Safe by a Mile

"One of the best baseball minds that I've ever known."-Buck O'Neil, Baseball Hall of Fame's Veterans' Committee. "Charlie was a master at running the game and getting the most out of all the players...

The most important lesson I learned from Charlie was that baseball was a serious business and when you get to the park every day it's your job.

So get serious!"-Brooks Robinson, winner of sixteen consecutive Gold Glove Awards. "[Charlie] was very demanding, and he insisted that we play hard every day."-Lou Piniella, Seattle Mariners manager. "He was a good, hard-nosed manager."-Billy Williams, Chicago Cubs coach.Charlie Metro's career runs the gamut of the specialties found in baseball-player, coach, manager, scout, inventor.

Metro has lived baseball at every level from the Great Depression to today's multimillion dollar contracts.

One of a kind, Metro's life mirrors the astounding changes in the game as well as in the nation.

Metro's tale is full of heart and a wealth of anecdotes, the result of a fascinating life and a true love of the game.Charlie Metro was born Charles Moreskonich in Nanty-Glo, Pennsylvania, in 1919.

He played in the major leagues from 1943 to 1945 with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics.

He managed for parts of two seasons, with the 1962 Cubs and the 1970 Kansas City A's.

He also coached the 1965 Chicago White Sox and the 1982 Oakland Athletics.

Although he had far longer service in the minor leagues, he will probably be best remembered as one of the great scouts and teachers in baseball history.Tom Altherr is a professor of history at the Metropolitan State College of Denver.

He is a coauthor of Sports in North America: A Documentary History.