Norm Charlton

On June 22, 1990, the Cincinnati Reds hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers at Riverfront Stadium. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Reds’ Eric Davis was rounding third base after a base hit to right field—the would-be winning run. Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia stood at home plate as if he was not expecting a relay throw.

When Davis was steps from scoring, Scioscia suddenly received the throw and blocked home plate. Davis, not expecting a play at the plate, attempted a last-second slide and was tagged out, jamming his foot into Scioscia’s shin guard. Davis’ teammate, Norm Charlton, took exception to the way Scioscia deked Davis into the late slide, believing that in doing so, Davis could have been injured. Charlton told his teammates, “If I ever get a chance to get that guy [Scioscia] cleanly, I’m gonna get him.”1

Two nights later Charlton was batting in the seventh inning, with an 8-4 lead, when Dodger pitcher Mike Hartley plunked him on his right calf. He slammed his bat into the AstroTurf at Riverfront Stadium and glared at Hartley as he took his base. The next batter lined a ball into left field. Charlton, in his pitcher’s windbreaker, rounded second base and as he approached third, third base coach Sam Perlozzo raised the stop sign. But Charlton had a score to settle. He raced by Perlozzo, straight at Scioscia. The ball beat Charlton, but Charlton threw his right forearm and shoulder into Scioscia’s neck and knocked him flat before he could secure the ball.2 Charlton was safe, and the pitcher claims that even Scioscia agreed that the play was clean.3

After the game, Charlton admitted that bowling over Scioscia “wasn’t the smartest thing,” but nevertheless “got our point across.”4 That play was emblematic of Charlton’s big-league career. Off the field, nobody had more fun than the good-humored and clever Charlton, who was respected throughout the game for his intelligence and integrity. But at the ballpark, he was an intense competitor who believed, “you have to be going 200 miles per hour with your hair on fire out on the field. You have to put everything into every pitch.”5 That’s how he played. And illustrated by his meting out justice here in defense of Davis, Charlton was prepared to risk suspension, fine, or injury to protect his team. Larry Rothschild, Charlton’s former pitching coach and manager, summed up his former player: “He will stick up for hitters, for his team. He will do whatever he has to.”6

Norman Wood Charlton III was born January 6, 1963, in Fort Polk, Louisiana. As a youngster, after watching Juan Marichal pitch at a Giants-Astros game at the Astrodome, he told his parents that he wanted to pitch in the big leagues.7 In fifth grade, his family moved to San Antonio, where Charlton later attended James Madison High School.

At Madison, Charlton became a standout pitcher. During his junior season, the Mavericks played for the District 13-AAA championship in a best-of-three series against the Tivy Antlers.8 After dropping the first game in the series earlier in the week, the Mavericks needed to sweep a doubleheader to claim the title. The Mavericks turned to Charlton.

In game one of the doubleheader, he delivered a complete-game seven-inning shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out nine in a 1-0 Madison win. With the series now even, Charlton again took the ball to start game two of the doubleheader, a winner-take-all contest. Fueled by adrenaline, Charlton displayed the tenacity and determination for which he would become known as a big-leaguer as he worked into the third inning—his tenth of the day—before being lifted. His Mavericks eventually won the contest, and the district title, on a seventh-inning walk-off home run.

Charlton graduated from Madison in 1981 and initially decided to continue playing in college at Texas A&M. But, after meeting Rice University’s head coach David Hall, he changed his mind and followed the footsteps of his father, Norm Charlton Jr., a 1961 Rice graduate and stand-out hurdler who later became a lecturer in the school’s physical education department.9

At Rice, Charlton excelled both in the classroom and on the field. In 1984, his junior season, he earned a school-record 11 wins and led the nation with a 2.24 ERA, lowering his career ERA to 2.25, another Rice record.10 In 1982, Charlton played on the US National Team at the World’s Fair, and he was selected for the 1984 US Olympic Team, but an injury precluded his participation.

Following his junior year, the Expos drafted him with the last selection in the first round (28th overall) of the 1984 MLB Amateur Draft.11 Charlton, uncertain that he would make it as a professional ballplayer, negotiated a clause in his rookie contract to allow his return to Rice for one last semester in autumn 1985 to earn his degree.12 He thought he may later pursue a legal career.

