Chuck D’Arcy knew the cards were stacked against him of becoming a major class fast pitch pitcher. At 16, he was 5-feet tall and weighed 95 pounds. “I certainly wasn’t the prototype of a major fast pitch pitcher,” said D’Arcy. “ Unless there was a demand for midget pitchers.” D’Arcy’s late father (Charles D’Arcy) would rather his son play the infield or maybe give basketball a try because he had been the starting guard on the basketball game. “D’Arcy’s father told him, “ There was no way a little guy like him could do it.” But Chuck, who had been the bat boy for his father’s team and imitated pitching motions of different pitchers, was determined to become a major class pitcher. As history shows, D’Arcy’s persistence and thousands of hours of practice paid off as he went on to establish himself as a top-flight pitcher who earned ASA All-American honors four times during a 30-year career. He compiled a record of 1,092 wins and 250 losses for a winning percentage of .813. In 8,973 innings, D’Arcy fanned 10,689 batters and hurled 527 shutouts with 62 no-hitters and 15 perfect games. His 30-year ERA was 0.85. He had a 26-11 record in 17 ASA nationals.
