A Tall Man's Tale: Chuck Connors

He was born Kevin Joseph Connors, on April 10, 1921, in Brooklyn, and grew to 6'5". He began his career as a professional basketball player with the Boston Celtics and switched to baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League.

But breaking into the majors when there were so few teams was so very tough, and Connors would only play in one game for Brooklyn in 1949, going hitless in one at-bat. Some guy named Gil Hodges blocked his way. He then played in 66 games for the Cubs in 1951, hitting .239 with 2 home runs and 18 RBI, but never appeared in a baseball card set as a major leaguer.

Handsome and well spoken, he went to Hollywood and switched careers, picking up occasional roles in films with some major stars. But in 1958, as his Dodgers were moving to LA, he moved to ‘New Mexico’ as Lucas McCain, ‘The Rifleman.’ And starred in the popular TV series until 1963.

Connors once said, "I owe baseball all that I have and much of what I hope to have. Baseball made my entrance to the film industry immeasurably easier than I could have made it alone. To the greatest game in the world I shall be eternally in debt."

In the late 1980’s Connors could be seen at national baseball card shows, signing autographs and shaking hands. That is where I met him, at the National Sports Card Collection show in Anaheim around 1985. He would sign an autographed picture for ten dollars, and I remember kidding him how I was a big fan of his till I learned he was a big fan of Richard Nixon and Republicans. And I kidded him about it. I still loved his show as a kid. I still went out and bought all the DVDs last year when 'The Rifleman' was released. Those shows will be remembered longer than his baseball career.

He died unexpectedly in 1992 of pneumonia from lung cancer. He has a website though if you are intrigued, http://www.chuckconnors.com/.

If you were a fan of that show, and you were wondering whatever became of his television son, Mark, played by Johnny Crawford, once a ‘mouseketeer’, he is a popular band conductor in Southern California.