Chappie McFarland

Charles Amos McFarland (March 13, 1875 – December 14, 1924) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Superbas from 1902 to 1906. McFarland retired with a 3.35 earned run average (ERA), but he played on teams with poor hitting, leaving him with a 34-61 win–loss record. He became a prominent movie theater manager in Texas after his playing career ended.

Early life Born in White Hall, Illinois, McFarland attended White Hall High School and Illinois College. He had a brother, Monte McFarland, who also played major-league baseball.

After McFarland's baseball career, he opened the first vaudeville theater in Houston and then worked for Interstate Amusement in Fort Worth. He came back to Houston and managed three movie theaters in that city for Southern Enterprises, Inc. As a theater manager in Houston, McFarland sometimes irritated the Houston Board of Censors; he continued to show Fatty Arbuckle films after the filmmaker became embroiled in controversy, and he showed the film Don't Call It Love despite a controversial kiss.