Joe Charboneau
Encyclopedia
Joseph Charboneau was a Major League Baseball
player for the Cleveland Indians
and is one of the most often-cited examples of a flash in the pan or of baseball's fabled sophomore jinx.
"Super Joe" Charboneau made his debut with the Indians in 1980, splitting time between left field and designated hitter. His 23 home runs led the team and he captured the city's imagination with his hard hitting and his eccentricities. While not as wild as Dennis Rodman
, his tendency to dye his hair unnatural colors, open beer bottles with his eye socket, and drink beer with a straw through his nose, and other stories that emerged about how he did his own dental work and fixed a broken nose with a pair of pliers and a few shots of Jack Daniel's
whiskey, stood out in 1980. By mid-season, Charboneau was the subject of a song--"Go Joe Charboneau"--that reached #3 on the local charts.
He finished the season with 87 runs batted in and a .289 batting average while winning the American League
Rookie of the Year award
--all in spite of being stabbed with a ball-point pen by a crazed fan as he waited for the team bus on March 8. The pen penetrated an inch and hit a rib, but Charboneau played his first regular-season game just over a month later, on April 11. He missed the final six weeks of the season with a pelvis injury.
Charboneau injured his back in a headfirst slide in spring training the following year, and he never hit higher than .214 in the major leagues again. He was sent to the minors halfway through the 1981 season after hitting only .210—becoming the first Rookie of the Year to find himself back in the minors the following season—and only appeared in 22 games in 1982. He underwent back surgery twice but never fully recovered, and the Indians released him in 1983.
Charboneau now works as a minor-league hitting coach, gives hitting lessons at Fielder's Choice Baseball and regularly does autograph signings in the greater Cleveland area. He started the 2009 season as the hitting coach for the Victoria (TX) Generals, in the Texas Collegiate League. For the 2010 baseball season, he will be the hitting coach for Notre Dame College
(OH), located in Cleveland.
Charboneau was an extra in the 1984 film The Natural
.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
player for the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
and is one of the most often-cited examples of a flash in the pan or of baseball's fabled sophomore jinx.
"Super Joe" Charboneau made his debut with the Indians in 1980, splitting time between left field and designated hitter. His 23 home runs led the team and he captured the city's imagination with his hard hitting and his eccentricities. While not as wild as Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...
, his tendency to dye his hair unnatural colors, open beer bottles with his eye socket, and drink beer with a straw through his nose, and other stories that emerged about how he did his own dental work and fixed a broken nose with a pair of pliers and a few shots of Jack Daniel's
Jack Daniel's
Jack Daniel's is a brand of sour mash Tennessee whiskey that is among the world's best-selling liquors. It is known for its square bottles and black label. As of November, 2007, one blogger was claiming that it was the best-selling whiskey in the world. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee by...
whiskey, stood out in 1980. By mid-season, Charboneau was the subject of a song--"Go Joe Charboneau"--that reached #3 on the local charts.
He finished the season with 87 runs batted in and a .289 batting average while winning the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
Rookie of the Year award
MLB Rookie of the Year Award
In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is annually given to one player from each league as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America . The award was established in 1940 by the Chicago chapter of the BBWAA, which selected an annual winner from 1940 through 1946...
--all in spite of being stabbed with a ball-point pen by a crazed fan as he waited for the team bus on March 8. The pen penetrated an inch and hit a rib, but Charboneau played his first regular-season game just over a month later, on April 11. He missed the final six weeks of the season with a pelvis injury.
Charboneau injured his back in a headfirst slide in spring training the following year, and he never hit higher than .214 in the major leagues again. He was sent to the minors halfway through the 1981 season after hitting only .210—becoming the first Rookie of the Year to find himself back in the minors the following season—and only appeared in 22 games in 1982. He underwent back surgery twice but never fully recovered, and the Indians released him in 1983.
Charboneau now works as a minor-league hitting coach, gives hitting lessons at Fielder's Choice Baseball and regularly does autograph signings in the greater Cleveland area. He started the 2009 season as the hitting coach for the Victoria (TX) Generals, in the Texas Collegiate League. For the 2010 baseball season, he will be the hitting coach for Notre Dame College
Notre Dame College
Notre Dame College, also known as Notre Dame College of Ohio or simply NDC, is a Catholic, coeducational, liberal arts college in South Euclid, Ohio, USA. Established in 1922 as a women's college it has been coeducational since January 2001...
(OH), located in Cleveland.
Charboneau was an extra in the 1984 film The Natural
The Natural (film)
The Natural is a 1984 film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall...
.