Chris Chambliss
Chambliss with Braves.
First baseman
Born: December 26, 1948 (1948-12-26) (age 60) Dayton, Ohio
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 28, 1971 for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance
May 8, 1988 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Batting average	.279
Home runs	185
Runs batted in	972
Teams
Cleveland Indians (1971–1974) New York Yankees (1974–1979) Atlanta Braves (1980–1986) New York Yankees (1988)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (1976) 2x World Series champion (1977, 1978) Gold Glove Award winner (1978) 1971 AL Rookie of the Year

Carroll Christopher Chambliss (born December 26, 1948, in Dayton, Ohio) is a retired Major League Baseball player who played from 1971 to 1988 for the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Before the majors

Chambliss led the American Association with a .342 batting average while playing for the Wichita Aeros in 1970.

[edit] 1970-1975

In 1970, Chambliss was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round (1st pick overall) of the free-agent draft (January 17, 1970) and in 1971, was named AL Rookie of the Year. Chambliss played first base and was known as a great clutch hitter throughout his career.

He was dealt to the Yankees from the Indians in April 1974 along with pitchers Cecil Upshaw and Dick Tidrow for Fritz Peterson, Fred Beene, Tom Buskey, and Steve Kline in a much criticized multi-player deal.

[edit] 1976

In 1976, he received his only selection to the All-Star team.

In the 1976 American League Championship Series, his first-pitch, walk off home run off Mark Littell of the Kansas City Royals gave the Yankees their first trip to the World Series since 1964.

Mark Littell delivers . . . High drive hit to right-center field . . . It could be . . . it is . . . gone!

—Keith Jackson, ABC-TV.

Chris Chambliss has won the American League pennant for the New York Yankees. . . . A thrilling, dramatic game. . . . What a way for the American League season to end!

—Howard Cosell, ABC-TV.

My first thought was that I hit a home run. Then I realized it was the ninth inning, the game was over and we'd won the championship. Then I thought, 'Oh no, the people are on the field.' I was in the middle of a mass of people and when I fell to the ground, it was scary.

—Chambliss.

I never felt like it was fun to celebrate that home run with the fans. They didn't belong on the field. I wanted to meet my teammates at home plate and I couldn't.

—Chris Chambliss.

Chambliss was the hitting star of the 1976 ALCS, as he also hit a two-run homer in Game 3 to help the Yankees win that Game 5 to 3. He hit an ALCS record .524 with 2 home runs and eight RBIs. "The Chambliss Tapes," a time-travel short story based around his famous 1976 playoff home run is included in the anthology Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction. Written by Donald Capone. In the 1976 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Chambliss hit .313 (5-for-16) with one RBI.

[edit] Later career

Chambliss played three more seasons with the Yankees, winning a Gold Glove for fielding prowess in 1978. He then moved on to Atlanta from 1980-1986. He had one at-bat with the Yankees in 1988 and struck out. After his playing days ended, Chambliss became a hitting instructor for several teams and was talked about as a possible managerial candidate.

[edit] Coaching and managerial career

In 1989, Chambliss became the manager for the Double-A London Tigers of the Eastern League, an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The London Tigers won the Eastern League title in 1990, playing out of Labatt Park. That same year Chambliss was named Minor League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News.

Chambliss was also a hitting coach with the Yankees, and has the distinction of being one of two men who have worn a Yankee uniform (player or coach) during each of the Yankees' last six World Series Championship seasons prior to 2009 (1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000) -- the other is former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph. He was also the hitting coach for the New York Mets.

Most recently, Chambliss worked as hitting coach of the Cincinnati Reds, until he was fired on October 11, 2006.^[1]

He is currently the manager of the Triple A Charlotte Knights.

[edit] See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits

[edit] External links

• Chambliss Sinks the Royals
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
• Retrosheet

[edit] References

• London Tigers 1989, The Collector's Edition, Souvenir Program.
• Tiger Special: Peanuts, popcorn, crackerjack, Baseball's Back, The London Free Press, Section F, April 7, 1989.
• 1980 Baseball Register published by The Sporting News