Charles Roderick Furbush (born April 11, 1986) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

Early life and career

Furbush was born in

South Portland, Maine South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the List of municipalities in Maine, fourth-most populous city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population wa ...

and attended

South Portland High School South Portland High School is a public high school located in South Portland, Maine, United States. The first high school in what is now South Portland was built in 1874 while the City was part of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The school was on the 2nd ...

. He went on to

St. Joseph's College of Maine Saint Joseph's College of Maine is a Private college, private Catholic college in Standish, Maine, United States. It is the only Catholic college in Maine. Saint Joseph's College Online offers its online programs to 2,400 students in 50 states ...

, where he was recruited to play at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. In 2005 and 2006, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Hyannis Mets The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, where he threw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

, was named the western division's

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

in the league

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

, and was named the top

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

prospect in 2006. While with Louisiana State in 2007, Furbush went 3–9 with a 4.95 ERA in 16 starts, striking out 88 batters in 87 innings. He was drafted by the Tigers in the fourth round of the 2007 amateur draft and began his professional career that year. Furbush appeared in 12 games between the

GCL Tigers The Florida Complex League Tigers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Tigers. The team plays its home game ...

and

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpar ...

in 2007, making 10 starts and going 6–1 with a 2.34 ERA, striking out 69 batters in innings. He did not pitch in 2008 due to recovery from

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. With the

Lakeland Flying Tigers The Lakeland Flying Tigers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Lakeland, Florida, and play their home games at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. ...

in 2009, Furbush went 6–7 with a 3.96 ERA in 24 games (23 starts). He split 2010 between the Lakeland Flying Tigers, (13 starts),

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving as the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Ti ...

(five starts) and

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

(nine starts), going a combined 8–9 with a 4.25 ERA. He struck out 183 batters in 159 innings.

Major league career

Detroit Tigers

On May 21, 2011, Furbush was called up for the first time to replace Brad Thomas who went on the 15-day disabled list with left elbow inflammation. He made his Major League debut on May 23, 2011, after coming into relief for starter

Phil Coke Phillip Douglas Coke (born July 19, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Pitching primarily in relief, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, and ...

who appeared to hurt his ankle slipping on the wet grass after a short start of only innings pitched and a 1–0 Tigers deficit against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

. Furbush issued a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

to the first batter he faced,

Sean Rodriguez Sean John Rodriguez (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional baseball utility player who currently serves as a player development instructor for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the L ...

, to load the bases. He then struck out Felipe López and

Kelly Shoppach Kelly Brian Shoppach (pronounced SHOP-ick; born April 29, 1980) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Seattle Marin ...

to end the inning. He pitched innings, allowing two hits, one base on balls, and three strikeouts before being replaced by

Joaquín Benoit Joaquín Antonio Benoit Peña (born July 26, 1977) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Toronto ...

for the start of the eighth inning. The Tigers came back to score two runs under Furbush and eventually won the game 6–3, earning Furbush a win in his first Major League game. On June 30, Furbush was moved to the starting rotation, replacing Phil Coke.

Seattle Mariners

On July 30, 2011, Furbush was traded to the

along with outfielder Casper Wells, prospect Francisco Martínez and

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

Chance Ruffin from the

for David Pauley and

Doug Fister Douglas Wildes Fister (born February 4, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, and Texas ...

. On June 8, 2012, he was one of six pitchers who combined for a

. On December 17, 2013, Furbush signed a one-year contract extension with the Seattle Mariners. He appeared a career-high 71 games for the 2013 Mariners, posting a 3.74 ERA and compiling 80 strikeouts in 65 innings. On August 10, 2016, Furbush announced that he would have surgery to fix a partially torn

rotator cuff The rotator cuff (SITS muscles) is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles a ...

, with an expected recovery time of 12–18 months. He did not pitch in the 2016 season. On November 2, Furbush was outrighted to the minors. After being removed from the 40 man roster, Furbush elected free agency on November 4.

Retirement

On March 7, 2019, Furbush announced his retirement from baseball. In January 2022, it was reported that he was selling advertising time for Seattle radio station ESPN 710 and was said by one 710 staffer to be "a great dude"

Pitching style

Furbush threw a steady mix of five pitches in his career. He lead off with a

four-seam fastball A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch (baseball), pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the fastest ball thrown by a pitcher. It is s ...

in the 88–93 mph range, and he has a sinker with similar speed that he threw mostly to right-handed hitters. His main off-speed pitch to lefties was a

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

at 76–79 mph, although he also liked to mix in a slider at 80–85 mph. Against righties, Furbush usually drops the slider in favor of an 80–84 mph

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball, but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced spee ...

. Against hitters from both sides of the plate, Furbush relied heavily on his curveball in 2-strike counts.

References

External links

* : {{DEFAULTSORT:Furbush, Charlie 1986 births Living people Detroit Tigers players Seattle Mariners players Baseball players from Maine LSU Tigers baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from South Portland, Maine Saint Joseph's College of Maine alumni Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Gulf Coast Tigers players West Michigan Whitecaps players Lakeland Flying Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Toledo Mud Hens players Tacoma Rainiers players Everett AquaSox players South Portland High School alumni