Charlie Faust demonstrated that a Kansas farmer could help a baseball team, specifically the New York Giants, win a pennant. Baseball fans long forgot Faust’s story until it was recounted by former Giants center fielder Fred Snodgrass to author Lawrence Ritter for his classic 1966 book, The Glory of Their Times, about baseball in the early 1900s. Contemporary accounts, however, show that Snodgrass’s memory failed him. The true story is actually funnier than Snodgrass’s account.
The Short, Happy Baseball Life of Charlie “Victory” Faust
Charlie Faust and His Short New York Giants Career
In July 1911, the Giants were in St. Louis for a three-game series against the Cardinals. Before one of the games, Faust, a farmer from Marion, Kansas, descended from the stands to speak with legendary Giants manager John McGraw. (In a guest newspaper column titled “Superstitious About Jinxes In Baseball,” Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson recalled that Faust approached McGraw at the Planters Hotel the night before.)
The 30-year-old farmer, whose full name was Charles Victor Faust, introduced himself to McGraw as Charles “Victory” Faust. Accounts differ as to what Faust told McGraw. He may have said he had a dream that he was pitching for the Giants and they won the National League pennant. Or he may have said a fortune teller told him he could be a great baseball player if he joined the Giants – and only the Giants. Mathewson wrote that Faust paid the fortune teller $5 to reveal the team’s name. That’s $170.51 in today’s dollars.
“Probably Enough to Break a Pane of Glass”
Probably to amuse himself, McGraw gave Faust a tryout on the spot. Columnist Ralph S. Davis wrote that McGraw gave the six-foot-two Faust a uniform “that might have been made for a Liliputian.” Snodgrass recalled that Faust, wearing “his best Sunday suit,” removed his hat and coat. Before Faust took the mound, he gave McGraw his signals for his pitching repertoire. The manager then squatted behind home with his catcher’s mitt. “There was no difference in his pitches whatsoever,” related Snodgrass. “And there was no speed – probably enough to break a pane of glass, but that was about all.”
McGraw then instructed Faust to take batting practice and run the bases to gauge his speed. Faust hit a dribbler to the pitcher. The fielders purposely tossed the ball wildly until Faust had slid into every base, much to their amusement. McGraw told Faust to come back the next day.
A Ticket to Ride
On July 31, with the series concluded, the Giants waited to board a train to Pittsburgh. Faust surprised them by showing up, believing he was on the team. When he asked McGraw for his ticket, McGraw told him they had left it for him at the Planters. If Faust ran and got it, McGraw would hold the train for him. Faust left as fast as he could. So did the train.
When the Giants finally got home from the road trip on August 11, Faust was waiting for them at the Polo Grounds. He apologized for missing the train in St. Louis. He was given a uniform and warmed up before the game. Of course, he didn’t appear in the game. The Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies that night, 6-0, behind Mathewson’s shutout pitching. Faust remained with the Giants as they won the next two games. Then, Faust jumped the team to accept a gig on vaudeville, where he was offered $100 per week, or four times what the Giants were paying him. His vaudeville show featured absurd sliding demonstrations on a Turkish rug and inaccurate imitations of various major league batters.
“The Players Laugh At Him”
While Faust was on vaudeville, the Giants lost four in a row. Faust decided the Giants needed him and returned to the team. Snodgrass told Ritter that McGraw was superstitious and kept Faust around as a good-luck charm. Actually, McGraw thought Faust a pest and wanted to get rid of him. It was the players who wished to Faust, partly because of their own superstitions, partly for amusement. “Faust will do anything anyone tells him without question,” wrote the Pittsburgh Gazette Times, “and leave it to a bunch of ball players to furnish him with ideas. The players laugh at him, and not with him.” The Giants went 41-10 with Faust in uniform in 1911, winning the pennant by 7 ½ games over the Chicago Cubs.
Put Me In, Coach
Meanwhile, Faust became a gate attraction in his own right, drawing crowds to see his pregame baserunning shenanigans. When the Giants arrived in Pittsburgh on September 16, he promised to exhibit a new slide he had invented. Faust finally made his major league debut against Boston on October 7 at the Polo Grounds, after the Giants had clinched the pennant. He pitched the ninth inning with his team down, 4-2, surrendering a run. Associated Press referred to him as “the eccentric Kansan.”
The Giants closed the regular season at home with a doubleheader against the rival Brooklyn Dodgers. Associated Press called the second game “a farce” and Faust’s second major league appearance in the ninth inning “pure burlesque.” With the Dodgers ahead, 5-1, Faust pitched a scoreless ninth and was permitted to bat in the bottom of the inning. An Eddie Dent pitch hit Faust and “was then allowed to steal second and third, and scored on an infield out.”
The Giants lost the World Series in six games to the Philadelphia Athletics. Faust didn’t pitch in the Series but took it upon himself to warm up any time a Giants pitcher got into trouble. Now McGraw had “proof” that Faust was more of a jinx than a good luck charm. He didn’t want him back in 1912.
“I Am Somewhat Perturbed”
Ludicrously, McGraw found an assignment for Faust in January. Faust believed his pitching was a jinx. McGraw sent him to Texas under the theory that if he went there and threw a ball, the meningitis epidemic sweeping Texas would go away. It didn’t work. The epidemic lasted until the following year.
Meanwhile, Faust attempted to negotiate a contract for 1912 with “Secretary O’Brien” of the Giants. “If the Giants don’t want me,” said Faust, “I know of clubs that do. Manager McGraw promised last year to use me as a regular pitcher, and I am somewhat perturbed to think that I did not get a chance to show my twirling ability.”
In February, Faust showed up at the National League meetings, demanding a ruling on his status with the Giants. He claimed the Giants owed him a season’s salary. The NL refused his claim, ruling that he wasn’t classified as a ballplayer. Meanwhile, Faust was getting ready for the 1912 season. The right-hander announced that this time, he would be pitching with his left arm.
Finally, on July 9, Faust, who led the majors in temerity, joined the Giants in Chicago. McGraw sent him home; he would call Faust when the Giants needed him. Faust grew impatient. He sent McGraw a letter asking why he hadn’t been summoned. Then he announced that he had placed a jinx on the Giants until they reinstated him. Faust returned to the Giants on August 4 and returned home for good four days later when McGraw refused to give him a contract. The 1912 Giants won the pennant again, only to lose in the World Series to the Boston Red Sox.
The Last Word
McGraw scheduled a vaudeville show of his own in St. Louis, the same city where he first encountered Faust, in January 1913. He learned that Faust and his brother, Algy, were planning to attend. McGraw canceled his St. Louis dates.
The following month, McGraw received a telegram and two 10-page letters from Faust. Slow on the uptake, Faust wrote, “Several persons have told me now that you were only kidding me” when McGraw gave Faust a tryout in 1911, “and sometimes I think they are right.” He then offered to serve McGraw as a coach.
Faust passed away from tuberculosis in Fort Stellacoom, Washington, at the age of 34 on June 18, 1915. He was buried at the Western Washington State Hospital for the Insane Memorial Cemetery, which has since, thankfully, been renamed.
Main Photo Credits: © NorthJersey.com-USA TODAY NETWORK
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