After that last semester, Charlton had enough credits to graduate with a degree in 1986 majoring in political science, religious studies, and physical education. With his triple major, Charlton’s Cincinnati Reds teammates would nickname him “The Genius.” He later joked, “My degrees were all about the money. Political science, I’ll talk it out of you. Religion, I’ll preach it out of you. And if that doesn’t work, phys ed, I’ll beat it out of you.”13

Charlton’s professional career started slowly. He spent 1984 and 1985 with the Class A West Palm Beach Expos of the Florida State League. There, over two seasons, Charlton started 31 games and compiled an 8-14 record with a 4.57 ERA.

In March 1986, the Expos traded Charlton, along with a player to be named later, to the Reds for Wayne Krenchicki. In 1986, he pitched at Class AA Burlington (Vermont) where he went 10-6 with an impressive 2.83 ERA, winning the Eastern League championship and earning an MVP award for his playoff performance.14 His stellar first season in the Reds’ organization prompted Reds manager Pete Rose to quip the following spring, “I don’t see how anyone could ever trade Norm Charlton for Wayne Krenchicki.”15

By spring training 1987, Charlton was competing for a big-league roster spot. He impressed Rose, who remarked in mid-March that Charlton “looks like a major league pitcher.”16 But ongoing elbow discomfort landed Charlton in AAA Nashville and led to an 81-day stint on the injured list.17

In 1988, Charlton was still competing to make the big-league club. He spent much of the season in AAA before debuting with the Reds on August 19 against the Cardinals. Charlton started each of his ten games for the Reds that year. The following season, he became a dependable reliever in Pete Rose’s bullpen, appearing in 69 games and maintaining a 2.93 ERA. In one standout performance from his 1989 season, on September 14 against the Giants, Charlton worked 4.1 innings in relief, striking out 10 and allowing no earned runs.

By the end of the 1989 season, Charlton was already a seasoned big leaguer, a hard-throwing late-inning stopper and enforcer. In July, he was ejected following a bench-clearing brawl initiated when Reds reliever Rob Dibble drilled the Mets’ Tim Teufel in the back with a fastball. During the melee, Juan Samuel kicked Charlton in the chest and hand. After being sent to the clubhouse, Charlton, with red blotches on his chest and right hand, was still enraged. He phoned the Mets’ clubhouse and challenged Samuel to continue the fight. But, before further fisticuffs could fly, Shea Stadium security intervened.18

In 1990, the Reds had a new manager, Lou Piniella, and a new closer, Randy Myers. The new-look Reds featured a bullpen that now included Charlton, Dibble, and Myers—three highly competitive flame throwers, each an intense intimidator with a short fuse and volatile on-field temper. On Opening Day at Houston, Reds pitchers plunked Astros slugger Glenn Davis three times, tying a big-league record for most HBPs for a hitter in a single game. After the game, as Charlton, Dibble, and Myers enjoyed their opening night win, some Houston reporters suggested that the Astros were unhappy and were discussing retaliation.

Charlton recalls that the three Reds hurlers glanced at the radar gun printouts in front of them—none of them had thrown a fastball under 96 mph that night. Myers remarked that if the Astros “want to start hitting people [in retaliation], we can play that game.”19 A Houston reporter observed, “That’s pretty nasty,” to which Myers responded, “Well, we’re some nasty boys.”20

Before that opening series concluded, Reds relievers were calling themselves the “Nasty Boys,”21 and though initially the moniker referred to the entire bullpen, eventually the nickname became synonymous with Charlton, Dibble, and Myers. The Nasty Boys threw hard, pitched inside, and even threw at opposing hitters when warranted consistent with baseball’s unwritten rules. Charlton expressed in 1990, “[I]f someone on our team gets hit on purpose, I guarantee you we’ll take care of it. Someone’s going down, and they’re going to pay the price.”22 Charlton later explained:

“Intimidation was part of our game. We didn’t actually hit that many batters, but we knocked down a lot of guys, which is harder to find in the stats. The ‘Nasty Boys’ thing played into our reputations well and we played it up, had T-shirts made. It was good for us, because on days when we didn’t have our best stuff, when (manager) Lou (Piniella) was putting us in 3-4 days in a row, it helped to have the ‘nasty’ persona in our backpack, because hitters were never sure how crazy we were, what we were willing to do.”23

