Uncle Charlie
Meanwhile, back at your question, an “Uncle Charlie” (also known as a “Lord Charles” or “Sir Charles”) is a curveball, a pitch that veers away as it nears the batter . Dickson dates the first use of “Uncle Charlie” to 1935, in a column by Walter Winchell in the Havana Evening Telegram. Unfortunately, the etymology of the term is stubbornly obscure. But Dickson suggests that the words “Uncle Charlie” themselves are onomatopoetically suggestive of a curve ball, presumably with the soothing “Uncle” evoking the initially bland course of the ball and the explosive “ch” of “Charlie” suggesting the moment when the ball swerves out of reach. It’s a plausible theory, though a bit unsatisfying. I did a bit of poking around and found that Charles Graham, owner of the San Francisco Seals minor league team in the 1920s, was known to players and fans of that era as “Uncle Charlie,” so perhaps there’s a connection there. In any case, “Uncle Charlie” is very much still in use today. Its superlative form, “Lord Charles,” was coined in 1984 in tribute to New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden’s curveball, considered to be in a different league than the average “Uncle Charlie.”
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Dave Khan:
October 28th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
It always seemed self-evident to me (though admittedly without any other, supporting evidence, as “self-evident” would imply) that “Charlie” was simply a colorful association with the initial “C” for curveball, in much the same way that “foxtrot” means the letter “F” and “tango” means “T”. The addition of the “Uncle” is no real stretch, and adds a bit of flavor, but I have also heard the pitch referred to as simply “the Charlie” on occasion.
OL’ CHARLIE » meetthematts.com:
August 8th, 2011 at 10:54 am
[…] happened to our catcher today. His next time up a big curveball (an Uncle Charlie) bounced off his helmet…so he starts trotting to first only to get called back for not doing […]
Chesstopia:
July 17th, 2013 at 9:41 am
I heard Vin Scully use the term many years ago. I knew it was a curve ball from picturing the letters–written in longhand. These letters are filled with twists and turns. Just look at the two capitals: U and C and you get the picture.
Alex Haitsuka:
October 17th, 2015 at 8:18 pm
Played D1 ball. Caught a lot. I have no clue where it came from (hense being on this page). I’ve come to the realization that it doesn’t matter and that’s why baseball is great. Baseball players a childish grow men throwing a a rock around wearing pants in July. Americans had to figure out how to take town ball and make something way more awesome. And Ty Cobb was a bigot