THE 1966 BRAVES: #34 Charlie Vaughan

#34 CHARLIE VAUGHAN
Left-handed Pitcher

What Came Before: The first product of the draft to play for the Braves, he was the fourth-round pick in the inaugural 1965 June draft. Just over a year later, at age 18 years, three months, he made his major league debut and made quick work of the Houston Astros.
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In between, the Brownsville, Texas, teen dominated the Florida State League right out of the gate (7-2, 3.09) and showed he could handle adversity by posting a terrific 2.93 ERA for Austin in the Texas League despite a 2-7 record.

That 1966 Season: On Sept. 3, 18-year-old Vaughan cooly took the mound against the Astros and their 15-game winner, Dave Giusti, in the first game of a Labor Day doubleheader to become, to this day, the youngest member of the Atlanta Braves. He scattered eight hits, three walks and two runs over seven innings, while striking out six on his way to an easy 12-2 victory, carrying a shutout into the seventh inning. He also singled off Giusti. He was the second-youngest pitcher to debut in the National League in 1966. The first: Nolan Ryan. But the Braves were concerned with a late-season push and did not call on him again that season – or the next – or the next.

What Happened Next: What happened in 1967 was a nagging back problem, even though he made 24 starts for Richmond (9-10, 4.33). His next – and last – major league appearance was a mop-up relief job after his June 1 callup in 1969. But he was plagued by blisters as well as shoulder and back problems and was quickly getting discouraged. In '69, he was bumped back to Double-A and was only 5-10 but with a strong 3.27 ERA. In 1970, he was only 2-4 and was able to work only 42 innings
Newly married and concerned about his future, in spring of 1971, he requested a trade to his “hometown” Houston Astros. GM Eddie Robinson refused, so Vaughan initially held out, then eventually retired at age 23.* His father owned a large auto parts chain in Texas, and Vaughan went to work for the family business, staying for 24 years before retiring from that in 2000 at the young age of 53.