Every Rookie has a shot to make it

Every rookie has a shot to make it -- just ask Super Joe Charboneau: Terry Pluto
by Terry Pluto/Plain Dealer Columnist
Thursday February 26, 2009, 8:42 PM

Want to feel old?

Joe Charboneau is 53. He has a 29-year-old son and a 27-year-old daughter. He and Cindy have been married for 33 years. It was 29 years ago that Charboneau went to spring training with the Tribe in Arizona and ended up being Rookie of the Year.

Want to feel young?

It is spring training, the Indians are back in Arizona and sometimes, a young player emerges like Super Joe Charboneau -- shooting straight up from Class AA to the majors.

Maybe it will be Matt LaPorta. Or Michael Brantley. Or David Huff, who spent only a few months in Class AAA.

"If any of those guys asked me, I'd tell them that this is your chance because you never know when you'll get another one," said Charboneau, who lives in North Ridgeville, where he works for the city's recreation department. He also gives private batting lessons and does card shows and fantasy camps.

"Don't worry when people say you can't make it," said Charboneau. "You never know what will happen. Guys get hurt, there are trades. I was not supposed to make the Indians in 1980."

Charboneau talked about the spring when he, his wife and young daughter drove in a beat-up Datsun from their home in Northern California to Tucson, Ariz. He was the defending Class AA Southern League batting champion, having hit .352. He was 24 years old, his $5,000 in bonus money long gone.

Mark Duncan/Associated PressSuper phenom Joe Charboneau of the Indians talks to the press in Cleveland on Dec. 3, 1980, after his selection as AL Rookie of the Year. The Indians had an outfield of Jorge Orta, Rick Manning and Mike Hargrove. That's correct, Hargrove was a left fielder. Andre Thornton at first base, Cliff Johnson the designated hitter. On the bench were supposed to be Dell Alston, Cito Gaston and Andres Mora. Charboneau seemed ticketed for the Class AAA Charleston (W.Va.) Charlies.

"I walked up to the dressing room at Hi Corbett Field and stood at the door," said Charboneau. "I was afraid to go in. I stood out there for a couple of minutes, just staring at it. My heart was jumping. I finally went through the door, and I was scared. [Trainer] Jimmy Warfield walked right over to me and made me feel welcome."

Charboneau said he stayed with his young family at a motel called the Spanish Trail, the spring home for all Tribe minor-leaguers.

"It was an old place with a train on the roof, don't ask me why," said

Charboneau. "We were jammed into one room with one bed. It was a place that made you really want to get to the big leagues."

Charboneau said he and his wife looked at the roster nearly every night, trying to figure out how he could make the Opening Day roster. Cliff Johnson showed up with a broken finger, supposedly unloading a barrel of oats from a truck. Suddenly, he was out as DH. But there still seemed to be two or three players ahead of him.

"I had never made any money and never had any money," he said. "Part of me always thought I could play in the big leagues, but I remember when I first saw my name and my number 34 on that uniform in the clubhouse. I couldn't believe it was really for me, that I really could make it."

The Indians had two intrasquad games, and Charboneau opened with seven consecutive hits, including a 400-foot homer. By the first exhibition game, he was officially being hyped as a phenom by the star-starved Cleveland media, picking up the Super Joe nickname.

Charboneau said he was making $34 a day in meal money. Two weeks into the spring, former Tribe minor-league director Bob Quinn found an apartment for the young family so they could cook some of their own meals.

Charboneau continue to slash line drives all spring, often in morning "B" games where statistics were not kept. He also had a strange incident when the team was playing in Mexico City. A fan asked him for his autograph, and as Charboneau reached for the pen, the man stabbed Charboneau in the side with a Bic.

It was just a flesh wound, and the man was fined $2.27 and released.
Things like that always happened to Charboneau, who recovered and then secured a spot on the roster when Andre Thornton suffered a major knee injury at the end of training camp.

In 1980, he batted .289 (.846 OPS) with 23 homers and 87 RBI while being voted American League Rookie of the Year. The next spring, he slid into second base and suffered a back injury. It was the first of many. Charboneau said he's had several surgeries, removing parts or all of "five of my disks, we have back problems in our family."

He played only 70 more games in the majors after 1980.
Charboneau made $21,000 as a rookie. The next season, he signed a $75,000 contract, but a strike wiped out part of the season -- and he pocketed about $40,000. That's the most he ever made in baseball.

His son, Tyson, has a college degree and manages the Tattoo and Body Anthology in North Olmsted. His daughter, Dannon, is a registered nurse. Cindy has battled multiple sclerosis for years and is often in a wheelchair. Charboneau has been a local celebrity; he coached in the independent Frontier League for 10 years and also worked in North Ridgeville for the recreation department.
"I love Cleveland," he said. "The city and the fans have been great to me and my family. I'm always thankful for the one good, healthy year. And I'd tell those guys in camp with the Indians to make the most of it right now -- you never know how long it will last."