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

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

, pitching seven seasons for them, chiefly as a starter. On December 3, 1940, he was sold to the

, 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