) .312 (+13%) .323 (+20%) .635 (+17%) 461.2
1918 ABC WES 40 154 39 60 8 8 3 46 13 13 0 0.390 .255 (+53%) .318 (+37%) .326 (+85%) .645 (+61%) 1390.5
1919 CAG WES 40 163 43 66 7 6 8 41 13 17 0 0.405 .262 (+54%) .322 (+44%) .347 (+92%) .670 (+69%) 1788.8
1919 DS WES 5 16 4 5 2 0 0 2 3 2 0 0.312 — — — — 1788.8
1920 ABC NNL 76 285 60 95 18 5 5 45 20 35 1 0.333 .271 (+23%) .331 (+23%) .363 (+33%) .694 (+28%) 1482.8
1921 SLG NNL 62 226 90 98 12 10 12 74 35 34 2 0.434 .286 (+51%) .344 (+50%) .395 (+86%) .739 (+69%) 2939.0
1922 ABC NNL 89 354 92 135 24 15 17 90 27 39 1 0.381 .285 (+34%) .345 (+28%) .397 (+71%) .743 (+51%) 3352.1
1923 ABC NNL 84 308 68 112 25 6 11 94 25 48 0 0.364 .282 (+29%) .344 (+31%) .390 (+51%) .734 (+42%) 2543.6
1924 HBG ECL 58 222 67 91 27 5 15 65 22 28 6 0.410 .283 (+44%) .345 (+39%) .389 (+100%) .734 (+71%) 2810.5
1925 HBG ECL 71 255 97 109 23 3 20 97 17 51 0 0.427 .288 (+48%) .349 (+50%) .407 (+91%) .756 (+72%) 3640.8
1926 HBG ECL 48 169 43 52 12 1 10 43 24 34 6 0.308 .279 (+10%) .345 (+27%) .390 (+46%) .735 (+37%) 1227.8
1927 HBG ECL 69 247 68 98 20 6 13 73 21 49 0 0.397 .282 (+41%) .344 (+45%) .392 (+74%) .736 (+61%) 2941.1
1928 HIL EAS 60 207 54 72 11 6 11 44 11 40 3 0.348 .280 (+24%) .342 (+32%) .395 (+56%) .737 (+45%) 1798.1
1929 HIL ANL 78 278 69 100 21 7 7 62 8 54 0 0.360 .289 (+24%) .353 (+33%) .415 (+35%) .769 (+34%) 2036.7
1929 HG ANL 4 13 2 6 2 0 0 2 0 2 1 0.462 — — — — 2036.7
1930 HG IND 53 217 47 68 17 2 12 55 7 18 1 0.313 .293 (+7%) .354 (+5%) .429 (+34%) .784 (+21%) 804.3
1931 HG IND 48 190 36 63 14 6 3 33 1 18 0 0.332 .276 (+20%) .338 (+16%) .388 (+33%) .726 (+25%) 797.0
1932 PC IND 68 247 45 79 17 4 4 40 16 29 0 0.320 .275 (+16%) .335 (+18%) .391 (+20%) .726 (+19%) 903.6
1933 PC NN2 70 262 69 89 19 7 14 67 7 25 0 0.340 .270 (+26%) .329 (+22%) .377 (+66%) .707 (+45%) 2015.2
1934 PC NN2 59 200 35 64 10 2 7 41 6 27 3 0.320 .278 (+15%) .340 (+19%) .392 (+26%) .733 (+23%) 889.3
1935 PC NN2 41 155 21 42 10 1 2 29 8 16 3 0.271 .279 (-3%) .342 (avg) .399 (-3%) .742 (-2%) -33.8
1936 PC NN2 32 93 18 32 8 0 4 18 0 13 1 0.344 .283 (+21%) .349 (+23%) .404 (+38%) .753 (+31%) 537.1
1937 PC NN2 15 41 4 9 2 0 1 6 0 2 0 0.220 — — — — 0.0
1938 PC NN2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1939 TC2 NN2 7 25 4 7 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.280 — — — — 0.0
1939 TC NAL 10 33 5 10 2 0 1 6 1 5 0 0.303 — — — — 0.0
1940 TIC NAL 8 17 2 6 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 0.353 — — — — 0.0
1941 PS NN2 2 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 0.500 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
7 26 4 8 0 0 3 5 4 1 0.308

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1935 NLC PC 7 26 4 8 0 0 3 5 4 1 0.308

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 476 453 4526 181 84 234
3B 1 1 2 3 0 0
OF 846 594 1690 118 56 27
P 30 6 6 52 3 4
PH 1 0 0 0 0 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1915 ABC OF 55 0 116 9 2 2
1915 ABC P 6 0 3 16 2 1
1916 NLS OF 15 0 30 6 1 2
1916 NLS P 1 0 0 1 0 0
1916 ABC OF 18 0 26 1 2 0
1917 ABC 1B 3 0 24 1 0 2
1917 ABC OF 46 0 101 3 3 1
1917 ABC P 3 0 1 7 0 0
1918 ABC 1B 1 0 8 0 0 0
1918 ABC OF 40 0 86 11 4 1
1918 ABC P 4 0 1 5 0 0
1919 CAG OF 39 39 94 6 2 2
1919 CAG P 1 1 0 3 0 0
1919 DS OF 6 5 14 1 2 1
1920 ABC 1B 1 1 13 1 0 1
1920 ABC OF 75 74 174 16 1 3
1920 ABC P 3 1 0 2 1 0
1921 SLG OF 62 62 111 8 4 1
1921 SLG P 2 0 0 2 0 0
1922 ABC 1B 9 9 101 3 3 2
1922 ABC OF 80 80 194 9 5 3
1923 ABC 1B 46 45 484 18 10 25
1923 ABC OF 39 35 84 8 5 2
1923 ABC P 5 3 1 12 0 3
1924 HBG 1B 3 1 25 0 0 0
1924 HBG OF 58 57 135 9 1 2
1925 HBG 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0
1925 HBG OF 68 0 0 0 0 0
1926 HBG 1B 3 3 25 2 1 1
1926 HBG 3B 1 1 2 3 0 0
1926 HBG OF 43 43 87 5 2 1
1926 HBG P 2 1 0 1 0 0
1927 HBG OF 69 69 158 12 6 3
1927 HBG P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1928 HIL 1B 7 6 44 4 1 6
1928 HIL OF 54 54 114 6 5 2
1929 HIL 1B 9 9 95 4 0 6
1929 HIL OF 71 69 149 8 11 1
1929 HG 1B 1 0 6 0 0 0
1929 HG OF 4 4 7 0 0 0
1930 HG 1B 53 53 547 24 7 26
1931 HG 1B 48 48 457 29 8 20
1932 PC 1B 68 67 682 17 15 31
1933 PC 1B 67 67 604 21 11 29
1933 PC P 2 0 0 3 0 0
1934 PC 1B 59 56 525 16 6 32
1935 PC 1B 37 36 356 16 7 17
1935 PC OF 2 2 7 0 0 0
1936 PC 1B 28 23 241 12 5 19
1937 PC 1B 10 10 105 4 2 6
1938 PC PH 1 0 0 0 0 0
1939 TC2 1B 7 7 63 3 2 5
1939 TC 1B 9 9 82 3 6 4
1940 TIC 1B 2 2 18 1 0 1
1940 TIC OF 2 1 3 0 0 0
1941 PS 1B 2 1 21 2 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 30
First Base 476
Third Base 1
Left Field 13
Center Field 814
Right Field 19