Charlie Metro (born Charles Moreskonich; April 18, 1918 – March 18, 2011) was an American 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 ...

player,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, coach and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

. Notably, he was an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

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

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

as well as the manager of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

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 ...

. Metro was born and grew up in Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania, graduating from Nanty Glo High School in 1937, and also worked in the coal mines there during breaks from school. In baseball, he took his last name from his father, Metro Moreskonich, a Ukrainian immigrant. Metro threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

, stood tall and weighed .

Career

Player

At age 18, Metro attended a tryout camp for the St. Louis Browns, then bounced around in the minor leagues. In 1940, he joined the Texarkana Liners, then an independent baseball team but which became affiliated with the

. Due to his light hitting ability, he was never able to become a full-time starter, although he did make the Tigers club out of

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

. He was released by the Tigers in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

, partly because of his attempts to organize a players union. The

picked him up, and, under

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. Mack holds records for the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), ties (76), and ga ...

, Metro won "a shot" at starting center fielder, although his inability to hit consistently cost him this job. In 171 major league

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

, Metro was credited with 69 hits, with ten doubles, two triples and three

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

. Two of those blows came on consecutive days, June 23–24, 1945, against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

' Jim "Milkman" Turner and Hank Borowy. Overall, though, Metro hit a lowly .193 and collected 23

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. In the closing weeks of 1945, Metro joined the Oakland Oaks of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, where in 1946, his last season as a full-time outfielder, he played under another

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

manager,

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...

Manager, coach and scout

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, he was hired as a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

by the Yankees' organization, and in the mid-1950s through 1961 he helmed Triple-A clubs for the Tigers and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. In , he got his first big-league managing job with the

as a member of their " College of Coaches." Metro succeeded Lou Klein as "head coach" on June 12. The head coach job was designed to rotate among several members of the college, but Metro stayed in the role for 112 games and the rest of the 1962 campaign. The Cubs won 43 and lost 69 ( .384) under him, and finished ninth in the ten-team

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

. Metro was fired after the season; then he joined the crosstown

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

as a scout (1963–64) and coach (1965). In 1966 he returned to managing in the PCL with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

' top affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers. After one season, Metro resumed his scouting career. Bob Howsam, who owned the Triple-A Denver Bears when Metro managed them as a Tigers' affiliate in 1960–61, had hired Metro for the Cardinals' system at Tulsa in 1966. When Howsam took over as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

in 1967, he brought Metro with him as a top special assignments scout. Then, in 1968, Metro joined the front office of the expansion

, where he had an active hand in the expansion draft. He took over as manager when Joe Gordon resigned after only one season at the helm. However, his stint there as manager was shorter than his Cubs tenure, lasting only 52 games (19–33, .365), being replaced by

Bob Lemon Robert Granville Lemon (September 22, 1920 – January 11, 2000) was an American right-handed pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lemon was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. Lemon was raised in California, ...

on June 7. Metro went back to scouting for the Tigers and the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. Then followed a coaching assignment with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

, and in 1984 he returned to the Dodgers as a scout. After being dismissed by Los Angeles, Metro retired to his

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

ranch. He died in Buckingham, Virginia, where he lived, on March 18, 2011, from

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...

, a type of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metro, Charlie 1919 births 2011 deaths American people of Ukrainian descent Baseball players from Cambria County, Pennsylvania Beaumont Exporters players Bisbee Yanks players Chicago Cubs coaches Chicago Cubs managers Chicago White Sox coaches Chicago White Sox scouts Cincinnati Reds scouts Deaths from cancer in Virginia Deaths from mesothelioma in the United States Detroit Tigers players Detroit Tigers scouts Durham Bulls managers Easton Browns players Kansas City Royals managers Kansas City Royals scouts Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball third base coaches Mayfield Browns players Montgomery Grays players Montgomery Rebels players Oakland Athletics coaches Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Palestine Pals players Pennington Gap Miners players People from Buckingham, Virginia People from Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Seattle Rainiers players Texarkana Liners players Texarkana Twins players Twin Falls Cowboys players Vancouver Mounties players Vancouver Mounties managers

Career

Player

Manager, coach and scout

See also

References

External links