Cleveland Indian Joe Charboneau played only one full season. But he remains one of the team's most beloved players. He recounts the legends of the past and how he plans to make contact with a beer keg at Hofbrauhaus Cleveland.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Let's get something straight right off the bat.
Cleveland Indians legend Joe Charboneau will be tapping a keg at Hofbrauhaus Cleveland on April 9 (the day before the Indians' home opener against the Detroit Tigers).
He will not be using his eye socket.
"You know, I only opened a beer bottle one time with my eye socket, back when I was in college -- it was a bit uncomfortable," says Charboneau, 59. "But that story followed me the rest of my career."
The eye-socket feat is one of many yarns in The Legend of Joe Charboneau. There are countless others, like how he once pulled an aching tooth and even fixed his broken nose with some whiskey and a pair of pliers. Or how he used to eat cigarettes. Or how he drank beer through his nose with a straw.
"That stuff was all exaggerated," says Charboneau. "And the stories seemed to get bigger and bigger as we traveled from town to town in my rookie season."
Joe Charboneau played only one full season, but the Legend of Joe Charboneau lives on.Topps
Perhaps, but the stories helped make the Avon Lake resident one of the most beloved Indians of all time, even if he only played one full season -- 1980, when he won the American League Rookie of the Year award. He took the league by storm that year, hitting 23 home runs and driving 87, with a .289 batting average.
But Charboneau was a longshot to even make the team. Still, he kept on swinging , tallying hits in his first seven plate appearances in spring training.
His out-of-nowhere success became the talk of camp. His stabbing added to the talk.
"We were in Mexico when this crazy guy comes up to me and stabs me," recalls Charboneau.
Legend has it that the guy was a fan, with varying accounts regarding the weapon, from a pen knife to a pen to Bic lighter. Charboneau remembers him as a crazy guy who had escaped an institution and went on a stabbing spree.
"The guy also stabbed someone from the French consulate," he says. "It was crazy."
The man was arrested and fined 50 pesos... That's $2.27 for all you currency traders.
The rib injury didn't stop Charboneau, who kept on hitting all the way to the big leagues. He had one of the greatest debuts in baseball history, hitting a three-run homer, a double, single and walking in his four plate appearances. The Tribe demolished the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1.
The overnight success earned him the nickname "Super Joe." There was even a song penned for him, "Go Joe Charboneau":
"Who's the newest guy in town? Go Joe Charboneau.
Turns the ballpark upside down. Go Joe Charboneau.
Who do we appreciate? Go Joe Charboneau.
Fits right in with the other eight? Go Joe Charboneau.
Who's the one to keep our hopes alive? Go Joe Charboneau.
Straight from the 7th to the pennant drive? Go Joe Charboneau.
Raise your glass, let out a cheer. Go Joe Charboneau.
For Cleveland's Rookie of the Year. Go Joe Charboneau."
"I was so blessed to come to Cleveland," says Charboneau. "It was such a great fit for me, and the city has always been so nice to me."
Charboneau brought some color to Indians fans who had endured decades of, at best, mediocre teams. For many years, that was all fans had to look forward to -- guys like Gaylord Perry, the pitcher renowned for throwing the spitball. Or Oscar Gamble, the outfielder with the outrageous Afro.
"Oscar didn't play for the Indians when I was there, but I played against him," says Charboneau. "That Afro was amazing -- it was so big that he had to use bobby pins to keep his hat from falling off."
Charboneau was also renowned for having unruly hair, which he dyed different colors.
"I wish I still had my hair," he says with a laugh. "You know, there were a lot of cool guys on those teams back then.
"Baseball players always seemed to be able to have a little more flamboyance than other sports," he adds. "It's a team sport, but it's more of an individual sport than, say, football."
Charboneau continues to work with the Cleveland Indians as a team ambassador, along with former teammate Len Barker. He also works for Masters of Disaster, an area clean-up company.
"I never made that much money playing baseball," says Charboneau, whose career was cut short due to injuries. He only played one full season, and struggled through parts of two more before hanging up his glove in 1982.
He got paid $21,000 in 1980.
Charboneau's story was almost turned into a movie.
"There was a script floating around and Disney was interested, but nothing came of it," he says.
No problem, says Charboneau.
"I'm thankful that I got to play and be in a city that has been so great to me," he says. "I still get excited when baseball season is about to start, the same way as when I was a little kid."
That's not to say that he has been taking batting, er, I mean, mallet practice for Thursday's pre-game whack, when he steps up to the plate at Hofbrauhaus. But he is confident.
"I'm going to go up there and hit the keg with this big mallet," he says. "It's pretty cool, but the beer can fly out all over the place if you don't do it just right."
If the beer does go flying, it won't be intentional, adds Charboneau. And there will be no nose drinking.
The keg tapping will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Hofbrauhaus is located at 1550 Chester Avenue, Cleveland. For more info, go to hofbrauhauscleveland.com or call 216-621-2337.