Charlie Tilson should bring a lot to the Chicago Dogs in 2022
By Chip Egan
Former Chicago White Sox outfielder Charlie Tilson is ready to come back to the Chicago area to play some ball but it won’t be for the Southsiders. Tilson recently signed to play out in Rosemont, Illinois this season for the Chicago Dogs of the American Association.
Charlie Tilson played ball at New Trier High School in Winnetka and was a second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. In his senior year with the Trevians, Tilson was named the Illinois Gatorade Baseball Play of the Year.
The opportunity to play professionally was very enticing for Tilson as he spurned playing baseball for the University of Illinois to sign with the Cardinals. In 2016, he bounced around the Cardinals farm system for a while before he was traded to the White Sox in exchange for pitcher Zach Duke.
A Sox fan growing up, Tilson got the chance to play for his favorite team and made his debut shortly after the trade against the Detroit Tigers. Tilson singled in his first at-bat and finished the game one for two at the plate.
Charlie Tilson managed to live his dream of playing Major League Baseball.
However, the thrill of his first big league hit was short-lived as he injured his hamstring making a defensive play later in the game. He underwent season-ending surgery and didn’t return to the big leagues until 2018.
Between 2018 and 2019, Charlie Tilson appeared in 96 games for the Sox, batting .246 with one home run and 23 runs batted in. He was signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh in January of 2020 and was released by the Pirates later that year.
After taking some time in 2020 to serve as a volunteer assistant with the baseball team at Northwestern University, Tilson split time during 2021 in the Mexican League and the Atlantic League before having his contract picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate Lehigh Valley IronPigs where he hit .296 over 59 games. Tilson chose to go the free agency route this past November and eventually signed with the Dogs.
The Chicago Dogs season will open their season at home on May 13th when they take on the Gary SouthShore RailCats.