The Top Charleston Natives to Play MLB Baseball

The State of South Carolina has a very long and proud tradition when it comes to America’s favorite pastime, baseball. It is no surprise that with names like Justin Smoak, Scott Wingo and Earl Bass having worn the Gamecocks uniform, that the Garnet and Black have been one of the best teams in college baseball since 1970, posting 33 NCAA Tournament appearances and remain one of the favorites for bettors looking to make the best of their bet365 bonus code. Let’s take a look at the best Charleston natives to play the sport.

Chris Owings

Currently a utility player for the Baltimore Orioles in the MLB, Owings started his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the minor leagues, drafted in the first round in the 2009 draft out of Gilbert High School in South Carolina. In 2013 he played the season with the  Reno Aces of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League and hit .330 with 12 home runs, 31 doubles, 81 RBIs and 20 stolen bases, which won him the PCL’s Most Valuable Player Award.

On September 3rd, 2013 the Diamondbacks selected his contract and he made his MLB debut that day, pinch hitting in the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays and grounding out to the second baseman. Owing was the best of the league rookies in April 2014, which earned him the National League Rookie of the Month award for that month. Since then he has played for the  Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies, mainly as a middle infielder and as an outfielder, with a batting average of .242, 37 home runs and 220 runs batted in.

Charley Smith

A long time before Chris ever picked up a bat, Charley Smith was doing his thing. Playing mostly as a shortstop and then a third baseman, Smith was one of the last players the Brooklyn Dodgers ever signed before moving to Los Angeles. He debuted for the Dodgers (already in LA) in September 1960 before getting traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. There, he’d become starting third base, and batted .248 with nine home runs and 47 RBIs for a Phillies team that lost 107 games, and was then traded to the Chicago White Sox.

His best times came with the New York Mets (who got him from the White Sox for shortstop Chico Fernández and minor league catcher Bobby Catton). He had a rough start to the 1964 season but Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel gave him his support and Smith became a top slugger for the team, going 3-for-6 with a home run and five RBIs and two runs scored in the Mets’ 19-1 drubbing of the Cubs on May 26. However, after another slow start in the 1965 season he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Smith would also go on to play for the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs before retiring in 1969 with a batting average of .239, 69 home runs and 281 runs batted in; this earned him the honor of becoming the first player to play for both New York teams and both Chicago teams.

Gorman Thomas

Fan favorite for the Milwaukee Brewers, with whom he spent 8 years of his career (in two stints between 1973 and 1976 and then between 1978 and 1983), Gorman Thomas played mostly as a center fielder and right-handed hitter. He joined the Cream City team in 1971, playing Class A baseball for the Danville Warriors before spending parts of the 1973 and 1974 seasons playing MLB baseball. It wouldn’t be until 1978 when Thomas would establish himself as a top player for the Brewers, hitting 32 home runs that season to go along with 86 RBI.

The following season he would have even better numbers, reaching career highs for home runs (45, first in the AL), RBI (123), runs scored (97), hits (136), doubles (29), walks (98), on-base percentage (.356), total bases (300), slugging percentage (.539) and OPS (.895). He would finish seventh in the MVP voting that season and would remain a consistent performer until 1984, when a shoulder surgery limited the capabilities of his throwing arm. Gorman Thomas retired in 1986 with a batting average of .225, 268 home runs and 782 runs batted in.

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