Charles William "Whammy" Douglas (born February 17, 1935, at Carrboro, North Carolina

Carrboro, North Carolina

Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 19,582 at the 2010 census. The town, which is part of the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical area, was named after North Carolina industrialist Julian Shakespeare Carr.Located near Chapel Hill and...

) is a retired American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional baseball

Professional baseball

Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....

 player. The right-handed pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 stood 6 in 2 in (1.88 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (83.9 kg) during his active career. According to multiple sources, Douglas was able to forge a professional baseball career despite being blind

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

 in one eye.

Although Douglas only played part of one season in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 out of his ten-year pro career, he had a measure of success for the 1957 Pittsburgh Pirates

1957 Pittsburgh Pirates season

‎- Regular season :The Pittsburgh Pirates played the Brooklyn Dodgers in the final game at Ebbets Field. The game was contested on September 24, 1957, and Brooklyn pitcher Danny McDevitt pitched a complete game. He had nine strikeouts while allowing just five hits...

, appearing in 11 games

Games played

Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...

 (eight as a starting pitcher

Starting pitcher

In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....

), and posting a respectable 3.26 earned run average

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

. He also was part of a major trade between the Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

 in January 1959. Douglas was sent to Cincinnati in a package of players headlined by Pittsburgh slugger Frank Thomas. In return, Pittsburgh received Smoky Burgess

Smoky Burgess

Forrest Harrill "Smoky" Burgess was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1949 to 1967. Later in his career, he became known for his ability as a pinch hitter, setting the major league career record for career pinch-hits...

, Harvey Haddix

Harvey Haddix

Harvey Haddix, Jr. was a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who played with the St. Louis Cardinals , Philadelphia Phillies , Cincinnati Redlegs , Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles . Haddix was born in Medway, Ohio, located just outside of Springfield...

 and Don Hoak

Don Hoak

Donald Albert Hoak was a Major League Baseball player. Nicknamed "Tiger," Hoak was a third baseman who played ten seasons in the Majors with the Brooklyn Dodgers , Chicago Cubs , Cincinnati Reds , Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies...

 — and that trio would play integral roles in the Pirates' 1960 world championship season

1960 Pittsburgh Pirates season

‎The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's 79th season. The team finished with a record of 95-59, seven games in front of the second-place Milwaukee Braves to win their first National League championship in 33 seasons...

.

Douglas never appeared in an MLB game for the Reds. His minor league

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 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

Georgia-Florida League

The Georgia-Florida League was a minor baseball league that existed from 1935 through 1958 and in 1962–1963...

, in which he won 27 games, lost only six and posted a 2.06 ERA.