John Eugene O'Donoghue (born October 7, 1939) is an American former

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), ...

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 ...

. He was signed by the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

as an amateur free agent before the 1959 season and pitched for the Athletics (1963–1965),

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

(1966–1967),

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1968), Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers (1969–1970), and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

(1970–1971). During his nine-year major league career, O'Donoghue compiled 39 wins, 377 strikeouts, and a 4.07

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 ...

. At the plate, he was 35-for-206 (.170) with 3 home runs, the first two against

Buster Narum Leslie Ferdinand "Buster" Narum (November 16, 1940 – May 17, 2004) was an American professional baseball player. Listed as tall and , he was a right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles () and Washington ...

and the third off

Denny McLain Dennis Dale McLain (born March 29, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for ten seasons in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher, most prominently as a member of the Detroit Tigers. In 1968, McLain beca ...

Playing career

During his pitching career, O'Donoghue stood tall and weighed . He was primarily a starting pitcher during the first half of his major league career, and almost exclusively a

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather ...

during the second half. From 1963–1967, he started in 93 of his 139 games, and from 1968–1971 relieved in 115 of his 118 games. He struggled greatly during his first four minor league seasons (1959–1962), from rookie ball to Double-A. He had a combined record of 26–39 with an

of 5.54. In 499 innings pitched he had given up 307

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

struck out 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 denote ...

360, and walked 358. In 1963, at the age of 24, it all began to come together. Pitching in the Eastern League and Pacific Coast League, he had a combined record of 14–11 with an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 3.10, leading to his call-up to the pitching-starved Athletics. O'Donoghue made his major league debut on September 29, 1963, the last day of the regular season. He was the starting pitcher in a home game against the Cleveland Indians at Municipal Stadium. He gave up just two runs (one

unearned In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

) in six innings, but was the losing pitcher as Jim "Mudcat" Grant and the Tribe prevailed, 2–1. His first major league career win came on May 12, 1964 at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

. He started and pitched the first seven innings against the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

, giving up two unearned runs, and the A's won by a score of 6–2. John Wyatt saved the game for him with two scoreless innings. O'Donoghue's finest major league effort was against the Detroit Tigers on August 19, 1967. He pitched a one-hit complete game

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 ...

at Tiger Stadium that day, striking out 11 and walking only 2. The Tigers had such players as

Dick McAuliffe Richard John McAuliffe (November 29, 1939 – May 13, 2016) was an American professional baseball shortstop / second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers (1960–73) and Boston Red Sox (1974–75). He was a ...

Al Kaline Albert William Kaline ( ; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. For most of his career, Kali ...

Willie Horton William R. Horton (born August 12, 1951), commonly referred to as "Willie Horton", is an American convicted felon who became notorious for committing violent crimes while on furlough from prison, where he was serving a life sentence without the ...

Bill Freehan William Ashley Freehan (November 29, 1941 – August 19, 2021) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire 15-year career with the Detroit Tigers. The premier catcher in the American League for several years from the 19 ...

Eddie Mathews Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played 17 seasons for Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967– ...

, and Norm Cash in the lineup, but O'Donoghue was almost untouchable. Freehan got the only Tiger hit, a 2nd-inning single, as the Indians won 5–0. Even though O'Donoghue was named to the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

All-Star team in 1965, it probably does not qualify as his best season. He was 9–18 with a 3.95 ERA; the 18 losses tied him for the league lead with

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 ...

pitchers

Bill Monbouquette William Charles Monbouquette (August 11, 1936 – January 25, 2015) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox (1958–65), Detroit Tigers (19 ...

and Dave Morehead. In 1967, he compiled an 8–9 record with a 3.24 ERA and had his lowest career WHIP (1.171). Then, in 1969, he relieved in 55 games for the Seattle Pilots and compiled a 2–2 record with 6 saves and a 2.96 ERA in 70 innings. O'Donoghue was traded along with Gordon Lund by the Indians to the

for Eddie Fisher and minor leaguers Johnny Scruggs and Bob Scott on November 28, 1967. In 1969, the

presented the John O'Donoghue Long Ball Award to pitchers who had given up home runs after games.

Jim Palmer James Alvin Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984). Palmer was the winningest MLB pitcher in the ...

said it was named "in honor of the former Indian who had a tendency to throw fat pitches that ended up getting hit so hard they sometimes didn't land in the same county as the baseball park."

Quotes

*"Getting on the bus to go from the Biltmore Hotel to

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

, O'Donoghue said "Well, boys, here we start our tour of the funny farm." He meant the streets of New York." —

Jim Bouton James Alan Bouton (; March 8, 1939 – July 10, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. Bouton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves between 1 ...

Ball Four ''Ball Four'' is a book written by former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Bouton (1939-2019) in 1970. The book is a diary of Bouton's 1969 season, spent with the Seattle Pilots and then the Houston Astros following a late-season trade. In it, ...

(June 13, 1969) *"We talk a lot about not drawing fans. At the same time most of the players are still telling the fans they'll be fined $50 if they sign any autographs. If some of the guys spent as much time signing autographs as they do shooing kids we'd have a lot more friends around here. Chief kid-shooer is O'Donoghue. He enjoys the work. One of these days he's going to make another

Frank Crosetti Frank Peter Joseph Crosetti (October 4, 1910 – February 11, 2002) was an American baseball shortstop. Nicknamed "The Crow", he spent his entire seventeen-year Major League Baseball playing career with the New York Yankees before becoming a coac ...

." —

(August 22, 1969)

Trivia

*O'Donoghue is the father of former major league pitcher John Preston O'Donoghue. *On July 27, 1966, at Memorial Stadium, he gave up

Larry Haney Wallace Larry Haney (born November 19, 1942) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played from 1966 to 1978 for the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals. Haney late ...

's first major league home run. *Held All-Stars Paul Blair,

Tony Kubek Anthony Christopher Kubek (born October 12, 1935) is an American former professional baseball player and television broadcaster. During his nine-year playing career with the New York Yankees, Kubek played in six World Series in the late 1950s an ...

, Roger Maris,

Rick Monday Robert James "Rick" Monday Jr. (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who now serves as a broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member ...

Boog Powell John Wesley "Boog" Powell (born August 17, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from through , most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dyna ...

Zoilo Versalles Zoilo Casanova Versalles Rodriguez (; December 18, 1939 – June 9, 1995), nicknamed "Zorro", was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball, most notably for the Minnesota Twins. He was the catalyst wh ...

, and

Roy White Roy Hilton White (born December 27, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the New York Yankees between 1965 and 1979. With the Yankees, he won ...

to a .140 collective

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 ...

(19-for-136). *Held Hall of Famers

Luis Aparicio Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel (born April 29, 1934), nicknamed "Little Louie", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from 1956 to 1973 for three American League (AL) teams, m ...

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis Ca ...

Frank Robinson Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both ...

, and Carl Yastrzemski to a .204 collective

(11-for-54).

References

External links

Retrosheet

Bibliography

*1971 ''Baseball Register'' published by ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonoghue, John 1939 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars Baseball players from Kansas City, Missouri Baltimore Orioles players Binghamton Triplets players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cleveland Indians players Dallas Rangers players Kansas City Athletics players Lewiston Broncs players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Montreal Expos players Pocatello Athletics players Portsmouth-Norfolk Tides players Rochester Red Wings players Seattle Pilots players Sioux City Soos players Winnipeg Whips players Missouri Tigers baseball players