"The Glider",
Ed Charles, has
died at the age of 84. Ed was famously inspired, as a youngster, by the spring debut of Jackie Robinson with the Dodgers, who happened to train in the town where Ed lived. He broke in with the Kansas City Athletics in 1962 and went on to play third base for the Miracle Mets in 1969. Of all the hundreds of third basemen the Mets ever trotted out there, Ed was always my favorite (sorry David). I'm a little too broken up over this to do a bio, but
SABR has a nice one. The one thing that springs to mind is that Gil Hodges did not really want Ed as his third baseman in 1969, feeling he was too old and should retire. Gil thought of Wayne Garrett as just a bench piece. So he tried to shoehorn Amos Otis into a third baseman in '69 and traded Otis to KC for Joe Foy the following year (and we all know how that worked out). Loved Gil, but the man was not infallible. Anyway, Ed and Wayne did OK in '69. So there's that. Rest in peace, Ed. Love ya. Miss ya.