Frederick Raymond "Fritz" Ostermueller (September 15, 1907 – December 17, 1957) was a left-handed pitcher 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), ...
from 1934 to 1948, playing for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
,
St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...
,
Brooklyn Dodgers, and
Pittsburgh Pirates.
While with Pittsburgh, he coined a quote frequently misattributed to teammate
Ralph Kiner
Ralph McPherran Kiner (October 27, 1922 – February 6, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball player and broadcaster. An outfielder, Kiner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Indians from 1946 through 1955. Foll ...
: "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs; singles hitters drive Fords."
Career
![FritzOstermuellerGoudeycard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/FritzOstermuellerGoudeycard.jpg)
Ostermueller began his career in his home town of Quincy, Illinois, before finishing high school. In 1929 he had 95 strikeouts for the Shawnee Robins of the
Western Association
The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Weste ...
, and later played for the
Rochester Red Wings.
Ostermueller made his major league debut on April 21, 1934 with the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
, pitching seven seasons for them, chiefly as a starter. On December 3, 1940, he was sold to the
St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...
, along with
Denny Galehouse. He was the ace of the Pirates staff in 1947 and 1948 at the age of 41 and was called "Old Folks."
As a hitter, Ostermueller was better than average for a pitcher. He posted a .234
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 ...
(175-for-749) with 60
runs, 62
RBI and 35
bases on balls. He did not hit any home runs in his major league career.
In popular culture
Ostermueller was portrayed in the film ''
42'' by Linc Hand. In the film, Ostermueller hits
Jackie Robinson with a high pitch, but in a subsequent game Robinson hits a game winning
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 ...
off him.
In reality Ostermueller's first inning pitch hit Robinson on the left wrist, not his head, and he claimed it was a routine
brushback pitch
In baseball, a brushback pitch is a pitch–usually a fastball–thrown high and inside the strike zone to intimidate the batter away from the plate on subsequent pitches. It differs from the beanball in that the intent is not to hit the batte ...
without racist intent. His family denied that he was a racist, it was just "a movie ploy." There was no fight on the mound afterwards.
The climactic scene in which Robinson hit a home run to clinch the National League pennant for the Dodgers came in the top of the fourth inning of the game; it made the score 1–0, and the Dodgers eventually won 4–2. The Dodgers achieved a tie for the pennant on that day before winning the pennant the next day.
Later life and death
Ostermueller coached in college and built and became the owner-operator of the Diamond Motel in
Quincy, Illinois.
He died on December 17, 1957, aged 50, of
colon cancer.
References
External links
*
1907 births
1957 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from Illinois
Boston Red Sox players
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
St. Louis Browns players
Sportspeople from Quincy, Illinois
Quincy Red Birds players
Wheeling Stogies players
Topeka Jayhawks players
Shawnee Robins players
Rochester Red Wings players
St. Joseph Saints players
Greensboro Patriots players
Toledo Mud Hens players
Deaths from colorectal cancer
Deaths from cancer in Illinois
{{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub