Charles Willard Embree (August 30, 1917 – September 24, 1996) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

. His key pitch was the

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 curv ...

. Nicknamed Red, due to his red hair, Emree joined the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

in , and spent three seasons in their minor league system before joining the major league club in September . After going 3–4 with a 3.86

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

for the Indians in , he retired from

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

in order to become a

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. He returned to baseball in with some bravado, claiming during

Spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

that he would win fifteen games for the Indians that season. That did not happen, however, he did lead the

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

with nineteen wins. He had a stellar minor league career with the Indians, going 74–44 with a 3.07 ERA in their farm system, but it never translated to major league success, mostly due to some hard luck. In , Embree held batters to a .227

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

, yet he had a losing record (8–12). Despite a respectable 3.29 ERA over parts of six seasons with the Indians, his record was 23–32. Following the season, he was dealt to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

for

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 c ...

Allie Clark. He started his one season in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, in the

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, and was reasonably successful in that role (5–2 with a 3.29 ERA) before moving into the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

. At the end of the season, he,

Sherm Lollar Sherm is a shortened version of the given name Sherman and may refer to: People * Sherm Chavoor (1919-1992), American swimming coach *Sherm Cohen (born 1965), American storyboard artist * Sherm Feller (1918–1994), American musician and sports a ...

and Dick Starr, plus $100,000 were sent to the St. Louis Browns for Roy Partee and Fred Sanford. Embree was once again a starter when he arrived in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, however, once again lost his starting job when a July 7 loss to 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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in which he lasted just two-thirds of an inning dropped his record to 3–10 with a 5.03 ERA. He made three spot starts after that, going 0–2 with a 12.96 ERA. For the season, he went 3–13 with a 5.37 ERA and a save. His contract was repurchased by the Indians prior to the start of the season. He went 31–28 with a 3.96 ERA in two plus seasons with 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 level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

before moving to the

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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

organization during the season.

Career stats

Over seven minor league seasons, Embree was 100-73 with a 3.49 ERA.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Embree, Red 1917 births 1996 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Indians players New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players Baseball players from California People from El Monte, California