View source for Charlie Robertson

{{Short description|American baseball player (1896–1984)}}
{{Other uses|Charles Robertson (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Charlie Robertson
|image=Charles Robertson White Sox.jpeg
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|bats=Left
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1896|1|31}}
|birth_place=[[Cooke County, Texas#Unincorporated communities|Dexter, Texas]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1984|8|23|1896|1|31}}
|death_place=[[Fort Worth, Texas]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=May 13
|debutyear=1919
|debutteam=Chicago White Sox
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=June 18
|finalyear=1928
|finalteam=Boston Braves
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=49–80
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=4.44
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=310
|teams=
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|1919}}, {{mlby|1922}}–{{mlby|1925}})
* [[Baltimore Orioles#St. Louis Browns|St. Louis Browns]] ({{mlby|1926}})
* [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] ({{mlby|1927}}–{{mlby|1928}})
|highlights=
* Pitched a [[Charlie Robertson's perfect game|perfect game]] on April 30, 1922
}}

'''Charles Culbertson Robertson''' (January 31, 1896 – August 23, 1984) was an [[Americans|American]] professional [[baseball]] player. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] as a [[pitcher]], and is best remembered for throwing a [[Perfect game (baseball)|perfect game]] in 1922.<ref name=sabr-robertson/>

==Early life and career==
Robertson was born in [[Dexter, Texas]] and grew up in [[Nocona, Texas]].<ref name="perfect games"/> He graduated from [[Nocona Independent School District|Nocona High School]] in 1915. Charles attended [[Austin College]] from 1917 until 1919.<ref name="perfect games"/>

He began his career with the [[Chicago White Sox]] in 1919 at the age of 23. Robertson was an average player for most of his career, having a career record of 49–80 and never winning more than he lost during a single season.<ref name="perfect games">{{cite book|last=Coffey|first=Michael|title=27 Men Out: Baseball's Perfect Games|url=https://archive.org/details/27menoutbaseball00coff|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Atria Publishing Group|Atria Books]] |year=2004 |pages=36–51|isbn=978-0-7434-4606-8 }}</ref>

His main pitch throughout his career was a slow [[curveball]] which he often threw on the first pitch to a batter on any side of the plate, followed by a [[fastball]] up in the zone.

==Perfect Game==
{{main|Charlie Robertson's perfect game}}
On April 30, 1922, in just his fourth career start, he [[Charlie Robertson's perfect game|pitched]] the fifth [[Perfect game (baseball)|perfect game]] in baseball history against the [[Detroit Tigers]] at [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Navin Field]] (later known as Tiger Stadium) in [[Detroit]]. He became the first pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game on the road.<ref name="perfect games"/>

The Detroit lineup featured such Hall of Famers as [[Ty Cobb]] and [[Harry Heilmann]], who both complained that he was doctoring the ball throughout the game. The Tigers submitted several game balls to [[American League]] President [[Ban Johnson]] after the game to check for irregularities, but Johnson dismissed the charge.<ref name="perfect games"/>

Robertson's perfect game was the last for 34 years, when [[Don Larsen]] pitched one in the [[1956 World Series]] against the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]]; the next regular season perfect game would not come until [[Jim Bunning's perfect game]] in 1964.<ref>{{cite web |title=No-Hitters and Perfect Games |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/friv/no-hitters-and-perfect-games.shtml |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

After the perfect game, he suffered arm troubles for the rest of his career. He pitched one season for the [[St. Louis Browns]] and two years with the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] and retired from baseball in 1928.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charlie Robertson Career Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/roberch01.shtml |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

==Personal life==
After retiring from baseball, Robertson became a prosperous pecan broker in [[Fort Worth, Texas]]. He returned to the limelight after [[Don Larsen's perfect game|Don Larsen threw a perfect game]] in the [[1956 World Series]], the first in the [[Major League Baseball|Major Leagues]] since Robertson's own 34 years earlier. Six days after Larsen's game, Robertson appeared as a contestant on ''[[What's My Line?]]''.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Episode 7: Jo Stafford |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0746535/?ref_=ttep_ep42 |series=[[What's My Line]] |network=[[CBS]] |date=October 14, 1956 |season=8 |via=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>

Robertson was married to Fay Redus, whom he met when he was first invited to [[spring training]] by the [[Chicago White Sox]]. He died in 1984 in [[Fort Worth, Texas]], at age 88, and was the last surviving player who played for the [[1919 Chicago White Sox season|1919 Chicago White Sox]].{{efn|Robertson only appeared in one game with that team, in May, and was not on team when they played in the World Series.<ref name=sabr-robertson/>}}<ref name=sabr-robertson>{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/charlie-robertson/ |title=Charlie Robertson (SABR BioProject) |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
*[[List of Major League Baseball perfect games]]

==References==

=== Notes ===
{{Notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats |br=r/roberch01 |brm=robert007cha |fangraphs=1011025}}
*{{sabrbio|charlie-robertson}}
*{{Find a Grave|4812}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Red Faber]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Chicago White Sox Opening Day starting pitchers|Chicago White Sox Opening Day <br /> Starting pitcher]]|years=1924}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sloppy Thurston]]}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Addie Joss]]}}
{{s-ttl|title = [[List of Major League Baseball perfect games|Perfect game pitcher]] | years = [[Charlie Robertson's perfect game|April 30, 1922]]}}
{{s-aft|after = [[Don Larsen]]}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Walter Johnson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Major League Baseball no-hitters|No-hitter pitcher]] | years= April 30, 1922}}
{{s-aft|after= [[Jesse Barnes]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{MLB perfect games}}
{{Chicago White Sox Opening Day starting pitchers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Charlie}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:Austin Kangaroos baseball players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Texas]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Cooke County, Texas]]
[[Category:Chicago White Sox players]]
[[Category:Dallas Steers players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Browns players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Boston Braves players]]
[[Category:Sherman Browns players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball pitchers who have pitched a perfect game]]
[[Category:Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players]]
[[Category:People from Nocona, Texas]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Fort Worth, Texas]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Montague County, Texas]]