Charlie Geggus

Charles Frederick Geggus
played as Charlie Gagus

• Bats Right, Throws Unknown
• Height 5' 8"
• School Saint Mary's College of California
• Debut August 7, 1884
• Final Game October 19, 1884
• Born March 25, 1862 in San Francisco, CA USA
• Died January 16, 1917 in San Francisco, CA USA

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Biographical Information

"He ticked off on his fingers some of the sandlot idols of the Haverleys and the Pioneers - the young pitcher named Noonan, who was studying for the priesthood; Buck Gagus, the shortstop, who later ran a saloon on Stockton near Market; second baseman Harry O'Day, who became a captain of police; and Jerry Denny, 'one of the prize players of all time' . . ." - from an article written in 2008, quoting an elderly man who spoke around 1948 and and offered memories from his childhood about the early days of San Francisco baseball

Charlie Geggus (also known as Charles or "Buck" and also known as Gagus for his last name) went 10-9 for a below-.500 team in the 1884 Union Association. Geggus was second-highest on the team in wins, even though he made his debut in August that year. He was a two-way player who appeared in 23 games as a pitcher, 21 as an outfielder, and small numbers as a middle infielder.

Charlie was born in San Francisco, CA in 1862. He was one of several future major leaguers who attended St. Mary's College of California in the early 1880's, along with Jim Fogarty, Fred Carroll, Ed Morris and Jim McElroy.

Charlie played 52 games for Reading in 1884, presumably before he came to the majors. He was primarily a shortstop, pitching only five games.

In spite of his apparent success as a pitcher, in 1885 he was back in the Eastern League, mostly likely due to the fact that the Union Association had folded. The May 2, 1885 issue of the New York Times lists a "Gagus" winning a game for the minor league Washington Nationals.

The SABR Biography of one Michael E. Finn reports on a terrific fight between Finn and Geggus (known as Gagus) when they were teammates in 1886 in the San Francisco Winter League. It was apparently a refereed fight since there were three rounds and knockdowns were counted. Finn was upset because he heard Gagus was jumping to another team. Gagus won the fight, but both were bloodied. Oddly, later in 1894 Gagus backed Finn for a political post which Finn chose not to run for.

The New York Times of February 4, 1886 indicates that the Brockton team signed Charles Gagus of San Francisco to pitch for them. The article said Gagus had been in the Western League in 1884.

A Sacramento newspaper from July 26, 1886 showed Gagus leading off for the "Pioneers" and called him the acting team captain because Finn "hadn't come up".

He was a California League umpire in the 1890s.