Joe Charboneau

By Allyson Turner

Joe Charboneau's top salary was $38,000 in the majors.

It was 1980 and the man was Joe Charboneau. He batted .289 with 23 home runs and 87 RBI and went on to win AL Rookie of the Year. To many, it looked like the beginning of a Hall of Fame career. Indians fans thought they had something special on their hands.

In 1981, it all came crashing down.

A head-first slide into second base that spring turned the tide on Charboneau, leaving him with a chronically injured back and a ticket back to the minors, where he spent the majority of his playing career.

Charboneau, who now runs baseball clinics for kids, wouldn't give up. He was determined to keep his career going. He played on several minor-league teams from 1976 until 1990.

"My top salary was $38,000. My first year I made $21,000 and my third year $25,000. I made $147,000 collectively for all those years that I played ball professionally. It was a different game then. We worked during the off-season."

THE DENNIS RODMAN of his day, there were some things that set him apart from the crowd. Charboneau dyed his hair before it became the in thing to do. His hair is normal today, "I see a lot of guys with their hair bleached now. I did it too early. I don't think baseball had a sense of humor then."

He became, 'Super Joe', a media darling. His legend was even put to song, Go Joe Charboneau.

"My friend Kirk Hansen owned a bar named after The Three Stooges named Curly's in Cleveland. It was a big Browns and Indians bar. Kirk had a whole jukebox installed just so he could put that song in. He would play it all the time. Kirk revived it."

When a player begins his career on a high note we often question what might have been. Charboneau says, "The money would have been a lot better. Ten years was my goal. I think I would've been pretty consistent with '80. I'd like to think I would have hit .300 a few times."

EVEN WELL AFTER his playing days, Charboneau's life is surrounded by baseball. He and his wife, Cindi, have built Charboneau Baseball, which involves running clinics across the country and teaching children the game.

"Next week we have two clinics in Ohio, then will hold a clinic in Utah. The travel keeps you fresh."

Charboneau tries to give the benefit of his experience, even the painful part that ended his career.

"It was a head-first slide. It was a freak thing. I teach sliding now. Feet-first sliding."

Joe has two children; his son Tyson just graduated high school and soon will attend college, and a daughter, Damon, who will be a senior in high school.

Damon plays fast pitch softball. Tyson played baseball for one year and as Joe puts it, "We always encouraged Tyson to do what he wanted."

And Cindi, his wife of more than 20 years?

"She was the best athlete in the family. She was a three-time All-American swimmer. She takes care of everything. She handles all the information for the clinic, the flyers, everything. We're having a lot of fun but it's a lot of work."

More from Joe, then and now ...

Do you ever miss the game?
Watching kids at the fantasy camps, at the end of the day when the sun goes down, there's a neat feeling walking across the field. I missed it more this year than I did in years. Going to a lot of games, watching kids play, I miss it. Watching kids and my daughter has inspired me again.

What do you miss about playing?
I miss the players. The competition. The adrenilin flowing, before, during and after the game. To get that pumped up for something, that's hard to replace. Replace that energy on something else.

Who were the games' stars when you played?
Rod Carew. He was a tremendous help in my career. He gave me hitting advice and all sorts of advice. When you can know and work with a guy like that, it's pretty amazing. Reggie Jackson helped me quite a bit also. George Brett was a superstar. Carl Yastrzemski was a hero of mine growing up and it was great to play against him.

Who were your friends in the game?
Len Barker. He pitched a perfect game in '81 and that was one of my biggest thrills, playing in his perfect game. Ron Pruitt who does what I do now. Joe Nossek. Rick Waits, who is a pitching instructor now.

What was the highlight of your career?
Making it to the big leagues was the highlight for me. Baseball was good back then. It was relatively a job. You played for the love of the game and you didn't make a lot of money. There were fewer teams and better pitching. It was harder to make it. It was a pure game. You could still borrow money all the time. I was the one doing the borrowing. We were that intimate. That close. I can't imagine guys doing that now. That's how we hung out. We were making $125 bucks a game. It puts things in perspective. I used to borrow money from Len Barker; 20 bucks all the time. I saw him recently and he said that he claimed me on his income tax return.

In 1984, you were in the movie The Natural what was that like?
That was a pretty neat experience. I worked on the film for six weeks and that was a lot of fun. Robert Redford was pretty cool. Wilfred Brimley was a great guy. Glenn Close was really nice, too. I worked with the players and I worked on their swings. That was a really great experience. We had a ball.

Do you follow the Indians and were you surprised by the success they had in recent years?
I was surprised by their success when it first happened. I am very happy for the whole Cleveland area, the fans and the whole city. It's a beautiful city and the people here are great. It's a nice, nice city.

How did you cope with the ending of your career?
The first year was really tough because you have so much energy and you don't know what to do. You're used to traveling and now you're in one place. You're used to people cheering you and it's a big change. That's one of the reasons I kept going back.

Do you feel cheated?
I don't feel cheated, I feel fortunate. I made the big leagues. Just to play pro ball was enough for me.

How do you think people remember you?
I don't know. People remember me probably in different ways. Things mean something different to other fans. Some people are naturally cynical. Some are naturally positive. I try and surround myself around positive friends.

How do you want to be remembered?
I'd like people to remember me just as playing hard, working hard and Rookie of the Year. That was a big accomplishment right there.

Did you really open beer bottles with your eye socket muscle?
I learned that in college. We used to try and top each other with stories and that was mine. I didn't know it was feasible but I found out it was.

Don't try this at home, though. He says it leaves scars.