Anchored by the Nasty Boys, the gritty 1990 Reds led the NL West from wire-to-wire. They defeated the Pirates for the NL pennant and swept the heavily favored Athletics in the World Series. Charlton was fantastic, working from the bullpen until mid-July when injuries compelled Piniella to move him to the rotation. It was during this stretch in the rotation when, on August 10 against the Giants, Charlton threw his only career shutout, allowing just three hits. Of his 56 games in 1990, Charlton started 16, logging a combined 154 1/3 innings and 2.74 ERA. In the postseason, back in the bullpen, Charlton was even better, pitching six innings over five games, and allowing just one earned run. Reflecting on the 1990 Reds and the Nasty Boys’ tough brand of ball, Charlton said, “We didn’t play dirty, but we got dirty.”24

Charlton began the 1991 season in the Reds rotation and, in the second half of July, moved to the bullpen after spending roughly a month on the injured list with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. In 28 relief appearances after his injury, Charlton dominated, allowing just four earned runs in 42 2/3 innings (0.84 ERA).

In September, a year after Charlton ran over Scioscia at home plate, he had another incident involving the Dodgers’ catcher. Following a loss to the Dodgers in which Charlton hit Scioscia on the arm with a pitch, Charlton admitted to reporters, “I threw at him. I hit him on the arm, but I didn’t mean to hit him on the arm. He’ll be lucky if I don’t rip his head off the next time I’m pitching.”25 The Reds believed that Scioscia, as a runner on second base, was stealing the Reds’ catcher’s signs and relaying them to Dodger hitters. Charlton then challenged Scioscia, “I don’t care what the repercussions might be. If he wants to dance, he has to pay the fiddler.”26

Ultimately, Charlton’s candor shocked the baseball world. In assessing a seven-game suspension, NL President Bill White found that Charlton’s offense was not intentionally hitting Scioscia, but publicly admitting that he “threw at” Scioscia and threatening to hit Scioscia in the future.27 Reds pitching coach Rothschild observed in 1992, “Norm has a very strong competitive edge. He’s a throwback in that way. If you tread on his territory, he doesn’t like it.”28

Given this history, in April 1991, White called on Charlton and Dibble for a private meeting to chastise their style of play. During what Charlton described as a “heated discussion,” White scolded the Reds pitchers and told them hitting opposing batters was bad for baseball.29 Soon after that meeting, Charlton covered one wall of his clubhouse locker with formal written warnings, reprimands, and notices of fines from White.

The Nasty Boys’ reputation did not concern Charlton as a player, but he was bothered when parents wrote him that their kids were emulating him and throwing at opposing Little League hitters. To Charlton, the Nasty Boys were “the last three guys you’d want to have for a Little League demonstration.”30 He distinguished youth baseball from the big leagues: “Those kids are playing it for fun. I’m playing it for a living. There’s a whole different set of circumstances, a different set of rules.”31 He also lamented how some fans thought the on-field Nasty Boys—cocky, volatile egomaniacs—mirrored their personalities away from the game. Said Charlton, “Let’s face it, the perception we’ve got is that we’re arrogant asses.”32 He clarified, though, that the Nasty Boys were not “complete idiots,” and that they stayed out of trouble off the field.33 Moreover, the on-field hostilities Charlton exhibited toward opposing players during his career were not personal and were confined strictly to the field of play.

By 1992, the Reds’ Nasty Boys troika was no longer. The Reds traded Myers to San Diego before the season, and a shoulder injury sidelined Dibble during spring training. Piniella entrusted the closer role to Charlton, who flourished, converting save after save and earning a NL All-Star selection. That season, in 64 appearances, Charlton saved 26 games with a 2.99 ERA. Though he would have preferred working as a starter, Charlton understood that his greatest value was as a late-inning stopper. He never started another game.

