Charlie Ferguson

Charles J. Ferguson (April 17, 1863 – April 29, 1888) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire four-year career for the Philadelphia Phillies. When not pitching, he increasingly played in the outfield and – in his final season – at second base.

Career Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, he played baseball for the University of Virginia in 1882, although he was never a student there. He also played for the Virginia representative in the Eastern League, with his team winning the championship. Ferguson made his major league debut with the Quakers in . Philadelphia finished 6th in the National League that season, and Ferguson had a win/loss record of 21-25. That was the only season in which he produced a losing record, and he had his highest earned run average with 3.54. On August 29, he pitched a no-hitter against the Providence Grays, a 1-0 victory at the Phillies' Recreation Park.

He continued his dominance in the season, winning 30 games and again lowering his ERA, this time to 1.98, In , he won 22 games and had a 3.00 ERA. That same season, he played 27 games at second base, and had 264 at bats. Along with his 22 victories, he led the team in runs batted in with 85, and his .337 batting average would have led his team as well had his total plate appearances been enough to qualify for the batting title.

Death Before the baseball season, he contracted typhoid fever and subsequently died in Philadelphia. In 1931, Wilbert Robinson rated Ferguson as the fifth-best player to that point in baseball history.