Charlie Neal

Charles Lenard Neal (January 30, 1931 – November 18, 1996) was an American professional baseball player, a second baseman and shortstop who had an eight-season career (1956–1963) in Major League Baseball.

Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur in 1950, Neal helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the 1959 World Series just one year after the team moved to Southern California in 1958. His two home runs off Bob Shaw of the Chicago White Sox in Game 2 at Comiskey Park were keys to turning the tide of the 1959 Series. Chicago had won Game 1, 11–0, and held a 2–0 lead in the fifth inning of the second game when Neal connected for a solo homer, accounting for the Dodgers' first run of the Fall Classic. Two innings later, after pinch hitter Chuck Essegian had tied the contest at two with another solo home run, Neal belted his second long ball of the game, a two-run blast with Jim Gilliam on base. That homer was the winning blow in a 4–3 Dodger victory; Los Angeles went on to take Games 3, 4 and 6 to win the world championship.