Following the 1992 season, Lou Piniella left the 90-win Reds to manage the hapless Seattle Mariners, who had won just 64 games the prior season. In one of Piniella’s first orders of business in Seattle, the Mariners traded for Charlton, sending slugger Kevin Mitchell to the Reds. Charlton was, at this stage, a proven winner, now in a bullpen that desperately needed his veteran leadership and Nasty Boys attitude. After all, it was Charlton who longtime Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman called the “true” Nasty Boy, saying that opposing players “were legitimately afraid of him.”34

In June 1993, that Nasty Boys attitude that Piniella so valued showed itself when Charlton was ejected from a game for fighting during a bench-clearing brawl in Baltimore.35 Here again, Charlton was tossed for defending teammate Jay Buhner, who Charlton believed had been “cheap-shotted” by an opposing player during the brawl.36

In Seattle, Charlton pitched as well as ever. By August, in 34 games he had collected 18 saves with a 2.34 ERA. Entering ballgames, strolling from the bullpen to the mound, standing tall, with his shoulders back and chest out, Charlton’s Texas-sized confidence was on full display. Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus nicknamed Charlton “The Sheriff” because that slow walk from the bullpen resembled the gait of a Wild West sheriff walking down Main Street. Unfortunately, Charlton’s 1993 season was cut short when, on August 7, he ruptured a ligament in his left elbow while pitching.

Charlton’s elbow injury also cost him the 1994 season. He rehabbed and aimed to return healthy in 1995. He signed an incentive-laden deal with the Phillies, and as the players’ strike continued into spring training 1995, Charlton wished to prepare for the season. In solidarity with his union brethren, Charlton openly refused to train with replacement players who had crossed the players union picket: “I try to be cordial and I try to be polite, but I really don’t have much respect for those guys.”37

At the start of the season, coming off major elbow surgery, Charlton was not the same pitcher he had been before his injury. Just 25 appearances into his comeback, he was still building his arm strength. But the Phillies, struggling and unlikely to contend for a playoff berth, were cognizant of upcoming salary incentives in Charlton’s contract. Rather than allow Charlton to reach those salary incentive milestones, the Phillies released him on July 10.

Almost immediately, an old friend called. Piniella, looking to shore up the Mariners’ faltering bullpen as the team positioned itself for a playoff run, invited Charlton to throw for him at the Kingdome just four days after his release. After ten pitches, Piniella knew Charlton could help his team. Said Piniella, “I called [General Manager] Woody Woodward and said, ‘Let’s get this young man signed.’”38

The Sheriff was back in the saddle in Seattle. On August 3, when Piniella installed Charlton—whose arm was now at full strength—as the Mariners’ closer, Seattle was 13 games back of the Angels in the AL West. Over the next two months, Charlton went 14 of 15 in save opportunities with a stingy 1.51 ERA, and the “Refuse to Lose” Mariners overtook the Angels for their first division title and postseason appearance in franchise history. During this amazing stretch, the dominant Charlton earned AL Pitcher of the Month honors for September.

In the 1995 playoffs, Charlton was Piniella’s go-to arm. In 13 1/3 innings, he shined with a 1.35 ERA. And no game better personified The Sheriff than Game Three of the ALCS in Cleveland. In a tied game, Piniella pulled starter Randy Johnson in advance of the bottom of the ninth inning. The Jacobs Field crowd erupted in excitement as Johnson—who would receive the 1995 AL Cy Young award weeks later—departed.

As AC/DC’s Hells Bells blared through the stadium, The Sheriff sauntered in from the bullpen. Seattle sports journalist Mike Gastineau recounted Charlton’s entry, “Strutting like a rooster, brash and confident.”39 Charlton quieted the crowd, shutting down the Indians for three innings—no hits, no runs—allowing the Mariners to win on a Jay Buhner three-run home run in the eleventh. Said Piniella after the game, “We wouldn’t be here without Norm. No way. Absolutely not.”40

Charlton continued with the Mariners in 1996 and 1997, a workhorse for Piniella, appearing in 70-plus games each season. But his consistency waned and, in 1997, Charlton’s ERA ballooned to 7.27. Some felt that the Mariners had overworked Charlton, but the pitcher made no excuses for what he described as a “sorry season.” 41

Though some in baseball believed Charlton was “finished,” the Orioles signed him for the 1998 season.42 Opening Day portended Charlton’s tenure in Baltimore when he left the game to boos in the ninth after surrendering multiple hits and a run. At the end of July, the Orioles released Charlton. The Braves signed him a week later, and whatever issues plagued him in Baltimore were instantly resolved. With Atlanta, Charlton found his old groove, and in 13 games down the stretch, he allowed just two runs.

