Oscar E. "Reddy" Foster (August 1864 – December 19, 1908) was a

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), ...

(MLB) player for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in 1896. His only MLB appearance was on June 3 of that season. He primarily played

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

in his

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

career, which spanned 17 seasons. Foster was a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

as well. He was known for his fiery temper and his heavy drinking. Foster died on December 19, 1908, when he deliberately shot himself in the head with a shotgun.

Early minor league career

Oscar E. Foster, nicknamed Reddy, was born sometime in August 1864 in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. In 1890, he played 27 games as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the Lebanon, Pennsylvania, entry in the Eastern Interstate League. In 27 games, he batted .202 with 12

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, 21

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, 1

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

, 3 triples, 2

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 ...

s, and 9

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

. In 1894, Foster joined the Richmond Crows of the newly-formed Virginia League, excelling at the

position according to baseball historian Frank Russo. No statistics are recorded from his 1894 season. In 1895, he played 102 games, batting .276 with 93 runs scored, 110 hits, 26 doubles, 4 triples, 6 home runs, and 41 stolen bases. He split 1896 between multiple teams. In 51 games for Richmond, he batted .279 with 51 runs scored, 55 hits, 11 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, and 46 stolen bases. Foster also played 59 games for the New York Metropolitans of the Atlantic League, batting .281 with 55 runs scored, 63 hits, 15 doubles, 5 triples, 1 home run, and 40 stolen bases. That gave him a total of 86 stolen bases in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

in 1896.

New York Giants

During the 1896 season, Foster also played in his only

(MLB) game. It was for the

on June 3, when they were playing the

Chicago Colts The following is a North American professional sports league organization, franchise history of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, a charter member of the National League who started play in the National Association of Base Ball Players, ...

at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

. Foster was hitless in his only

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

of the game as Chicago defeated New York by a score of 14–8.

Later minor league career

For 1897, Foster returned to Richmond, this time with the

Richmond Giants The Richmond Giants were an independent semi-pro Negro league baseball team based in Richmond, Indiana that fielded a team in two different seasons. Though their existence was short, several Negro league stars played for the Giants, including Bill ...

of the Atlantic League. In 106 games, he batted .256 with 53 runs scored, 91 hits, 16 doubles, 6 triples, 3 home runs, and 35 stolen bases. He played for the league's

Allentown Peanuts Allentown Peanuts refers to two baseball teams: one that played in the Central League in 1888, and another that played in the Atlantic League from 1898 to 1900. They were based in Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, ...

in 1898, though statistics from this year are unavailable. In 1899, Foster played for three Connecticut League teams. With the Bristol Bell Makers, he batted .304 with 56 runs scored, 94 hits, 19 doubles, 4 triples, 2 home runs, and 21 stolen bases. He also played for the Waterbury Rough Riders and the

New London Whalers The New London Whalers were a minor league baseball team that played in New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New Lon ...

, though his statistics from these teams are not recorded. With these teams, Foster played mainly as a catcher, but he also served as an outfielder, second baseman, and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. The Richmond Blue Birds and the Hampton Crabs both employed Foster during the 1900 campaign. With Richmond, he batted .191 with 16 runs scored, 25 hits, 4 doubles, 0 triples, 0 home runs, and 9 stolen bases in 33 games. He only played 14 games for Hampton, batting .271 with 3 runs scored, 13 hits, 3 doubles, 0 triples, 0 home runs, and 3 stolen bases. Most of these appearances were at the catcher position, though Foster was also used as an outfielder and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

with Richmond. He played for the Tarboro Tartars of the

North Carolina League North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

in 1901. On July 29, his

, Henry Bryan, got the police to arrest Barley Kain, manager of a team located in Darlington, South Carolina, for trying to get Foster to play for his team. Foster's statistics with Tarboro and the

Davenport River Rats Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality * Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta ** District Council of Davenport, former local gover ...

of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, for whom he played in 1902, are unavailable. Foster managed several of his teams, most notably one located in Bluefield, West Virginia. In 1906, he returned as a player with the Norfolk Tars of the Virginia League. Then, he moved to the Portsmouth Truckers of the same league that year, serving as their

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

and catcher. His time with Portsmouth ended after his first baseman dropped a

pickoff In baseball, a pickoff is an act by a pitcher or catcher, throwing a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who is either leading off or about to begin stealing the next base. A pickoff attempt occurs when this thro ...

throw that would have retired the baserunner by several feet. Enraged at his fielder's incompetence, Foster took off his catcher's gear and left the baseball field, never to play again. Statistics from his 1906 season are unavailable.

Temper and alcohol issues

Russo states that Foster "was known as a hard-drinking, rough, and ready ballplayer whose temper usually got the best of him." When his teams lost, he would scream and shout at his wife, Mary, while making ominous gestures. Though it was never confirmed, contemporaries suspected that he sometimes beat her. Mary eventually instructed friends to warn her of the outcome of the game. If the team lost, she would go to a neighbor's home and wait for her husband to get sober.

Death

Foster's alcoholism became more severe after he retired. He engaged in a drinking binge on December 18 and 19, 1908, making suicidal comments to those with him. On December 19, he and friend Lee Polkington wandered down to banks of the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

. Foster carried with him a whiskey bottle and a 12-gauge shotgun, double-barreled and loaded. After taking a drink of whiskey, he said to Polkington, "Watch me do a trick." Putting the shotgun under his chin, he set off the trigger with his foot, dying instantly at the age of 44. Baseball associates of his in the Richmond area were shocked to hear of his suicide. Despite his alcohol issues, he had a great deal of fans and friends. Foster was survived by Mary and their three children: John, Katie, and Julia. He had another son from a previous marriage, Joseph, who survived him as well. Foster was buried at Richmond's Oakwood Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Reddy 1864 births 1908 suicides 19th-century baseball players Allentown Peanuts players Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia Bristol Bell Makers players Burials in Virginia Hampton Crabs players New London Whalers players New York Giants (NL) players New York Metropolitans (minor league) players Richmond Blue Birds players Richmond Bluebirds players Richmond Crows players Richmond Giants players Suicides by firearm in Virginia Waterbury Rough Riders players