What years did Charlie Lea play?

Charlie Lea played in Major League Baseball from 1980 to 1988.

Was Charlie Lea a pitcher?

Yes. Charlie Lea pitched in the major leagues, recording 62 wins and 535 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Charlie Lea hit?

Charlie Lea hit 0 career home runs with 29 hits.

What teams did Charlie Lea play for?

Charlie Lea played for 2 teams: the Montreal Expos (1980–1984, 1987) and the Minnesota Twins (1988).

Did Charlie Lea win a Cy Young Award?

No. Charlie Lea did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Charlie Lea win?

Charlie Lea was selected to 1 All-Star Game.

What were Charlie Lea's career stats?

In 152 games, Charlie Lea went 62-48 with a 3.54 ERA, 535 strikeouts, and 923.1 innings pitched. At the plate he had 29 hits and 0 home runs.

What was Charlie Lea's salary?

Charlie Lea's last recorded salary was $62,500, in 1988. His highest recorded salary was $850,000, in 1986, and his lowest was $62,500, in 1988. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1988.

What position did Charlie Lea play?

Charlie Lea played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Charlie Lea and how much did he weigh?

Charlie Lea was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 194 pounds.

What was Charlie Lea's career ERA?

Charlie Lea finished with a 3.54 career ERA, going 62-48 with 535 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Charlie Lea have?

Charlie Lea recorded 535 career strikeouts.

Is Charlie Lea in the Hall of Fame?

No. Charlie Lea has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Charlie Lea

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1980-1988)

Charlie Lea was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1980 to 1988 for the Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins, a span of 9 seasons. Across 152 career appearances, he went 62-48 with a 3.54 ERA and 535 strikeouts. He also batted .112 with 0 home runs. Charlie Lea was an All-Star.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 17, 2026

W–L 62–48

ERA 3.54

WHIP 1.31

SO 535

Pitcher PIV -126.8

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 194 lb
Born: 12/25/1956 in Orleans, Centre-Val de Loire, France
Died: 11/11/2011 in Collierville, TN, USA
MLB Debut: 1980-06-12
Last Game: 1988-10-01
Awards: All-Star

Full name: Charles William Lea

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Career Pitching Statistics

Charlie Lea — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
62	48	152	144	22	8	0	923.1	864	363	79	341	535	3.54	-126.8

Career ERA 3.54 vs. league average 3.87 across their career seasons — 8.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Charlie Lea — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1980	MON	NL	7	5	21	19	0	0	104.0	103	43	55	56	3.72	3.84 (+3%)	-267.4
1981	MON	NL	5	4	16	11	2	2	64.1	63	33	26	31	4.62	3.58 (-29%)	-193.6
1982	MON	NL	12	10	27	27	4	2	177.2	145	64	56	115	3.24	3.86 (+16%)	1494.4
1983	MON	NL	16	11	33	33	8	4	222.0	195	77	84	137	3.12	3.87 (+19%)	1883.4
1984	MON	NL	15	10	30	30	8	0	224.1	198	72	68	123	2.89	3.81 (+24%)	521.3
1987	MON	NL	0	1	1	1	0	0	1.0	4	4	2	1	36.00	—	0.0
1988	MIN	AL	7	7	24	23	0	0	130.0	156	70	50	72	4.85	3.73 (-30%)	-3564.9
Career · 7 seasons			62	48	152	144	22	8	923.1	864	363	341	535	3.54	—	-127

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Charlie Lea — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
152	259	11	29	2	1	0	6	0	10	93	.112	.144	.127	.272	-1,985

Career AVG .112 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 57.0% below league average.

Career OBP .144 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 55.4% below league average.

Career SLG .127 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — 67.2% below league average.

Career OPS .272 vs. league average .713 across their career seasons — 61.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Charlie Lea — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1980	MON	NL	21	37	1	3	0	1	1	1	11	.081	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	MON	NL	16	15	1	2	0	0	0	1	7	.133	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	MON	NL	27	65	0	8	1	0	2	5	22	.123	.261 (-53%)	.324 (-43%)	.388 (-64%)	.712 (-55%)	-551.0
1983	MON	NL	33	70	6	8	1	0	3	2	29	.114	.260 (-56%)	.324 (-57%)	.389 (-67%)	.714 (-63%)	-688.0
1984	MON	NL	30	72	3	8	0	0	0	1	24	.111	.259 (-57%)	.322 (-62%)	.384 (-71%)	.707 (-67%)	-746.4
1987	MON	NL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	MIN	AL	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 7 seasons			152	259	11	29	2	1	6	10	93	.112	—	—	—	—	-1,985

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (304 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Charlie Lea — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	72	126	5	15	0	1	.119
Away	80	133	6	14	0	5	.105