In 1999, Charlton signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, managed then by his former Reds pitching coach Rothschild. During his age-36 season, a dependable Charlton appeared in 42 games and served as the club’s primary left-handed reliever. It was observed on Fastball.com that after inconsistent seasons in 1997 and 1998, Charlton had “resuscitated his career.”43 The Devil Rays invited Charlton back in 2000 on a minor league deal, promising him a roster spot so long as he was in game-ready shape by Opening Day. So when the Rays cut him during spring training after allowing four earned runs in nine innings, Charlton was “incensed.”44

In April, after sitting idle for a couple weeks following his release from Tampa Bay and working out at home, Charlton signed a minor league deal with his old team, the Reds. The Reds first sent Charlton to the minors to get some work. When, in mid-April, they added him to the big-league roster, he appeared in just two games and was cut.

Now 37, Charlton was angry. He declined another Reds minor league assignment and instead retired. “It wasn’t tough to retire,” said Charlton. “I was pretty well fed up. I was still extremely mad at what happened in Tampa Bay.”45 But Charlton was restless, unhappy with how things ended in Cincinnati. Looking ahead to 2001, Charlton contacted the Mariners and learned that the team needed a situational lefty. He signed a minor-league deal and figured that if he did not make the club in 2001, he could report to the Mariners’ AA affiliate that had recently relocated to San Antonio—near Charlton’s home—to work with young pitchers and stay in shape in case the Mariners needed him later.

During spring training 2001, Mariners coaches helped Charlton address mechanical issues that had led to inconsistency in recent seasons. Charlton earned a spot with the club, reuniting with Piniella a fourth time; and, at 38, he experienced a late-career renaissance as the second lefty reliever on a Mariners team that won 116 games. He appeared in 44 games, with a solid 3.02 ERA.

Though he did not know it at the time, the 2001 season would be Charlton’s last as a player. While working out at home in January 2002, he injured his shoulder, costing him the 2002 season. Further shoulder injuries also derailed potential comebacks in 2003 and 2004. Finally, in March 2004, facing yet another surgery on his throwing shoulder, Charlton officially retired, saying, “I’m pretty tired of going back under the knife. If [doctors] say my shoulder won’t be strong enough to stand pitching at the major league level, they probably know best.” 46

As a player, he was blessed with obvious talent; but Charlton also possessed the intangibles over which baseball people salivate. Lou Piniella fiercely admired Charlton’s “tenacious competitiveness,”47 naming him “one of the favorites that I ever managed.”48 Rob Dibble described his former roommate as “one of the smartest, most loyal people I’ve ever met in my life.”49 Dibble glowed about how Charlton “always thought things through and did the right thing.”50

And Charlton had fun playing the game. In a 1992 profile, journalist Jerry Crasnick described Charlton as free spirited and a “perpetual teenager.”51 In spring training 1991, Reds pitcher Scott Scudder went to the parking lot in a driving rainstorm to find that Charlton had pranked him, putting Scudder’s jeep on blocks and its tires on the roof. In 1997, Charlton had his head shaved before a game at the Kingdome as part of the Mariners’ Buhner Buzz Night promotion. In 2000, Charlton shared, “I’m one of the few guys in the world who is 37 years old and gets to act like he’s 18. I’m old enough to know better, but since it happens in a baseball clubhouse, I’m young enough to get away with it.”52

Even before formally retiring as a player, Charlton had begun working as a roving coach and taking on special assignments in the Mariners’ organization. The Mariners then hired Charlton in late 2007 to serve as the team’s bullpen coach for the following year. But after a 101-loss season in 2008, the Mariners cleaned house and relieved Charlton of his duties.

The native Texan, Charlton had once owned a working 4,000-acre cattle ranch in south Texas. Now following his baseball career, he returned to Texas with his family in 2009 to be nearer to his parents. He moved to Rockport, 150 miles southeast of San Antonio on the Gulf of Mexico, an offseason haunt where he hoped to spend more time outdoors. Charlton obtained his captain’s license and opened a bustling fishing guide business, where he takes vacationers and other clients on fishing and hunting excursions. He enjoys what he does and hopes to impress upon his own children the value of hard work that his parents had instilled in him.

