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THE "SUPER" ROOKIE
Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that slides into your inbox headfirst every night.
Let's dive in.
Today's story is about an unlikely path to become Rookie of the Year, the meteoric rise to the top, and the massive fall off that followed.
Joe Charboneau is a name that has faded away over the years, but back in 1980, he was the man.
“Super” Joe, as they called him in Cleveland, almost didn’t have a career at all.
Back in the day, Joe was expelled from school in the seventh grade due to his bad grades.
His mom sent him away to be with his dad for a year, and by the time he came back, he was a new person.
Joe started playing baseball, but by his sophomore year in high school, he was academically ineligible to play again.
Having too much free time was a bad thing for Joe Charboneau - this dude was an absolute kook off the field.
Some of Joe's non-baseball hobbies included:
Bareknuckle boxing for money
Swallowing whole eggs
Drinking beer through his nose
Basically, he was down for anything.
He was never really a big-time prospect in high school.
The only reason he got seen is because a Phillies scout named Eddie Bachman came out to watch one of his teammates, Steve Bartkowski.
If that name rings a bell, it's because Bartkowski ended up becoming the Falcon’s quarterback for a decade and made two pro bowls.
Joe crushed it at West Valley college and ended up getting drafted in the second round by the Phillies in 1976.
The next year, while playing in the minor leagues, he fell into a slump, hitting an ice cold .172.
He ended up quitting and moving back home to work as a stock clerk at an electronics company; it seemed like that was the end of his baseball career.
Except after the season, Bachman reached out to Charboneau and convinced him to come back for one more try.
That next year, for Class-A Visalia, Joe hit .350 with 18 dingers.
Things were looking promising for Joe on the field, but his antics off the diamond pushed the Phillies to trade him.
That's when he went to Cleveland.
From day one of the 1980 season, Joe set the league on fire.
Charboneau had a .358 OBP, 23 bombs, and ultimately won Rookie of the year.
He also solidified his reputation as the biggest wildcard in the league; they don't call this guy "Super Joe" for nothing - the man wasn't human.
Here's a quick list of the best legends people tell about Joe:
Performed his own nose surgery with a pair of pliers
Cut his own tattoo off with a razor blade
Won a bet by eating six LIT cigarettes
Stabbed by a fan at an exhibition game in Mexico
Opened beers with his eye sockets
They loved him so much in Cleveland, a local band wrote a song about him.
The next year he messed up his back doing a head-first slide and his swing was never the same.
He batted .210 in 1981, and by the following year he was out of the big leagues.
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STRANGE NAMES
If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.
Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.
If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.
Today's winner is:
Jim started his pro career as a pitcher, but reinvented himself as an outfielder after being traded to the Reds.
He had a hot start to his career, finishing sixth in the ROY voting in ‘53.
Unfortunately, he developed phlebitis - a disease that creates inflammation in the veins.
By ‘56 he was out of the big leagues, but he continued playing through ‘61 in the minors.
THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE
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