In 1960, Charley Pride was paid an extra $10 to sing before baseball games in a small Montana town. Sixty years later, Charley Pride sang the national anthem inside a brand-new Major League ballpark for a team Charley Pride partly owned.
That remarkable journey began long before country music made Charley Pride a household name. And it tells a story that even some longtime fans may not know: baseball wasn’t just an early chapter in Charley Pride’s life. It remained a passion for more than half a century.
When Baseball Came Before Country Music
During the 1950s, Charley Pride pursued professional baseball, pitching in the Negro Leagues and minor leagues. There were years of travel, tryouts, disappointments, and opportunities that never quite turned into a permanent Major League career.
In 1960, Charley Pride arrived in Montana to play for the Missoula Timberjacks. After being released by the team, Charley Pride moved to East Helena, found work at a local smelter, and joined the semi-professional East Helena Smelterites.
That move unexpectedly opened another door.
The team’s manager, Kes Rigler, discovered Charley Pride could sing. Kes Rigler began paying an additional $10 for performances before games, including renditions of the national anthem.
For someone still hoping to make a living in baseball, singing was initially another way to earn money. But those appearances helped introduce Charley Pride’s voice to audiences around Montana.
Charley Pride eventually began performing at local clubs and other venues. Country music opportunities followed, and by the late 1960s, the former ballplayer was building a successful recording career.
The Dream That Never Disappeared
Country music brought Charley Pride extraordinary success, including more than 30 number-one hits and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
Yet the connection to baseball remained remarkably strong.
Beginning in the early 1970s, Charley Pride became a familiar visitor at Texas Rangers spring training. These visits weren’t limited to watching games from the stands. Charley Pride worked out with the team, spent time around the clubhouse, and entertained players and coaches with informal concerts.
The tradition continued for decades, even after Charley Pride became one of country music’s most recognizable voices.
Then, in 2010, something remarkable happened. Charley Pride joined the ownership group that acquired the Texas Rangers.
The former Negro Leagues pitcher who had once struggled to secure a lasting place in professional baseball was now a part-owner of a Major League franchise.
July 24, 2020: A Different Kind of Opening Day
On July 24, 2020, the Texas Rangers opened their regular season against the Colorado Rockies at the newly completed Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
It was an unusual occasion. Because of pandemic restrictions, spectators couldn’t attend. Cardboard cutouts occupied seats, and recorded crowd noise helped create the atmosphere of a baseball game.
Charley Pride, then 86 years old, had been invited to perform the national anthem before the first regular-season game at the new stadium.
The performance brought together two parts of a remarkable life: the baseball ambitions of the 1950s and the music career that followed.
Afterward, Charley Pride spoke about the experience and revealed that the desire to be a ballplayer had never entirely faded.
“I would have loved to been down there with the players — to have been one of the players, but I love the game!”
That simple remark says more about Charley Pride’s relationship with baseball than any list of awards could.
The Rangers defeated the Rockies 1-0 that evening. For Charley Pride, it was another memorable occasion in a long relationship with the franchise.
A Final Anthem and a Lasting Tribute
Less than five months later, on December 12, 2020, Charley Pride passed away at the age of 86.
The performance at Globe Life Field became Charley Pride’s final national anthem appearance for the Texas Rangers.
But the baseball connection did not end there.
On March 14, 2021, the Rangers dedicated a practice field at their spring training complex in Surprise, Arizona, naming it Charley Pride Field. The organization also established the Charley Pride Fellowship Program to provide college students opportunities to gain experience working in professional baseball.
Those honors reflected a relationship that extended far beyond celebrity appearances or occasional visits to the ballpark.
In 1960, Charley Pride was earning $10 to sing before games while hoping for a future on the baseball diamond. In 2020, Charley Pride was singing at the opening of a Major League stadium as part of the team’s ownership group.
Sixty years separated those moments. Country music changed Charley Pride’s career, but baseball remained part of the story from beginning to end.