James Edward Otten (born July 1, 1951) is a former American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

, a

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

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 appeared in 64 games 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), ...

for the

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 ...

and the

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 ...

between 1974 and 1981. He went to Arizona State University, stood tall and weighed . Otten was selected by the White Sox in the second round (45th overall) of the 1973 Major League Baseball Draft. He was recalled in , a season during which he posted a 13–5 record with the White Sox' two highest farm clubs. He worked in five games (four in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

) for the 1974 ChiSox, then briefly appeared in two games each as a reliever for the 1975–1976 White Sox during subsequent recalls from the minors. After spending all of 1977 at Triple-A, he was traded that December to the Cardinals' organization. The Cardinals promoted him from their top affiliate, the Springfield Redbirds, in May 1980 and he worked in 55 games for St. Louis during the next two seasons. He earned his only MLB victory on May 14, 1981, when he pitched a scoreless eighth inning of relief against the Houston Astros. When he entered the game, the Cardinals trailed 6–3, but in the top of the ninth inning, they rallied for four runs to take the lead, and Baseball Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter nailed down the save for a 7–6 St. Louis triumph. As a Major Leaguer, Otten allowed 150 hits and 67 bases on balls in 118⅔ innings pitched, with 75 strikeouts. Of his 64 appearances, all but five came in relief.

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1951 births Living people Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Montana Chicago White Sox players Denver Bears players Knoxville Sox players Iowa Oaks players Major League Baseball pitchers Mesa Thunderbirds baseball players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Springfield Redbirds players People from Lewistown, Montana {{US-baseball-bio-stub