Claude Wilson Osteen (born August 9, 1939), nicknamed "Gomer" because of his resemblance to television character

Gomer Pyle Gomer Pyle is a fictional character played by Jim Nabors and introduced in the middle of the third season of ''The Andy Griffith Show''. A naïve and gentle auto mechanic, he became a character in the January 1963 episode, ''Man in a Hurry''. ...

, is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Cincinnati Redlegs/Reds, Washington Senators,

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Career overview

The most significant portion of Osteen's career was spent with the Dodgers. Osteen never really received a season-long chance to start in Cincinnati and was traded on Sept. 16, 1961 to the Washington Senators for pitcher

Dave Sisler David Michael Sisler (October 16, 1931 – January 9, 2011) was a professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through . Early in his career, Sisler was a starter, then later was used as a middle relie ...

. With the Senators, Osteen finally got a chance to

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

regularly in the big leagues, albeit with a consistently sub-.500 team. After posting a winning record (15–13) in 1964, he was in much demand that winter. On December 4, 1964, Osteen was traded by the Senators to the Dodgers in a 7-player deal, with five players (two of whom were Frank Howard and

Pete Richert Peter Gerard Richert (born October 29, 1939) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1962–64, 1972–73), Washington Senators (1965–67), Bal ...

) going to the Senators. Osteen developed into one of the game's better starters in Los Angeles. After two years with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) under 3.00 (–), Osteen was considered a top-notch starter and a workhorse. In those two years, Osteen and the Dodgers reached two straight

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

(the only two he would reach in his career). In the

1965 World Series The 1965 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1965 season. The 62nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the Amer ...

, the Dodgers went on to beat the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in 7 games, with Osteen pitching brilliantly. He had a 0.64 ERA in the Series, with a 1–1 record including a

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, which came after teammates

Don Drysdale Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A right-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball, D ...

and

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

had lost their respective games (the first two games of the Series). In the

1966 World Series The 1966 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1966 season. The 63rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and National League ...

, the Dodgers were beaten by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in four games. Osteen was charged with the

loss Loss may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Loss'' (Bass Communion album) (2006) * ''Loss'' (Mull Historical Society album) (2001) *"Loss", a song by God Is an Astronaut from their self-titled album (2008) * Losses "(Lil Tjay son ...

, in a 1–0 pitcher's duel with

Wally Bunker Wallace Edward Bunker (born January 25, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. A right-hander, Bunker pitched for the Baltimore Orioles from to and Kansas City Royals from to . Biography Bunker pitched for the Capuchino High School ...

in Game 3, despite giving up only three hits in seven innings; a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

by Paul Blair accounted for the game's only run. Osteen's final postseason statistics include a 0.86 ERA with seven

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

in 21

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

In , Osteen reached his first

All-Star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

. His season totals included a 17–17 record, a 3.22 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 288 innings pitched. He hurled 14

complete games In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, with five shutouts. In , Osteen was one of the game's consistent hard-luck losers; despite a very respectable 3.08 ERA, he only won 12 of 30 decisions. The 12 victories would be his fewest in a season from 1964 to 1973; the 18 losses tied him with

Ray Sadecki Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

for the major league lead. In , Osteen won 20 games for the first time and set a number of career highs, including 321 innings pitched, 183 strikeouts, 16 complete games, and 7 shutouts. In the 1970s, Osteen was still pitching an average of 260 innings a year. In the 1970 All-Star game, Osteen pitched three shutout innings, notching the win, in a game most remembered for the play in which

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

barreled into

Ray Fosse Raymond Earl Fosse (April 4, 1947 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as an All-Sta ...

to score the winning run in the 12th inning. Coincidentally, like Osteen, the pitcher and hitter involved in the walk-off single were also Tennessee natives: Jim Hickman (who had been a Dodger teammate of Osteen's in 1967) collected the hit off losing pitcher

Clyde Wright Clyde Wright (born February 20, 1941), nicknamed "Skeeter", is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the California Angels (1966–73), Milwauk ...

(coincidentally, Hickman and Wright would become Comeback Players of the Year in their respective leagues). In , Osteen had a particularly strong year, finishing with 7 complete game victories in his last 9 starts. That year, he was 20–11, with a 2.64 ERA, in 252 innings pitched. Claude Osteen 1961

Osteen made his 3rd and final All-Star team in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, in what would prove to be his last real quality MLB campaign — and his last season with the Dodgers. That year, while pitching for a 2nd-place Dodger team, Osteen went 16–11 and posted a 3.31 ERA, while logging 33 starts, 12 complete games, and 3 shutouts. He had achieved double-figure wins each year, for 10 consecutive seasons (1964–1973). Osteen was dealt along with minor-league right-handed pitcher David Culpepper from the

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

to the

for

Jimmy Wynn James Sherman Wynn (March 12, 1942March 26, 2020), nicknamed "The Toy Cannon", was an American professional baseball player. He played 15 seasons as a center fielder; he spent ten of his fifteen seasons with the Houston Colt .45s / Astros befor ...

at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 6, 1973.Rappoport, Ken. "National League Tentatively Agrees to Move Padres to Washington, D.C." ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Friday, December 7, 1973.
Retrieved December 23, 2022. Wynn helped the Dodgers win the 1974 NL pennant The Astros traded Osteen to the

in August 1974. On September 11, 1974 he pitched 9 innings of relief against the New York Mets in a 25 inning game, won by St. Louis 4–3. He did not figure in the decision. In April 1975, he was released by the Cardinals and was signed by the

, for whom he played his final game on September 27, 1975. That following spring, when Osteen no longer fit in the ChiSox’ future plans, the team released him. Over the course of an 18-year professional career, Osteen compiled 196 wins, 1,612 strikeouts, and a 3.30 ERA. As a batter, Osteen had a lifetime .188

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, with 8 home runs, and 76

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI). He was used as

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

on a number of occasions. Defensively, he recorded a .971

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

which was 18 points higher than the league average at his position. Beginning in , Osteen became a big league

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the Cardinals,

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, Texas Rangers, and Dodgers. He also coached various

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

teams.

Highlights

*3-time All-Star (1967, 1970, 1973) *Top 10 in the league in games started, 10 times (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975) *2nd in the league in shutouts 3 times (1967, 1969, 1970); top 10 in the league 3 more times (1971, 1972, 1973) *Top 10 in the league in innings pitched, 6 times (1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972) *Top 10 in ERA, 3 times (1965, 1966, 1972) *Ranks #77 in all-time innings pitched (3460) *Ranks #44 (tie) in all-time shutouts (40) *Ranks #54 in all-time games started (488)

References

External links

Claude Osteen
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Claude Osteen
at Tennessee Encyclopedia : {{DEFAULTSORT:Osteen, Claude 1939 births Living people Baseball players from Tennessee Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Redlegs players Cincinnati Reds players Houston Astros players Indianapolis Indians players Los Angeles Dodgers coaches Los Angeles Dodgers players Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Nashville Vols players National League All-Stars People from Reading, Ohio Philadelphia Phillies coaches St. Louis Cardinals coaches Seattle Rainiers players Texas Rangers coaches Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Wenatchee Chiefs players

Career overview

Highlights

See also

References

External links