Charlie Grimm | |||
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Grimm with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1921
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First baseman / Manager | |||
Born: St. Louis, Missouri |
August 28, 1898|||
Died: November 15, 1983 Scottsdale, Arizona |
(aged 85)|||
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MLB debut | |||
July 30, 1916, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 23, 1936, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .290 | ||
Hits | 2,299 | ||
Home runs | 79 | ||
Runs batted in | 1,077 | ||
Managerial record | 1,287–1,067 | ||
Winning % | .547 | ||
Teams | |||
As player
As manager
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As player
As manager
Charles John Grimm (August 28, 1898 – November 15, 1983), nicknamed "Jolly Cholly", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman, most notably for the Chicago Cubs; he was also a sometime radio sports commentator, and a popular goodwill ambassador for baseball. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates early in his career, but was traded to the Cubs in 1925 and worked mostly for the Cubs for the rest of his career. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Grimm was known for being outgoing and chatty, even singing old-fashioned songs while accompanying himself on the banjo.
As a manager for the Cubs, he led the team to National League championships in 1932, 1935 and 1945. He also served as the Cubs' Director of Player Personnel, then the club's title for general manager, from his resignation as field manager in mid-1949 through early 1950. However, Grimm was not comfortable in his front-office post and resigned in February 1950 to manage a Double A team, the Dallas Eagles of the Texas League.
Grimm was also a major baseball figure in Milwaukee. He was hired by Bill Veeck to manage his Milwaukee Brewers, then the Cubs' top farm team, during World War II. He returned to the Brewers in 1951 when they were a farm team of the Boston Braves. He was highly successful as a manager during each term, winning the regular season American Association title in 1943 and 1951, and the playoff championship in 1951. On May 30, 1952, Grimm was promoted from Milwaukee to manager of the big league Braves; he would prove to be the last skipper in the history of the Boston NL club. He then managed the Milwaukee Braves for their first three years after their move to Wisconsin in March 1953. Being of German extraction, he was popular in the Beer City, but left the Braves the year before they went to – and won – the World Series in 1957.