BOB CHAKALES

I bought three old Benedictine High School annuals at a yard sale last week. While reading the baseball stats, I noticed a blurb about Bob Chakales. He was a pitcher, and during the 1945 season Bob threw a no-hitter against Thomas Jefferson High, striking out twenty-one men, handing his team an eight to nothing victory.

He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, was tagged with the moniker, 'the golden Greek', and played for several teams over the course of his career. He won 15 games and lost 25. Chakales had a lifetime 4.54 ERA.

And that's the way life goes. Sometimes we start off golden but end up like tarnished bronze.