Chuck Harmon Part 1 -- No MLB Dreams Allowed

[GeoPoto]

In the summer of 1947, Harmon needed money to meet college and living expenses. But he also wanted to maintain his NCAA eligibility, so he signed with the Indianapolis Clowns to play baseball under the name “Charlie Fine.” Harmon had grown up watching the Clowns and idolized the team.

“Four games, four days on a bus,” Harmon said about his short stint in the Negro Leagues. “Goose [Tatum, who played with the Harlem Globetrotters] took me under his wing. He liked me because he knew I played basketball. Goose is the one who gave me the (alias) Charlie Fine. That’s the name I played under. Goose didn’t want my college eligibility to be affected.”

Arriving home from the weekend road trip, Harmon had a telegram from the Toledo athletic director, who had found him a summer job on campus. His Negro League career was over practically before it began. But within a month he was signed to a minor-league contract by the St. Louis Browns (today’s Baltimore Orioles). Assigned to the Browns’ Gloversville-Johnstown team in upstate New York in 1947, he played 54 games in the outfield and batted .270.

Even more important to Harmon than the day he began playing pro ball was the day he met Daurel Pearl Woodley, a student at nearby Syracuse University. On December 29, 1947, they married in Gloversville. “Marrying her,” Harmon said, “was my greatest accomplishment.”

The couple had three children — Charlene, Chuck Jr., and Cheryl. They were married for 62 years until Pearl passed away from cancer in 2009.