Oscar Carlos Acosta (March 21, 1957 – April 19, 2006) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and pitching coach. After playing five seasons in the minor leagues, he became a minor league coach with several organizations. He had first joined the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

organization in 1996, spending three seasons as the pitching coach at Triple-A Columbus (1996–98). He spent three seasons as a major league pitching coach with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(2000-01) and the Texas Rangers (2002). Acosta and another minor league coach were killed in an automobile accident while working for the Yankees in the Dominican Republic.

Biography

Acosta was born on March 21, 1957, in

Portales, New Mexico Portales is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 12,280 at the 2010 census. Portales is located near the larger city of Clovis, and Cannon Air Force Base, a major contributor to the e ...

. He played in the minors from 1978 to 1982. He debuted with the Helena Phillies, going 0–1 with a 9.00 ERA in five appearances. In 1979, he pitched for the

Peninsula Pilots The Peninsula Pilots are an amateur baseball team in the Coastal Plain League, collegiate summer baseball league. The team plays its home games at the War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, Virginia. The Pilots first started participating in the Coa ...

and had a career year, with a 10–7, 3.04 season. He finished 9th in the Carolina League in ERA. Returning to Peninsula in 1980, he only pitched in 9 games, going 2–0 with a 3.55 ERA, 2 saves and a shutout. He resurfaced in the 1982

Mexican Baseball League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

, posting a 0–3, 6.75 record for the Plataneros de Tabasco to complete his career. Acosta began coaching in the Texas Rangers organization with the

Butte Copper Kings __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word meani ...

in 1988. He coached the

Gastonia Rangers The Gastonia Rangers were a class A minor league baseball team located in Gastonia, North Carolina. The team played first as the Rangers in the Western Carolinas League (1973–1974). In 1983 and 1984, they played as the Gastonia Expos, as an affil ...

(1989), GCL Rangers (1990, 1993),

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

(1991) and

Oklahoma City 89ers Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

(1992). Moving to the

' organization, he then coached the

Daytona Cubs Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Dayt ...

(1994) and GCL Cubs (1995). Next he coached the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

(1996–1998) for the

. He managed the Cubs Class A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Field. The Midwe ...

in the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in 1999, and was then promoted to the major league level, serving as the pitching coach for the

. Acosta was with the Cubs in 2000 and 2001; in his second year, the team's pitching staff reduced its ERA by more than a run and recorded a league-high strikeout total. However, Acosta did not get along well with manager

Don Baylor Don Edward Baylor (June 28, 1949 – August 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and manager. During his 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), Baylor was a power hitter known for standing very close to home plate (" crowding ...

; he resigned after the 2001 season and served as the pitching coach for the Texas Rangers in 2002. Acosta served as international coordinator of instruction as well as manager of the Gulf Coast Yankees of the Yankees' Gulf Coast team in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

since 2004, guiding the team to the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the lo ...

championship in his final two seasons. Acosta resided in Florida. He and a colleague, Humberto Trejo, were killed in an automobile accident on April 19, 2006, while working in the Dominican Republic with the

minor league system. Acosta had a wife and three children. His son, Ryan, was drafted by the Cubs in the 2007 amateur draft.

References

External links

MWL Guide.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acosta, Oscar Chicago Cubs coaches Major League Baseball pitching coaches Minor league baseball coaches Minor league baseball managers Texas Rangers coaches Helena Phillies players Peninsula Pilots players People from Portales, New Mexico Baseball players from New Mexico Road incident deaths in the Dominican Republic 1957 births 2006 deaths Baseball coaches from New Mexico