# Charlie Dees

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**Charles Henry Dees** (born June 24, 1935) is an American former professional [baseball](/source/Baseball) player whose career extended from 1957 through 1966. The [first baseman](/source/First_baseman) appeared in 98 [games played](/source/Games_played) in [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) over parts of three seasons (1963–65) for the [Los Angeles/California Angels](/source/Los_Angeles_Angels). He threw and batted [left-handed](/source/Left-handed), and was listed as 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and 173 pounds (78 kg).

Dees was born in [Birmingham, Alabama](/source/Birmingham,_Alabama). He played for the Louisville Clippers of the [Negro leagues](/source/Negro_leagues) in 1957[1] before signing with the [San Francisco Giants](/source/San_Francisco_Giants)' organization the following year. He [batted](/source/Batting_average_(baseball)) over .300 in three of his first five minor league seasons, culminating with a breakout year for the 1962 [El Paso Sun Kings](/source/El_Paso_Sun_Kings) of the [Double-A](/source/Double-A_(baseball)) [Texas League](/source/Texas_League). Dees led the Texas circuit in batting (.348) and [hits](/source/Hit_(baseball)) (179), and reached career highs in [home runs](/source/Home_runs) (23) and [runs batted in](/source/Runs_batted_in) (115). He was selected as a member of the Texas League all-star team. The following March, the Giants sold his contract to the Angels.

Dees split between the big-league Angels and their [Triple-A](/source/Triple-A_(baseball)) affiliate, the [Hawaii Islanders](/source/Hawaii_Islanders), and batted over .300 at both levels. In his MLB debut, May 26 at [Dodger Stadium](/source/Dodger_Stadium), he [doubled](/source/Double_(baseball)) off [Orlando Peña](/source/Orlando_Pe%C3%B1a) of the [Kansas City Athletics](/source/Kansas_City_Athletics) in his first [at bat](/source/At_bat), driving home [baserunner](/source/Baserunner) [Billy Moran](/source/Billy_Moran) for his first big-league run batted in.[2]

Then Dees embarked on a torrid stretch at the plate. Over his first 20 games, he batted .382 and took over the Angels' starting first base job. But in the middle of June, his hot hitting began to cool. During a 4-for-35 drought that lasted into early July, his average fell below .300 and he was sent back to Hawaii at month's end, batting .281. Recalled to Los Angeles in September, however, he enjoyed another hot stretch, particularly against the [Boston Red Sox](/source/Boston_Red_Sox). Dees started ten games between September 9 and 28, and put up six multi-hit contests, with four three-hit games. Three of those came against Boston, against whom he went 11-for-21 (.524).[3] He finished his rookie year at .307 in 60 games for the Angels.

But Dees' season was disastrous. He began the year as a [pinch hitter](/source/Pinch_hitter) and started only three games for the Angels in almost two months. Worse, he collected only two hits and one [base on balls](/source/Base_on_balls) in 28 plate appearances, and was batting .077 when the Angels loaned Dees to the [Houston Colt .45s](/source/Houston_Colt_.45s)' top affiliate, the [Oklahoma City 89ers](/source/Oklahoma_City_89ers), where he played the rest of the season and batted only .257. The Angels retained his rights, however, and in optioned him to the Triple-A [Seattle Angels](/source/Seattle_Angels) and then to the Double-A Sun Kings, which was now an Angels' affiliate. Back in the hitting-friendly confines of El Paso, three years after his strong 1962 campaign for the Sun Kings, the 30-year-old Dees batted .377 and earned a last call-up to the Angels in September. But his struggles continued: he hit only .156 in 12 games.

Dees split 1966 between Triple-A and Double-A before leaving baseball.

In his three seasons with the Angels, Dees batted .265. His 69 hits included 12 doubles, one [triple](/source/Triple_(baseball)) and three [home runs](/source/Home_runs).

## References

1. [Center for Negro Leagues Baseball Research](http://www.cnlbr.org)

1. [Retrosheet](/source/Retrosheet) [box score: 1963-05-26](http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1963/B05260LAA1963.htm)

1. [Retrosheet](/source/Retrosheet): [The 1963 LA A Batting Log for Charlie Dees](http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1963/Ideesc1010011963.htm)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Charlie Dees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Dees) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Dees?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.