May 25, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
Former Toronto Blue Jays catcher Charlie Moore died on Saturday at the age of 72.
The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame was the first to share the news of his passing yesterday morning.
Moore played his final 51 major league games with the Blue Jays in 1987 after spending his first 14 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.
“The Milwaukee Brewers mourn the loss of Charlie Moore, who passed away yesterday at the age of 72,” the Brewers said in a statement on Sunday. “The former catcher and outfielder played 14 seasons in a Brewers uniform from 1973 to 1986 and was a key member of the 1982 American League championship team. Charlie was known as an unselfish and versatile player and teammate who was always willing to do whatever he could to help the team win. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and fans.”
Raised in Alabama
Born in Birmingham, Ala., on June 21, 1953, Moore was the son of Charlie Moore, Sr., who was a minor league pitcher in the Boston Braves’ organization from 1949 to 1952.
The younger Moore was a multisport star at Minor High School in Adamsville, Ala. On top of dominating on the diamond, he was also the quarterback of the football team.
His baseball prowess caught the eye of the Brewers who chose him in the fifth round of the 1971 MLB draft and Moore turned down a football scholarship to Auburn University to sign with the Brewers.
Starts pro career
After three seasons rising through the Brewers’ minor league ranks, Moore made his major league debut on September 8, 1973. He went 0-for-2 in a Brewers’ 15-1 loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
For the next three seasons, he shared catching duties with Darrell Porter. But the athletic Moore could do more than catch. He could also play third base and the outfield. Brewers manager Buck Rodgers would later deem Moore “the fastest catcher in the major leagues.”
Brewers trade Porter
On December 6, 1976, the Brewers dealt Porter to the Kansas City Royals, which opened up the starting catcher’s job for Moore in 1977. He responded by hitting .248 with five home runs in 138 games.
Following the season, the Brewers acquired a 29-year-old Buck Martinez and Moore and Martinez would split time behind the dish for the next three seasons.
Moore enjoyed his finest offensive campaign with the Brewers in 1979 when he batted .300 with five home runs and 38 RBIs in 111 games.
Hits for the cycle
On October 1, 1980, Moore became the third Brewers player to hit for the cycle when he completed the feat in the Brewers’ 10-7 win over the California Angels at Anaheim Stadium. Moore also stole two bases, which made him first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle and swipe multiple bases in the same game.
After that campaign, the Brewers landed future Hall of Fame catcher Ted Simmons from the St. Louis Cardinals and in 1981, Moore batted .301 in 48 games, primarily as Simmons’ backup.
Moves to right field
Moore then moved to right field for the 1982 season and excelled in his new position, leading American League right fielders with 13 assists. He batted .254 and set a career-high with six home runs in 133 games to help the Brewers to an American League East division title.
He was even better in the postseason, going 6-for-13 (.462 batting average) to help the Brewers beat the Angels in five games in the American League Championship Series.
Moore continued to swing a hot bat in the World Series, going 9-for–26 (.346 batting average). But the Brewers lost in seven games to the Cardinals.
Moore was the Brewers’ starting right fielder again in 1983 and he batted .284 in a career-high 151 games.
Returns to catcher’s position
From 1984 to 1986, he was back behind the plate for the Brewers, but he saw his playing time diminish.
He became a free agent following the 1986 season. And with MLB owners colluding, the Brewers offered him a one-year contract that included a 40 per cent pay cut. He turned it down but found himself without a contract the ensuing spring.
Signs with Blue Jays
Moore signed with the independent San Jose Bees of the Class-A California League and spent 31 games with them at the start of 1987 before the Blue Jays inked him to a one-year deal.
“We think Charlie has the proper approach to be that kind of extra-type role,” Toronto Blue Jays general manager Pat Gillick told the Toronto Star. “He can play one position one night, another position the next night, then sit out two or three days. You’ve got to be pretty tough mentally to take the role.”
Moore had other teams interested in him but he opted to sign with the Blue Jays.
“I felt this was the best situation out there for me,” Moore told the Toronto Star. “[Blue Jays manager] Jimy Williams explained he wants to use me in platoon-type situation [with Ernie Whitt] and I’m very comfortable with that. I’ll be happy no matter what. I’ll start, pinch-hit, play the outfield, whatever Jimy wants me to do, I’m ready.”
Homers in first game with Jays
And he certainly was ready.
In his first game with the Blue Jays, with his team trailing 5-1, he pinch-hit for Ernie Whitt in the seventh inning and doubled off Orioles left-hander Jack O’Connor. He later scored on an RBI double by Tony Fernandez.
