Peter Michael "Pete" O'Brien (born February 9, 1958) is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Texas Rangers (

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

– 88), Cleveland Indians (

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

), and Seattle Mariners (

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

– 93). He batted and threw left-handed.

Early years

Born in Santa Monica, California, he was the youngest of seven children of Jimmy and Janice O'Brien. Raised in the Pebble Beach / Monterey area, O'Brien graduated from Carmel High School in 1976. Neither drafted nor offered a scholarship out of high school, he played a year at Monterey Peninsula College and transferred to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, then in the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

. After his junior season in 1979, he was selected in the fifteenth round (381st overall) of the amateur draft by the Texas Rangers.

Playing career

Play at first base (3863775870) (cropped)

O'Brien made his major league debut with the Rangers in September

at age 24 and won the starting job in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. Following the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

season, he was part of a multi-player trade to the Cleveland Indians for

Julio Franco Julio César Franco Robles (born August 23, 1958)Franco's birth date is in question. Many of his early bios and cards have his birthday listed in 1954, and on the roster of the Quintana Roo Tigres, his birthday is listed in 1961. is a Dominica ...

, where O'Brien spent the

season. In December 1989, he was the first free agent signed by the new ownership group of the Seattle Mariners, headed by

Jeff Smulyan Jeffrey Howard Smulyan (born April 6, 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is the founder and chief executive officer of Emmis Communications. Early life and education Smulyan is the son of Natalie and Sam Smulyan. He has one brother and one sister. H ...

. The Mariners had the lowest payroll in the majors the previous season at $7.6 million; O'Brien's deal was for $7.6 million over four years. Known for his defense, he took over as the regular first baseman for Alvin Davis, who became the designated hitter. In the final year of his contract in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

at age 35, O'Brien was primarily a designated hitter, as Tino Martinez had taken over at first base. Forewarned by new manager Lou Piniella, the well-liked veteran was released on July 21 to make room on the roster for the returning

Edgar Martínez Edgar Martínez (born January 2, 1963), nicknamed "Gar" and "Papi", is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a designated hitter and third baseman for the Seattle Mariners from 19 ...

. In a twelve-season career in 1,567

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, O'Brien posted a .261 batting average, 169 home runs, and 736

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

. His season highs were .290 in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, 23 home runs in 1986 &

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, and 92 RBI in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Personal

The fathers of O'Brien and peer Kent Hrbek, first baseman of the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, were afflicted with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

(ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease) while their sons were playing in the major leagues.

References

External links

Baseball AlmanacBaseball LibraryUniversity of Nebraska Athletics
– Pete O'Brien {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Pete 1958 births Living people Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players Major League Baseball first basemen Baseball players from Santa Monica, California Texas Rangers players Cleveland Indians players Seattle Mariners players Denver Bears players Gulf Coast Rangers players Tulsa Drillers players Asheville Tourists players