| Charlie Neal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Second baseman | |
| Born:(1931-01-30)January 30, 1931 Longview, Texas, U.S. | |
| Died: November 18, 1996(1996-11-18) (aged 65) Dallas, Texas, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 17, 1956, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 29, 1963, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .259 |
| Home runs | 87 |
| Runs batted in | 391 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Charles Lenard Neal (January 30, 1931 – November 18, 1996) was an American professionalbaseball player, asecond baseman andshortstop who had an eight-season career (1956–1963) inMajor League Baseball.
Signed by theBrooklyn Dodgers as an amateur in 1950, Neal helped theLos Angeles Dodgers win the1959 World Series just one year after the team moved toSouthern California in 1958. His two home runs offBob Shaw of theChicago White Sox in Game 2 atComiskey Park were keys to turning the tide of the 1959 Series. Chicago had won Game 1, 11–0, and held a 2–0 lead in thefifth inning of the second game when Neal connected for a solo homer, accounting for the Dodgers' firstrun of the Fall Classic. Two innings later, afterpinch hitterChuck Essegian had tied the contest at two with another solo home run, Neal belted his second long ball of the game, a two-run blast withJim Gilliam on base. That homer was the winning blow in a 4–3 Dodger victory;[1] Los Angeles went on to take Games 3, 4 and 6 to win the world championship.
Neal was born inLongview, Texas. While still in high school, he played for theNegro leagueAtlanta Black Crackers.[2][3] He threw and batted right-handed and was listed as 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and 165 pounds (75 kg), but despite his slight stature, Neal was a productive power hitter during his 14-year professional career, notching 151 home runs at the major andminor-league levels. As a 23-year-old prospect in theTriple-AAmerican Association in 1954, Neal hit 18 homers and batted .274. During the 1954–55 offseason, theBoston Red Sox reportedly offered the Dodgers $100,000 for Neal's contract, but were rebuffed;[4] had the deal materialized, Neal would likely have become the Red Sox' firstAfrican-American player.
Neal joined the Dodgers at the start of the1956 season andbatted .287 in 62games played, largely as a backupsecond baseman behind Gilliam. He started Game 3 of the1956 World Series, going hitless in fourat bats againstWhitey Ford and making anerror in the field, which led to anunearned run.[5] In1957, the Dodgers' last year in Brooklyn, Neal enjoyed an outstanding sophomore campaign, getting into 128 games and starting 100 atshortstop, with futureBaseball Hall of FamerPee Wee Reese shifting tothird base. He batted .270 with 12 home runs. In1958, he belted 22 home runs, 14 at his new home field, theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as the Dodgers' starting second baseman.
Then, in1959, Neal had his finest and most memorable season. He collected 177hits, with 83runs batted in, 17stolen bases, and a .287 batting average, all career highs. He also hit 19 home runs. Neal led theNational League insacrifice hits andtriples. In the field, he won aGold Glove at second base. After helping the Dodgers tie the defending NL championMilwaukee Braves by the close of the 154-game, regular-season schedule, Neal played a key role in sweeping the Braves in the1959 National League tie-breaker series with five hits in 12 at bats, including a home run in the clinching Game 2.[6] He earned his world championship ring by hitting .370 with ten hits in the six-game World Series victory over the White Sox. In that series, he played before thelargest crowd in World Series history, 92,706, in Game 5 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. (His 1956 World Series appearance in Game 3 came before aYankee Stadium throng of 73,977, which is still one of the tenbiggest crowds in Fall Classic history.) Neal also appeared in thesecond 1959 All-Star Game, played at the Coliseum on August 3.
Neal was the Dodgers' starting second baseman in both1960 and1961 and played ineach of1960's MLB All-Star games, but his production declined; he hit .256 and .235 with only 18 total home runs in 247 games played. After the 1961 season, the Dodgers traded him to theNew York Mets, then a first-yearexpansion team, for outfielderLee Walls and cash. Neal was the regular second baseman for theMets' maiden 1962 team that lost 120 games, the most by a team in a single season since the 19th Century. He was in the inaugural Met starting lineup on April 11, 1962 at St. Louis, batting third, going 3-for-4 and getting the first RBI in the team's history.
Neal remained a Met until July 1, 1963, when he was traded to theCincinnati Reds.[7] After he hit just .156 for the rest of that season, Neal was released by the Reds in spring training of 1964, his career over at age 33. As a major leaguer, Neal appeared in 970 games and batted .259 lifetime with 858 hits, 113doubles, 38 triples, 87 home runs, and 391 runs batted in. He was hitless in two at-bats in All-Star competition.
Charlie Neal died inDallas of heart failure at age 65.[8]
· Baseball Almanac