Whammy Douglas
Quick Facts
Biography
Charles William "Whammy" Douglas (February 17, 1935 – November 16, 2014) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg) during his active career. According to multiple sources, Douglas was able to forge a professional baseball career despite being blind in one eye.
Although Douglas only played part of one season in Major League Baseball out of his ten-year pro career, he had a measure of success for the 1957 Pittsburgh Pirates, appearing in 11 games (eight as a starting pitcher), and posting a respectable 3.26 earned run average. He also was part of a major trade between the Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds in January 1959. Douglas was sent to Cincinnati in a package of players headlined by Pittsburgh slugger Frank Thomas. In return, the Bucs received Smoky Burgess, Harvey Haddix and Don Hoak — and that trio would play integral roles in the Pirates' 1960 world championship season.
Douglas never appeared in an MLB game for the Reds. His minor league record of 82–57 (compiled from 1953–1961; 1965) included a stellar season with the 1954 Brunswick Pirates of the Class D Georgia–Florida League, in which he won 27 games, lost only six and posted a 2.06 ERA.