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{{Short description|American baseball player (1930–2017)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|image=Chuck Churn 1957 Hollywood Stars.jpg
|caption=Churn with the [[Hollywood Stars]] {{circa}} 1957
|name=Chuck Churn
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1930|2|1}}
|birth_place=[[Bridgetown, Virginia]], U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|2017|10|21|1930|2|1}}
|death_place=[[Lady Lake, Florida]], U.S.
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 18
|debutyear=1957
|debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 29
|finalyear=1959
|finalteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=3–2
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=5.10
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=32
|teams=
*[[Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{baseball year|1957}})
*[[Cleveland Indians]] ({{baseball year|1958}})
*[[Los Angeles Dodgers]] ({{baseball year|1959}})
|highlights=
* [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1959}})
}}

'''Clarence Nottingham''' "'''Chuck'''" '''Churn''' (February 1, 1930 – October 21, 2017) was an American professional [[baseball]] player. The native of [[Bridgetown, Virginia]], was a [[relief pitcher]] in [[Major League Baseball]] who appeared in 25 [[games pitched|games]] for the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]], [[Cleveland Indians]] and [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] between 1957 and 1959. He threw and batted [[right-handed]] and was listed as {{convert|6|ft|3|in}} tall and {{convert|205|lb}}.

==Early career==
Churn was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates before the start of the 1949 season. After seven years in [[minor league baseball]] and one in military service, Churn was finally called up to the majors when he made the Pirates' pitching staff at the outset of the [[1957 in baseball|1957 season]]. He made his debut on April 18, 1957, against the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]], and gave up two [[hit (baseball)|hits]] and two runs in one [[innings pitched|inning pitched]]. Churn appeared in five games for the Pirates before being returned to the minors at the May cutdown, recording no [[decision (baseball)|decisions]] and a 4.32 [[earned run average]], having given up four runs in {{frac|8|1|3}} innings of work.<ref name=BaseballRef>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/churnch01.shtml Chuck Churn], [[Baseball-Reference.com]]. Accessed November 19, 2008.</ref>

He was selected by the [[Boston Red Sox]] from Pittsburgh in the 1957 [[Rule 5 draft]] held on December 2. But the Red Sox placed Churn on [[waivers (baseball)|waivers]] during [[spring training]], and he was acquired on March 26, 1958, by the Cleveland Indians. He pitched in six games, all in relief, for the Indians during the early weeks of the [[1958 in baseball|1958 season]], with no decisions and a 6.23 ERA in {{frac|8|2|3}} innings pitched. Then, in early May, he was purchased by the [[Cincinnati Redlegs]]<ref name=BaseballRef/> and sent back to the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[Seattle Rainiers]] for the rest of the season.

The [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] acquired Churn in a trade with the Reds on May 6, 1959, in exchange for Dick Hanlon<ref name=BaseballRef/> and Churn was recalled from the Triple-A [[Spokane Indians]] in August.

==Role in 1959 pennant race==
After going unscored upon in his first three appearances coming out of the Los Angeles bullpen, Churn earned his first-ever victory in the major leagues on September 2, 1959, when the Dodgers defeated the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] 9–6. Churn pitched one-run ball over the final {{frac|4|2|3}} innings to get the win.<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN195909020.shtml Sep 2, 1959, Cardinals at Dodgers Play by Play and Box Score], [[Baseball-Reference.com]]. Accessed November 19, 2008.</ref> Churn got his second victory on September 11 in the first game of a [[doubleheader (baseball)|doubleheader]] against his original team, the Pirates. He came into the game in the eighth inning in relief of [[Sandy Koufax]] with the Dodgers down, 4–2. Los Angeles scored its third run in the eighth and then tallied twice off [[Elroy Face]] in the bottom of the ninth. Churn pitched {{frac|1|2|3}} scoreless innings to get the 5–4 win. The loss was charged to Face, his only defeat in a season in which he finished with an 18–1 record.<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN195909111.shtml Sep 11, 1959, Pirates at Dodgers Play by Play and Box Scoren], [[Baseball-Reference.com]]. Accessed November 19, 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Chuck_Churn_1930&page=chronology Chuck Churn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604151427/http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Chuck_Churn_1930&page=chronology |date=2011-06-04 }}, BaseballLibrary.com. Accessed November 19, 2008.</ref><ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1959/09/12/archives/dodgers-take-2-from-pirates-los-angeles-wins-54-40-contests-moon.html "Dodgers Take 2 From Pirates;; LOS ANGELES WINS 5-4, 4-0 CONTESTS Moon Hits Three Homers — Face Beaten in Opener — Dodgers Gain in Race"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 12, 1959. Accessed November 19, 2008.</ref>

