Sport: Baseball
Born: October 18, 1917
Died: March 10, 2000
Town: East Orange, New Jersey
Charles Augustus Biot Jr. was born October 18, 1917 in East Orange, NJ. The owner of a long, strong but occasionally erratic right arm, Charlie was a pitcher as a teenager until his coach at East Orange High switched him to the outfield. There Charlie used his speed to distinguish himself as an elite defender. He played semipro ball for the Orange Triangles and was a teammate of Monte Irvin.
Charlie made his Negro League debut in 1939 as a 21-year-old center fielder with the Newark Eagles and New York Black Yankees. The Black Yankees played their home games in Paterson. Charlie was a .300 hitter in 1940 for the team. In 1941, he was sent to the Baltimore Elite Giants in a controversial multiplayer deal that saw five Baltimore pitchers go to the Yankees. He got off to a fast start in 1941 for a team that featured 19-year-old All-Star catcher Roy Campanella and Bill Hoskins, who led the club with 12 homers and a .349 average. The Giants played the Cuban Stars in the first Ruppert Cup that spring, drawing more than 20,000 fans to Yankee Stadium.
Charlie was never the star of his teams, but he rarely sat out a game and, at 6’3″ and 180 lbs., he was hard to miss. He was also recognized for his leadership abilities. That quality served Charlie well when he served in the Army during World War II. He enlisted shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was named captain of the 93rd Division’s baseball team. The 93rd was part of the 369th Infantry Regiment, a primarily black regiment that was nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters during World War I. The 369th performed labor and security duties in the Pacific during World War II, and saw combat action in the Philippines.
Charlie continued to play baseball after returning from the war in 1946, mostly with semipro clubs in New Jersey. His main source of income was a job at a plastics factory. In the late-1950s Charlie went to work for PSE&G. A lifelong resident of East Orange, he passed away at the age of 82. His average in official Negro League games was .291. Campanella, Charlie’s teammate in Baltimore, said he was as good a defensive center fielder as Joe Dimaggio.