The next inning, with the Blue Jays behind 5-3, Moore stepped to the plate and belted a two-run home run off Ken Dixon to tie the game. The fans at Exhibition Stadium gave him a standing ovation and demanded a curtain call.
“I hope they don’t expect me to do this every day,” a grinning Moore told the Toronto Star after the game. “In all my years with the Brewers, nobody had ever called me out of the dugout like that before.”
That contest proved to be the high point of Moore’s tenure with the Blue Jays.
Caught Niekro
With a 65-45 record and in second place in the American League East, the Blue Jays acquired 48-year-old knuckleballer Phil Niekro from Cleveland on August 9 and gave Moore the unenviable task of catching him.
Niekro made his first start with the Blue Jays on August 13 against the Chicago White Sox and with Moore behind the plate, he allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings in the Jays’ 10-3 loss.
Eight days later, Moore caught Niekro again. The veteran backstop contributed a double and a single but Niekro, again, couldn’t get out of the sixth inning in a 3-1 loss to the Angels.
Ten days later, Niekro was released.
Whitt injured
The Blue Jays had a three-and-a-half game lead in the American League East heading into the season’s final week when disaster struck.
Already missing Tony Fernandez, out with a broken elbow, Whitt was sidelined on September 29 when he broke two ribs attempting to break up a double play. Whitt’s injury should’ve meant more playing time for Moore in the season’s final week, but Moore had been struggling at the plate and the Blue Jays called up the left-handed hitting Greg Myers.
“I’ve put too much pressure on myself,” Moore told the Toronto Star’s Trent Frayne on October 2. “I’ve tried to do too much and haven’t done the things I know Charlie Moore can do. I’ve got to be myself.”
Heading into the season’s final series against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium, the Blue Jays had a one game lead over the Tigers.
And as Blue Jays fans loath to remember, the team ended up losing all three games and the division to the Tigers.
But the Blue Jays’ 1-0 loss in the season finale certainly wasn’t due to Moore. The veteran catcher went 2-for-2 with a walk in that contest.
“Right to the last out, I felt something good was going to happen,” Moore told the Toronto Star after the game. “We had our opportunities we just didn’t do anything with them.”
Hangs up his spikes
Moore hung his playing spikes after that season and moved back to Alabama.
For 15 years, he served as a sale representative for a fastener company in Birmingham.
In 2014, he was inducted on to the Brewers Wall of Honor and last year, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Moore is survived by his wife, Lynn, three sons, five grandchildren and one great grandchild.
One night, Charlie Moore was having a drink at reputedly Toronto’s oldest bar…The Wheat Sheaf. Part of the ceiling fell on him.
For many years, there was an image showing the cracked ceiling and it said “Charlie Moore got plastered here”
When they refurbished the bar a few years ago they took away the sign.
Hi Warren. Thanks for sharing that story. I have heard that, but I wasn’t sure if it was true.
Thanks for the informative write up on Charlie Moore.
Thanks for reading this.
Great article!
Enyoyed it.!!
Thanks for your kind words and support.
This was an excellent write-up of Charlie Moore’s career. He was my all-time favorite player, bar none, because he’d do anything it took to win. He also was a good person and quite down-to-earth. (I met him once, as a young girl, and was too afraid to talk to him due to being at that “gawky” stage. My Mom talked to him instead.) He had an excellent sense of humor, he absolutely loved playing baseball, was a great athlete, possibly the fastest catcher in the sport (before he took up the OF), and had a rocket for an arm.
I’m glad to hear about his highlights from his year in Toronto. I didn’t know about them, and it was good to learn something I hadn’t known before. (I knew his baseline stats, but that did not tell the story.)
I mourn his loss.
Thank you for your note and sharing your memories of Charlie, Barb. I’m sorry for your loss. He clearly touched your heart.
Thank you again for posting your write-up. It was meaningful and relevant, and much better than some of the retrospectives I’ve seen in Milwaukee. (Some of the broadcasters were young, yes. But shouldn’t they know more about Charlie Moore than this, especially considering his excellent postseason play?)
Yes, Charlie was my favorite all-time baseball player. I think it was because of the emotion he played with, coupled with a stoic determinism. I don’t know how someone manages to do both things at the same time, but he did.
CHARLIE MOORE WAS A VERY FINE AND DECENT INDIVIDUAL AND A BETTER THAN AVERAGE CATCHER WHO WAS VERY POPULAR WITH THOSE HE PLAYED WITH AND AGAINST – SORRY TO SEE HIS DEPARTURE FROM THE SCENE AT THIS POINT – HE WILL BE FONDLY REMEMBERED BY ALL THOSE OF US WHO EVER MET OR KNEW HIM. == REMEMBRANCE ==.