With the Dodgers involved in a desperate [[pennant (sports)|pennant race]] with the [[Milwaukee Braves (1953–65)|Milwaukee Braves]] and [[San Francisco Giants]], Churn's September wins—along with his only MLB [[save (baseball)|save]] on September 19 against the Giants—were priceless. On the season's final day, Sunday, September 27, 1959, the Dodgers and Braves finished in flat-footed tie at 86–68, necessitating a best-of-three [[1959 National League tie-breaker series|tie-breaker series]] to resolve the deadlock. After the Dodgers won Game 1, Churn appeared in the pivotal Game 2 on September 29. He relieved [[Johnny Podres]] with the bases loaded and two out in the top half of the seventh inning and Milwaukee ahead 4–2. He retired [[pinch hitter]] [[Enos Slaughter]] to quell the threat, but then surrendered what appeared to be an insurance run to Milwaukee in the eighth inning. He left the game for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth with the Braves leading 5–2. However, in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers rallied for three runs to tie Game 2 and force [[extra innings]]. Three innings later, they won the game and the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] championship, sending them to the [[1959 World Series]].<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN195909290.shtml Sep 29, 1959, Braves at Dodgers Play by Play and Box Score], [[Baseball-Reference.com]]. Accessed November 19, 2008.</ref>

Churn finished the 1959 season with a 3–2 record and one save to along with a 4.99 ERA in 14 appearances.<ref name=BaseballRef/> He came on in relief of [[Roger Craig (baseball)|Roger Craig]] in the third inning of Game 1 of the 1959 Fall Classic, giving up six runs (two of them [[earned runs|earned]]) in only two-thirds of an inning as the Dodgers lost to the [[Chicago White Sox]] 11–0. It was Churn's only World Series appearance as the Dodgers went on to win the world title in six games.<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1959_WS.shtml 1959 World Series], [[Baseball-Reference.com]]. Accessed November 19, 2008.</ref>

The 1959 season was Churn's last in the majors. Along with the five decisions and the save he posted for the Dodgers that season, he ended his career with 32 [[strikeout]]s in {{frac|47|2|3}} total innings pitched, allowing 49 hits and 19 [[bases on balls]].

Churn pitched full-time in the minor leagues through 1962, then became a playing coach and player-manager in the [[Houston Astros]]' [[farm system]] through 1967.

Churn, whose nickname was "Slim," died in [[Lady Lake, Florida]] on October 21, 2017, at age 87.<ref>[http://www.doughtyfuneralhome.com//memsol.cgi?user_id=2028860 "In Memory of Slim Churn" Wilkins-Doughty Funeral Home, Cape Charles, Virginia. Accessed October 26, 2017]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats|mlb=|espn=|br=c/churnch01|fangraphs=|brm=churn-001cla}}

{{1959 Los Angeles Dodgers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churn, Chuck}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Asheville Tourists managers]]
[[Category:Asheville Tourists players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Virginia]]
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[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
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[[Category:Hollywood Stars players]]
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[[Category:People from Northampton County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players]]
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[[Category:Seattle Rainiers players]]
[[Category:Spokane Indians players]]
[[Category:Uniontown Coal Barons players]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Cuba]]
[[Category:Habana players]]

Chuck Churn - Revision history

imported>Left guide: WT:MLB#World Series champion in infobox