Charlie Peete

Early career Nicknamed "Mule", Peete stood tall, weighed , batted left-handed and threw right-handed. The native of Franklin, Virginia, began his professional career in the Negro leagues with the Indianapolis Clowns and played semi-professional baseball in Canada.

Peete was drafted by the Army in 1952 during the Korean War. He served in Asia mainly with the Special Services Division playing football and baseball. He was honorably discharged in 1953 after 15 months of service.

After the St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in late 1954, Peete was promoted through two levels to Triple-A for and batted .310 in a season split between the Cardinals' two top farm teams, the Rochester Red Wings and Omaha Cardinals. In 1956, he batted a league-best .350 with 16 home runs and 63 runs batted in in 116 games for Omaha.

St. Louis Cardinals

Called up by the Cardinals in July, Peete made his debut July 17 in a home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pinch hitting for veteran Hank Sauer, he drew a walk and stayed in the game to play center field, and later grounded into a double play in a 4–2 Cardinal loss. Peete collected ten hits in 52 at bats with two doubles and two triples. He was sent back to Omaha after his last MLB appearance, August 16, when he went hitless in three at bats against Lew Burdette of the Milwaukee Braves.

Plane crash in Venezuela

Despite the disappointing results from his midseason callup, Peete was projected as a prime candidate for the Redbirds' 1957 center fielder job; incumbent Bobby Del Greco had batted only .215 during 1956. Had Peete won the job, he would have been the Cardinals' first African-American regular starting player.

He became the first Major League Baseball player to die in Venezuela.