Chambliss was born in Dayton, Ohio, on December 26, 1948. He was the third of four sons born to Carroll and Christene Chambliss. His father was a chaplain in the United States Navy, leading the family to relocate many times during Chris' childhood. They settled in Oceanside, California, where Chris attended high school.[1] Chris and his brothers all played baseball on the Oceanside High School baseball team.[2]
With Ken Harrelson serving as the Indians' first baseman, the Indians had Chambliss play in the outfield for Wichita in 1971, in order to have both players in their lineup at the same time.[1] He debuted in the majors in 1971, and was named AL Rookie of the Year. Chambliss played first base and was known as a great clutch hitter throughout his career.
Chambliss was the hitting star of the 1976 ALCS, as he also hit a two-run homer in Game 3 to help the Yankees win that game 5–3. He hit an ALCS record .524 (11-for-21) with 2 home runs and eight RBIs. In the four-game World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Chambliss hit .313 (5-for-16) with one RBI.
Chambliss played three more seasons with the Yankees, helping lead them to the World Series title in 1977–their first in fifteen years–and winning a Gold Glove for his fielding prowess in 1978.
The "Chris Chambliss Rule"
Immediately after that 1976 walk-off home run, thousands of fans stormed the Yankee Stadium field to celebrate. Chambliss was mobbed on the basepaths and did not make an attempt to touch home plate. Instead, he ran straight toward the dugout and the safety of the Yankee clubhouse. Chambliss was then asked by Graig Nettles if he had touched home, and responded that he had not because too many people were in the way. Nettles then told him that home plate umpire Art Frantz was waiting for him to touch home so that the home run could be ruled official. He was then escorted back out onto the field to touch home, but the plate had been stolen, so he touched the area where the plate had been.
Said Chambliss:
"I just kind of reacted like I always did. I wasn't trying to hit a home run. Sometimes when you react to a high fastball it works out that way. Then, when I was running around the bases, fans were coming at me from everywhere, grabbing me, pounding me on the back. I was just trying to get around the bases and into the dugout---I ran at least one guy over---but I never made it to home plate. Later, after I got to the clubhouse, [Graig] Nettles said I should return to the field and touch home plate, just to make it official. But when we got back out there, home plate and all the other bases were gone, stripped from their moorings and confiscated by the delirious Yankee fans."[8]
Kansas City manager Whitey Herzog could have appealed the play, as Major League rules state that a player must touch all bases on any hit or when running the bases. However, the mayhem on the field made this task impossible, and given the magnitude of the game, Herzog would have never tried to have it restarted or protested due to a technicality. In any event, the umpires had already decided to let the run count given the circumstances of the situation.[9]
As a result of this incident, Major League Baseball changed the rules to allow the umpire to award any base runner or batter a run when he cannot reach the plate due to fans rushing the field.[10] This had the effect of codifying the decision made by the umpires in Game 5.
Chambliss as a member of the Atlanta Braves in the 1980s.
Chambliss played for the Atlanta Braves from 1980 through 1986. He had one at-bat with the Yankees in 1988 and struck out. Lou Piniella claimed this at-bat earned Chambliss about $20,000, since he had to be paid the minimum player salary for the season once he was activated for that at-bat.[13] He retired with a career .279 batting average and 185 home runs.[14]
After his playing days, Chambliss was a hitting instructor for several teams and was talked about as a possible managerial candidate.
Coaching and managerial career
In 1989, Chambliss became the manager for the Double-A London Tigers of the Eastern League, an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The London Tigers won the Eastern League title in 1990, playing out of Labatt Park. That same year Chambliss was named Minor League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News.
Chambliss was also a hitting coach with the Yankees, and has the distinction of being one of two men who wore a Yankees uniform (player or coach) during each of the Yankees' last six World Series Championship seasons prior to 2009 (1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000)—the other is former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph. Chambliss was also the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals,[15]New York Mets[16] and Cincinnati Reds.[17]
Chambliss was the manager of the Triple A Charlotte Knights prior to joining the Seattle Mariners in November 2010 as hitting coach.[23] At the conclusion of the 2012 season, the Mariners announced that Chambliss would not be returning as their hitting coach in 2013.[24]
^Lou: Fifty Years of Kicking Dirt, Playing Hard, and Winning Big in the Sweet Spot of Baseball by Lou Piniella with Bill Madden (HarperCollins, 2017), p. 75
^Official Baseball Rules, Rule 4.09(b) comments, "An exception will be if fans rush onto the field and physically prevent the runner from touching home plate or the batter from touching first base. In such cases, the umpires shall award the runner the base because of the obstruction by the fans.
^Lou: Fifty Years of Kicking Dirt, Playing Hard, and Winning Big in the Sweet Spot of Baseball by Lou Piniella with Bill Madden (HarperCollins, 2017), p. 145
^Stone, Larry (November 4, 2010) Hitting Coach Chambliss is Only Member of Seattle Coaching Staff with No Ties to Manager Eric Wedge or the Mariners. The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2011-04-06, from SeattleTimes.nwsource.com
^Associated Press (October 4, 2012) Mariners fire Chris Chambliss ESPN. Retrieved 2012-10-04, from Sports.ESPN.Go.com
