Charlie Wagner, 93; his style, dedication a part of Sox for 70 years

Of all the members of the Red Sox's American League championship team in 1946, Charlie Wagner was always the cool one, the dapper one, the gentleman, Johnny Pesky remembered.

``He was the patriarch of all of us," he said.

That season would spark a friendship and a kinship to the club that lasted more than a half century. ``He's one of those guys that said the Red Sox were his family," Pesky said.

Mr. Wagner, like Pesky himself, was an organization man who caught the eye of owner Tom Yawkey and ended up spending 70 years with the club, first as a relief pitcher, then as an assistant farm director, as a special assignment scout and minor league pitching instructor. He also served as the pitching coach of the Red Sox in 1970 under manager Eddie Kasko.

Mr. Wagner was in his hometown of Reading, Pa., Wednesday night presenting the 2006 Reading Phillies Unsung Hero Award before the Phillies played the Portland Seadogs. Later that night he had a heart attack.

His body was discovered in his car in the ballpark's parking lot early the next morning. Mr. Wagner was 93.

The Sox drafted Mr. Wagner in 1935, and he worked his way through the farm system, arriving at Fenway in 1938. His best years were 1941, when he was 12-8 and his 3.07 ERA was third in the American League, and in 1942, when he was 14-11. He joined the Navy after the 1942 season.

He ended his playing career after the 1946 season, but never actually put away the uniform. Even in retirement after decades of working with the team as a full-time coach or scout, he still would visit the Sox's spring training in Fort Myers as a special assistant to lend a hand.

``We come here every spring," Mr. Wagner told the Globe in 1996, ``and I tell the young players the same thing we were told years ago: `Don't tell me how good you are; show me how good you are.' "

In honor of his work and loyalty, the team named the entrance to its baseball complex in Fort Myers ``Charlie Wagner Way."

``Last time we talked was Opening Day," Pesky said. ``He was perky. He looked like he could have lived another 10 years.

``It was a close-knitted group," Pesky said of his former teammates. ``We kept our relationships alive even when we got through playing ball."

Pesky remembered Mr. Wagner and his days rooming with Red Sox legend Ted Williams, who died in 2002.

``That was something in itself to room with Ted Williams," Pesky said. ``Of course, Ted isn't here to tell you about it, but he used to scream at him and holler at him when they were together, and Charlie took it all in stride. Ted would get into one of those tantrums, if you could call it a tantrum, and Charlie would say, `Now, roomie, be careful.' They were great together."

Called ``Broadway" because he was always dressed in the finest attire, Mr. Wagner also captivated a young Eddie Pellagrini, whose first year with the Red Sox was 1946.

``He and I liked clothes," Pellagrini said. ``My father was a custom tailor, you know. So he used to make us clothes, and Charlie, you know, he had some good clothes, too. We always were dressed up."

The Red Sox won 104 games that season before falling to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Mr. Wagner, who had just returned from serving several years in the Navy, threw just 30 innings in an injury-marred season, but he was always there to lift the locker room, Pellagrini remembered.

``He was very gentlemanly," Pellagrini said. ``Great guy on the team, always pulling for his teammates."

Pesky, still close to Mr. Wagner's family, said he would try to contact Mr. Wagner's only son, Craig, and daughter-in-law Nancy.

``You miss guys like that," said Pesky, who would get together with Mr. Wagner every spring to catch up. ``We would always eat and talk about our time together. They're some of the same stories, but they're always funny."

Mr. Wagner's wife, Elynor, died in 2004.

A funeral will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Nativity Lutheran Church in Reading.