In August 2017, Charlton and his family watched closely as Hurricane Harvey barreled toward the Texas Gulf Coast. As soon as the hurricane was elevated to Category 3 status, Charlton secured his home in Rockport and packed his truck with his wife and children to evacuate. They waited out the storm 180 miles away, and Charlton returned days later to mass destruction. Though his family’s home and those of his parents and in-laws were spared from major damage, many of Charlton’s neighbors and friends were not as lucky. “It’s devastating to watch,” he said of the catastrophic damage and loss in his community.53

Though typically stoic off the baseball diamond, Charlton was emotionally shaken: “I’m not a guy that cries, but my wife and kids have seen me cry multiple times over the last few days … it’s really sad for the people who live here full-time who are sitting in a hotel room somewhere with no idea of what to do.”54 Charlton joined his neighbors in doing what he could to help the community pick up the pieces and, over time, return to normalcy.

These days, Charlton’s connection with baseball is limited. He still occasionally attends functions hosted by the Reds and Mariners, events attended by fans hoping to get an autograph or photo with The Sheriff. He also makes appearances with the Nasty Boys to sign autographs to raise money for charities. But he does not watch much baseball, nor does he follow the game too closely. When he meets new neighbors in Rockport or takes clients out on his boat, relatively few recognize him as a former All Star; instead, they know him simply as Norm, a local fishing guide. And Charlton seems to prefer it that way. He views himself as a regular guy who just happened to have the talent to play baseball. He adds, “I’ve always been honest. What you see is what you get.”55

Late in his playing career, Charlton remarked, “There’s nobody out there who has a better job than me.”56 Perhaps that’s why he was so reluctant to walk away. After his last pitch in 2001, Charlton had four surgeries on his throwing shoulder to try to prolong his career. But ultimately, Charlton knows he left it all on the field and is satisfied with his baseball resume: Rice University Hall of Fame (1990) and San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame (2013), World Series champion, All-Star, and Nasty Boy. He is also The Sheriff, who shined on baseball’s biggest stage: in 17 career playoff appearances, he pitched 25 innings, allowing just three earned runs for a dazzling 1.08 ERA. Said Charlton, “I told myself that there was nothing else that I could have done. I couldn’t have played the game any harder.”57

Last revised: January 3, 2023

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Brian Wood and Jake Bell and fact-checked by Ray Danner.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also relied on Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 “Nasty Boys: The 1990 Reds,” MLB Network, 1997.

2 “Norm Charlton collides with Mike Scioscia at home plate,” Cincinnati Reds YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssq3b3UfDYQ, accessed December 3, 2022.

3 Norm Charlton, telephone interview with author, September 7, 2022.

4 Bob Nightengale, “Trouble in Triplicate: Reds Relievers Are Controversial, but They Have a Hit on Their Hands,” Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1990: 1.

5 John Romano, “For Charlton, game remains child’s play,” Tampa Bay Times, March 6, 2000: 1C.

6 Romano, “For Charlton.”

7 “19th Ceremony – Rice Athletic Hall of Fame and Distinguished “R” Award,” Rice University Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Program, October 19, 1990.

8 “Antlers Lose Two, District Crown to Mavericks,” Kerrville Mountain Sun (Kerrville, TX), May 21, 1980: 8.

9 “19th Ceremony.”; Joseph Duarte, “Norm Charlton talks about his interview for Rice baseball job,” Chron.com, June 8, 2018, https://www.chron.com/sports/rice/article/Norm-Charlton-talks-interview-Rice-baseball-coach-12979481.php#taboola-7, accessed September 28, 2022.

10 Duarte, “Norm Charlton talks.”; “19th Ceremony.”

11 The Reds selected Charlton four players after the Giants selected Terry Mulholland and three players before the Cubs selected Greg Maddux.

12 “19th Ceremony.”

13 “Live Chat with Norm Charlton,” Seattle Times, July 15, 2011, https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/live-chat-with-norm-charlton/, accessed September 28, 2022.

14 “19th Ceremony.”

15 Richard Justice, “Slow Soto Might Spell Reds Fast,” Washington Post, March 15, 1987: D06.

16 “NL Spring Training Report,” San Bernardino County Sun, March 12, 1987: C7.

17 “Charlton shelled in 4-3 loss,” Daily Advocate (Greenville, OH), March 22, 1988: 7.

18 “Teufel-Dibble brawl adds punch to Mets’ one-sided 8-3 victory,” San Bernardino County Sun, July 9, 1989: C4.

