Charlie Carr

Charles Carbitt Carr (December 27, 1875 – November 25, 1932) was an American professional baseball first baseman and manager. He played from 1894 to 1919, including seven years in Major League Baseball with the Washington Senators, Philadelphia Athletics (1901), Detroit Tigers (1903–1904), Cleveland Naps (1904–1905), Cincinnati Reds (1906), and Indianapolis Hoosiers (1914). Over his seven-year major league career, Carr had a .252 batting average with 493 hits, 106 extra base hits, and 240 runs batted in (RBIs).

He also served as a player-manager in the minor leagues for the Indianapolis Indians (1906–1910), Utica Utes (1911), and Kansas City Blues (1912–1913). He concluded his professional baseball career in 1919 as a player for the Providence Grays. He was also a principal of the Bradley & Carr sporting goods company.

Early years Carr was born in 1876 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. He attended elementary and high school in Coatesville and then enrolled at Lehigh University. He had been a catcher up to that point, but he later recalled that his "throwing arm was dead", and he then became a first baseman. During the 1903 season, Carr was the Tigers' starting first baseman, appearing in 135 games. He hit .281 and ranked among the American League leaders with 111 assists at first base (first), 25 errors at first base (third), 1,276 putouts at first base (fifth).982 fielding percentage (fifth), 60 double plays turned at first base (fifth), 548 at bats (eighth), and 79 RBIs (ninth).

Carr returned to the Tigers as the starting first baseman in 1904. He suffered a broken nose when he was hit by a fastball between his nose and left eye during a spring game in Nashville. He appeared in 92 games for the 1904 Tigers, but his batting average fell by 67 points to .214. Carr appeared in 32 games for the Naps in 1904 as a backup to first baseman Charlie Hickman. Carr hit .224 in 120 at bats in 1904. In 1905, he became the Naps' starting first baseman, appearing in 89 games and compiling a .235 batting average in 306 at bats.

He appeared in only 22 games and hit .191. Carr later recalled his experience in Cincinnati as follows: "In 1906, with the understanding that I would serve as manager, I went to Cincinnati, but I didn't hit it off with an influential sports writer on the Enquirer, so I was forced to hunt a job elsewhere after starting that season with the Reds." His 1908 Indianapolis team won the American Association pennant with a 92–61 record. Carr hit .301 in 522 at bats in 1908. Other key players on the 1908 team included Rube Marquard, Donie Bush, and Ed Siever. The Indians drew 500,000 spectators in 1908.

Utica and Kansas City (1911–13) In 1911, he became player-manager for the Utica Utes of the New York State League. He served in the same capacity for the Kansas City Blues of the American Association in 1912 and 1913.

In 1932, Carr died suddenly in a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He was visiting Memphis on a business trip. He was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery (Section 74, Lot 96) in Indianapolis.