Bob Chakales

From BR Bullpen

Robert Edward Chakales (The Golden Greek)

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

Debut April 21, 1951
Final Game September 17, 1957
Born August 10, 1927 in Asheville, NC USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Before the 1945 season the Philadelphia Phillies signed Bob Chakales an 18 year old right-handed pitcher as an amateur free agent and assigned him to the class A Utica Blue Sox where he went 0-3 right out of the gate and was sent to the class B Wilmington Blue Rocks where he went 13-5 for the season.

He would spend until 1951 in the minors, along the way being drafted by the Cleveland Indians from the Phillies in the Minor League Draft. After a fine 1950 season for the Wilkes-Barre Indians where he went 16-5 and lead the Eastern League with a 2.04 ERA he would get his shot with the major leaguers. On July 1, 1951, he shutout the Detroit Tigers in the second game of a doubleheader after Bob Feller had pitched the third no-hitter of his career in the opener.

Chakales divided his time between Cleveland and Indianapolis the next couple of years before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Vic Wertz early in the 1954 season. He was used mainly out of the bullpen while moving around the American League to the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators and the Boston Red Sox through 1957. Bob finised his major league career with a 15-25 record and a 4.54 ERA. A good hitting pitcher who homered in his first big league at bat, he hit .271 (26 for 96).

The right-hander would spend four more seasons in the minors before winding things up in 1961, going 4-3, with the Hawaii Islanders. Bob had spent 16 active seasons in pro baseball from 1945 through 1961. Chakales did a yeoman's job in the minors, winning 113 and losing 73 while appearing in 295 games, pitching 1,542 innings, giving up 1,520 base hits and 786 base on balls for a career 4.56 ERA. Bob's hitting was also respectable, he had 137 base hits in 565 at bats for a .242 batting average.

After baseball Chakales went into the golf course building business and since the early 1960s has built over fifty courses in several states in the south. A past president of the Golf Builders Association of America, he resides in Richmond, Virginia.