19 “Opening Day Interview: Norm Charlton,” Thrillist, April 1, 2011.

20 “Opening Day Interview: Norm Charlton.”

21 Michael A Lutz, “’Nasty Boys’ key win; Reds remain unbeaten,” Daily Advocate (Greenville, OH), April 11, 1990: 7.

22 Nightengale, “Trouble in Triplicate.”

23 Aaron Epple, “Norm Charlton talks glory days prior to Opening Day parade,” Dayton Daily News, April 3, 2015: GO.13.

24 Paul Daugherty, “Norm Charlton defined 1990 Reds’ personality,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 25, 2015, https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2015/04/25/doc-normcharlton-1990-reds-mlb-worldseries-champions/26360875/, accessed September 28, 2022.

25 Jerry Crasnick, “Reds pitcher admits throwing at Scioscia,” Cincinnati Post, September 10, 1991.

26 Crasnick, “Reds pitcher admits.”

27 “White suspends Charlton,” San Bernardino County Sun, September 17, 1991: C2.

28 Jerry Crasnick, “Charlton Has Multiple Personalities,” Baseball America, July 25, 1992: 8.

29 Norm Charlton, telephone interview.

30 Nightengale, “Trouble in Triplicate.”

31 Crasnick, “Charlton Has Multiple Personalities.”

32 Nightengale, “Trouble in Triplicate.”

33 Nightengale, “Trouble in Triplicate.”

34 John Erardi and Joel Luckhaupt, The Wire-to-Wire Reds: Sweet Lou, Nasty Boys, and the Wild Run to a World Championship (Clerisy Press, 2010): 11.

35 David Ginsburg, “Big brawl interrupts Mariners-O’s game,” Indiana (PA) Gazette, June 7, 1993: 15.; Also during this brawl, Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr., in a pile of players, sprained his knee. The following day, his knee was painful and swollen, jeopardizing his consecutive-games streak. After treating it all day, Ripken was able to play and continue his streak, but the Orioles’ shortstop later admitted that the injury “was probably the closest I ever came to missing a game.” Joe Trezza, “How a Brawl Almost Ended Ripken’s Streak,” mlb.com, September 5, 2020.

36 Mark Maske, “Orioles, Mariners Brawl For 20 Minutes,” Washington Post, June 7, 1993: C01

37 “Detroit leaves the door open for Anderson,” San Bernardino County Sun, February 22, 1995: C4.

38 Ross Newhan, “Charlton Cheered, Then Gets Nasty,” Los Angeles Times, October 14, 1995: 1.

39 Mike Gastineau, “The Best Job in the World,” The Grand Salami (May 2001): 13.

40 Newhan, “Charlton Cheered, Then Gets Nasty.”

41 Mark Maske, “Orioles Get Relief with Charlton,” Washington Post, December 16, 1997.

42 Maske, “Orioles Get Relief with Charlton.”

43 “Reds sign LHP Charlton to minor league contract.”

44 Bob Finnigan, “Charlton: the once and future Mariner?” Seattle Times, February 20, 2001: C6.

45 Finnigan, “Charlton: the once and future Mariner?”

46 “Charlton finally calls it quits,” Seattle Times, March 8, 2004.

47 Newhan, “Charlton Cheered, Then Gets Nasty.”

48 Jerry Briggs, “Tenacious Charlton developed a ‘nasty’ reputation,” San Antonio Express-News, January 26, 2013, https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Tenacious-Charlton-developed-a-nasty-reputation-4226660.php#taboola-2, accessed September 28, 2022.

49 David Sikes, “Nasty Boy No More,” Houston Chronicle, July 21, 2017, https://www.pressreader.com/usa/houston-chronicle/20170721/282608852872401, accessed September 28, 2022.

50 Sikes, “Nasty Boy No More.”

51 Crasnick, “Charlton Has Multiple Personalities.”

52 Romano, “For Charlton, game remains child’s play.”

53 Gabriel Baumgaertner, “Far from Baseball, Norm Charlton Looks to Rebuild His Hometown After Hurricane Harvey,” SI.com, September 8, 2017. SI.com, September 8, 2017.

54 Baumgaertner, “Far from Baseball.”

55 Charlton, telephone interview.

56 Gastineau, “The Best Job in the World,” 19.

57 Briggs, “Tenacious Charlton.”