Charles "Chatty" Etherton
| Date and Place of Birth: | February 13, 1919 Carbondale, IL |
| Date and Place of Death: | December 27, 1945 Jefferson City, MO |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Corporal |
| Military Unit: | 382nd AAA Auto-Weapons Battalion, US Army |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations |
Charles "Chatty" Etherton, Jr., was the son of Charles and Agnes
Etherton. His father was the postmaster in
Carbondale, Illinois, and young Charles was a right-handed pitcher of local fame. He
signed with the Mayfield Clothiers of the newly formed Class D Kitty
League in 1936, and made one brief appearance before returning to
Carbondale to play for the Bridge 4-H softball team that won the county
championship.
Between 1938 and 1940, Etherton had brief trials with teams in the
Arkansas-Missouri League, South Atlantic League, Kitty League, and
Alabama State League, but it was following an outstanding season with
the sandlot Red Wings of Murphysboro, Illinois, that he secured a
regular place in organized baseball, joining the Zanesville Cubs of the
Class C Middle-Atlantic League in 1941.
Etherton started in style for the Cubs with a 16-strikeout performance
in a pre-season game against Muskingum College on April 24. "Etherton,
who served a brief hitch with Troy in the Alabama State League last
season, used a fast breaking curve and a fair fastball to bewilder all
the Muskie batsmen," declared the local newspaper the following day.'
Etherton made 22 appearances with Zanesville for a 3-7 record and a 5.01
ERA. He finished out the year making seven appearances for the Lake
Charles Skippers of the Class D Evangeline League. In 1942, Etherton
joined the Winnipeg Maroons of the Class C Northern League, where he
posted a 4-2 won-loss record, before entering military service on June
12.
Corporal Etherton served in the Pacific Theater with the 382nd AAA
Auto-Weapons Battalion and
returned home in late 1945. On December 23, he boarded a troop train at
Camp Stoneman, California, bound for discharge at Jefferson Barracks,
Missouri. Nobody knows what horrors the 26-year-old faced on the
battlefields of the Pacific, but other soldiers on the train said he was
despondent. Four days after the train left California, Etherton locked
himself in a wash room and cut his throat with a double-edged razor
blade. His body was found when the train stopped at Jefferson City,
Missouri, only a few hours from home.
Charles "Chatty" Etherton is buried at Oakland Cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois.
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
IP |
ER |
BB |
SO |
W |
L |
ERA |
| 1936 |
Mayfield |
Kitty | D | 1 | 4 | - | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - |
| 1938 | Monett | Arkansas-Missouri | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1939 |
Paducah |
Kitty | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1940 | Troy | Alabama State | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1941 |
Zanesville |
Mid-Atlantic | C | 22 | 88 | 49 | 57 | 28 | 3 | 3 | 5.01 |
| 1941 | Lake Charles | Evangeline | D | 7 | 33 | 15 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 4.09 |
| 1942 |
Winnipeg |
Northern | C | 7 | 38 | - | 14 | 24 | 4 | 2 | - |
Chatty Etherton's grave at Oakland Cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois
Date Added January 27, 2012 Updated July 25, 2016
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