The son of a lightning rod salesman had a lightning bolt for a right arm.
GREENCASTLE, Pa. — Charles Reno Pittinger was born on Jan. 12th, 1872, in Greencastle, Pennsylvania.
He was the fifth of eight boys, and his dad, John, was a lightning rod salesman. That's fitting because Togie, as Charles was eventually called, had a lighting bolt for a right arm.
He didn't play organized ball until he was 23 years old but turned heads with his fastball. Where he shined with his speed, he lacked in control, with one local paper writing Pittinger, "was at times very wild.