Pitching — Home / Away

Charlie Lea — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	72	456.2	410	160	181	288	3.15
Away	80	466.2	454	203	160	247	3.92

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Charlie Lea — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1988-10-01	MIN	LAA	W	5.2	8	4	3	1	0	0
1988-09-23	MIN	LAA	—	4.0	4	1	1	1	1	0
1988-08-23	MIN	DET	—	3.2	8	5	5	4	3	1
1988-08-18	MIN	TEX	L	7.0	5	3	2	2	7	2
1988-08-12	MIN	NYY	—	7.0	5	3	3	3	3	1
1988-08-07	MIN	NYY	L	6.0	7	4	3	1	0	1
1988-08-02	MIN	TOR	L	3.0	6	6	6	1	1	2
1988-07-25	MIN	TOR	—	6.1	6	3	3	5	3	1
1988-07-20	MIN	BOS	—	4.0	7	4	3	0	0	1
1988-07-15	MIN	BAL	W	6.1	9	2	2	1	3	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Charlie Lea — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	152	144	65	112	4	5

Season-by-Season Fielding

Charlie Lea — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1980	MON	P	21	19	4	10	0	0
1981	MON	P	16	11	5	8	0	2
1982	MON	P	27	27	6	22	1	1
1983	MON	P	33	33	19	27	2	0
1984	MON	P	30	30	19	33	1	1
1987	MON	P	1	1	0	0	0	0
1988	MIN	P	24	23	12	12	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Charlie Lea — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	152

Awards & Honors

Charlie Lea — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1981	Pitcher of the Month	May
1981	Player of the Week	Week of 1981-05-08

Salary History

Charlie Lea's recorded salaries total $1,562,500 over 3 seasons, 1985 to 1988. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Lea's career ran from 1980 to 1988. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1987.

Charlie Lea — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1988	MIN	AL	$62,500
1986	MON	NL	$850,000
1985	MON	NL	$650,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$1,562,500

College History

Charlie Lea — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
University of Memphis	Memphis	TN	1978
Southwest Tennessee Community College	Memphis	TN	1976, 1977

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Charlie Lea (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Charlie Lea: the record in brief

Between the debut on June 12, 1980 and the final game on October 1, 1988, Charlie Lea built the record summarized on this page. The season rows list, in order, the Montreal Expos (1980 to 1987) and the Minnesota Twins (1988). Born on December 25, 1956, in Orleans, Centre-Val de Loire, France, Lea is listed as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. Lea's listed size is 194 pounds on a 6-foot-4 frame. The bio records the death on November 11, 2011, in Collierville, TN, USA. Lea's full given name, per the bio, is Charles William Lea.

Lea pitched in 152 games, starting 144, and finished with a 62-48 record and 3.54 ERA. Lea had 535 strikeouts, 22 complete games, and 8 shutouts. That 3.54 ERA compares with a 3.87 league average across the same seasons, 8.6% better. Lea won 16 games in 1983, the most of any season listed. In 1984, one of the busiest seasons, Lea posted a 2.89 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.81.

Frequently Asked Questions about Charlie Lea

What years did Charlie Lea play?: Charlie Lea played in Major League Baseball from 1980 to 1988.
Was Charlie Lea a pitcher?: Yes. Charlie Lea pitched in the major leagues, recording 62 wins and 535 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Charlie Lea hit?: Charlie Lea hit 0 career home runs with 29 hits.
What teams did Charlie Lea play for?: Charlie Lea played for 2 teams: the Montreal Expos (1980–1984, 1987) and the Minnesota Twins (1988).
Did Charlie Lea win a Cy Young Award?: No. Charlie Lea did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Charlie Lea win?: Charlie Lea was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Charlie Lea's career stats?: In 152 games, Charlie Lea went 62-48 with a 3.54 ERA, 535 strikeouts, and 923.1 innings pitched. At the plate he had 29 hits and 0 home runs.
How much did Charlie Lea earn in his career?: Charlie Lea's recorded salaries total $1,562,500 over 3 seasons, 1985 to 1988. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Lea's career ran from 1980 to 1988. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1987.
What was Charlie Lea's salary?: Charlie Lea's last recorded salary was $62,500, in 1988. His highest recorded salary was $850,000, in 1986, and his lowest was $62,500, in 1988. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1988.
What position did Charlie Lea play?: Charlie Lea played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Charlie Lea and how much did he weigh?: Charlie Lea was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 194 pounds.
What was Charlie Lea's career ERA?: Charlie Lea finished with a 3.54 career ERA, going 62-48 with 535 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Charlie Lea have?: Charlie Lea recorded 535 career strikeouts.
Is Charlie Lea in the Hall of Fame?: No. Charlie Lea has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.