Invisible

You go back over the years and there have been players who were on Dodger winning teams, made a contribution, and never were heard from again. This one will take some research! Off the top of my head though, I can name 3 easily. 1959, Chuck Churn, 1963, Dick Nen, and Dick Calmus.

Chuck Churn

Churn was born on February 1, 1930, in Bridgetown Virginia. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies before the 1949 season. He spent 7 years in the minors and 1 in the service. He finally made it to the majors in 1957. He made his MLB debut against the Dodgers on April 18th. He gave up 2 hits and 2 runs in one inning. He pitched in 5 games for the Pirates and was sent down. He had no decisions and a 4.32 ERA in 8.1 innings.

He was selected by the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft that winter, but placed on waivers in spring and picked up by the Indians. He pitched in 6 games for Cleveland, had no decisions, and had a 6.32 ERA in 8.2 innings. The Reds purchased him in May and sent him to AAA Seattle for the rest of the season.

He was acquired in a trade by the Dodgers on May 6, 1959, for Dick Hanlon and assigned to Spokane. In August he was recalled to the big club. Churn would appear in 14 games for the Dodgers, all in relief, winning 3 and losing 2. He also had a save and all of this coming down the stretch when the Dodgers were locked in a tight race with the Braves.

Churn was unscored on his first 3 appearances, then on September 2nd, he earned his first MLB win with 4.2 innings of scoreless relief over the Cardinals, 9-6. He then came in for Sandy Koufax with the Dodgers down to his former team, the Pirates, 4-2. in the 8th inning. The Dodgers scored 1 in the bottom of the 8th, and then rallied for 2 in the 9th to hand Elroy Face his only loss in an 18-1 campaign.

Churn’s 3 wins and the save were crucial in the close race. Then in the second playoff game, Churn relieved Podres with the bases loaded and the Dodgers down 4-2. He retired Enos Slaughter to end the threat but then gave up what seemed to be the nail in the coffin run putting LA down 5-2. He was replaced in the bottom of the 8th for a pinch hitter. But the Dodgers rallied for 3 in the 9th, forcing extra innings, and then won the game in the 12th on a run-scoring single by Carl Furillo that scored Gil Hodges. And the Dodgers were on their way to face the White Sox in the World Series.

Churn pitched in game one of the 59 series, relieving Craig. He gave up 6 runs, 2 earned, in 2/3rds of an inning. He did not pitch the rest of the series which LA won in 6 games. Churn never pitched in the majors again. He pitched full-time in the minors until 1962. He then joined the Astros as a player coach and then player-manager through 1967. Churn, whose nickname was “Slim” died in Lady Lake, Florida in October of 2017. He was 87 years old. His photo on the 1959 team picture was superimposed over another player’s face.

Dick Nen

Richard Leroy Nen was born in South Gate, California on September 24, 1939. Nen graduated from Phineas Banning High School and attended Harbor College and Cal State Long Beach. The Dodgers signed him in1961 and sent him to the Class C California League in Reno where he had a very good first season, hitting .351 with 32 HRs and 144 RBI’s. He spent 62 and most of 63 with Spokane of the PCL. He did not show the same kind of power-hitting 6 and then 9 HRs. But in the heat of a pennant race, he was called up in September.

On September 18th, he was inserted into the game as a pinch hitter and lined out to CF off of Bob Gibson. He remained in the game at 1st and in the 9th, with the Dodgers trailing 5-4, he hit a HR over the roof in RF tying the game off of Ron Taylor. The Dodgers went on to win in extra’s, sweeping the series and increasing their lead to 4 games over the Cardinals. The Dodgers went on to win the pennant and beat the Yankees in 4 games in the series. That HR was Nen’s only hit as a Dodger in 7 at-bats.

He was sent to Spokane for all of 1964, and then that winter was sent to the Senators as part of the blockbuster trade involving Frank Howard, Phil Ortega, Ken McMullen, and Pete Richert for Claude Osteen and John Kennedy. He would play parts of 4 seasons for the Senators and 1 with the Cubs finishing with a .224 avg and 21 career homers. He retired after the 1972 season. His son is Rob Nen the former reliever who had a 10-year career and 314 career saves.

Dick Calmus

Richard Lee Calmus was born on Jan 7th, 1944 in Los Angeles. Calmus attended Webster High School in Tulsa, OK and was a teammate of future MLB pitcher, Carl Morton. He was Tulsa Worlds basketball player of the year in 1962. While on the baseball team there, they won 2 state titles.

He was signed as a bonus baby in 1963, and under the rules, required to spend the entire year with the major league team. Calmus appeared in 22 games, started 2, and had a 3-1 record with a 3.17 ERA. His loss was against the Braves in one of his starts. His 3 wins came against the Mets (1) and Giants (2). He did not see any action in the World Series.

He went to AAA in 64 but developed arm trouble and was eventually traded to the Cubs in April of 67 for Fred Norman. He appeared in one game for the Cubs and that was it. He retired after the 1969 season. He is the uncle of Rocky Calmus who played in the NFL after winning the Butkus Award at the University of Oklahoma in 2001.

I am sure there are others, and I will keep looking. But these 3 I remember vividly. I was listening when Nen hit his homer in St. Louis.