Charley Walters
Encyclopedia
Charles Leonard Walters (born February 21, 1947) was a Major League Baseball
pitcher
who played for the Minnesota Twins
in 1969 and is currently a sports columnist and reporter for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press newspaper
.
in 1965 and was playing Legion ball
when his high school's assistant principal called to notify him that the Minnesota Twins
were having an open tryout. Walters doubted that he would get a second look, but went to the tryout anyway. The Twins' chief scout, Angelo Giuliani, liked Walters' arm and team executive Joe Haynes offered Walters $400 per month and a $500 signing bonus to play minor league baseball. It took Walters four years to rise to the major leagues. In 1969 Twins manager Billy Martin
elected to keep Walters on the team, and star player Bob Allison
gave Walters the nickname "Big Shooter," which was later shortened to "Shooter." Walters pitched in six games in the major leagues, finishing with 6.2 innings pitched and a 5.40 ERA
, 1 game finished, 6 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 1 home run, 3 base on balls, 2 strike outs and 1 hit batter. Defensively he had 1 assist.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe 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 a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
who played for the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
in 1969 and is currently a sports columnist and reporter for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
.
Professional baseball
Walters had graduated from high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in 1965 and was playing Legion ball
American Legion Baseball
American Legion Baseball is a variety of amateur baseball played by teenage boys in 50 states in the USA. More than five thousand teams participate each year. The American Legion Department of South Dakota established the program in 1925 at Milbank, South Dakota...
when his high school's assistant principal called to notify him that the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
were having an open tryout. Walters doubted that he would get a second look, but went to the tryout anyway. The Twins' chief scout, Angelo Giuliani, liked Walters' arm and team executive Joe Haynes offered Walters $400 per month and a $500 signing bonus to play minor league baseball. It took Walters four years to rise to the major leagues. In 1969 Twins manager Billy Martin
Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, Jr. was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager. He is best known as the manager of the New York Yankees, a position he held five different times...
elected to keep Walters on the team, and star player Bob Allison
Bob Allison
William Robert "Bob" Allison was born in Raytown, Missouri and was a Major League Baseball outfielder and right-handed batter who played in the American League for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins from to ....
gave Walters the nickname "Big Shooter," which was later shortened to "Shooter." Walters pitched in six games in the major leagues, finishing with 6.2 innings pitched and a 5.40 ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
, 1 game finished, 6 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 1 home run, 3 base on balls, 2 strike outs and 1 hit batter. Defensively he had 1 assist.