Thomas Joseph "Buck" O'Brien (May 9, 1882 – July 25, 1959) was a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played for the

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

and

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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. O'Brien got a late start in professional baseball. However, as a spitballer, he did have tremendous success for a few years. In 1910, when he was 28 years old, he went 20–10 for Hartford of the Connecticut State League. In 1911, he was 26–7 for the Western League's Denver Grizzlies, leading the league in winning percentage and

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. The Grizzlies won 111 games en route to the league championship."1911 Denver Grizzlies"
. ''minorleaguebaseball.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-27. In September of that year, O'Brien made his major league debut with the Red Sox and went 5–1 with a 0.38 earned run average. The next season, he was in the starting rotation, including the first game ever played at Fenway Park on April 20, 1912.
"Boston Red Sox – 1912 baseballlibrary.com". In 34 starts and 275 innings pitched, O'Brien won 20 games with a 2.58 ERA and 115 strikeouts; he finished in the top 10 in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in all five categories. The Red Sox went 105–47 to win the AL pennant. O'Brien started Game 3 of the 1912 World Series against the New York Giants, but lost. Boston eventually took a 3–1 series lead, with ace pitcher Smokey Joe Wood slated to start Game 6. However, club owner Jimmy McAleer wanted the series to go back to Boston so he could get the gate receipts; he ordered manager Jake Stahl to start O'Brien instead of Wood. Buck, not knowing that he was going to pitch, was hungover the day of the game. He gave up three earned runs in the first inning, and Boston lost. Despite this, the Red Sox ended up defeating the Giants. By the next season, hitters seemed to have O'Brien's spitball figured out. He went 4–9 before being sold to the White Sox, and just one year after winning 20 games, his major league career ended. O'Brien died in Boston at age 77.

Personal life

Buck had five sons, Thomas "Buck" O’Brien, Billy O’Brien who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge, Robert O’Brien (who was killed in an accident as a child), Francis, and John (Bucky) O’Brien. He also had three daughters Rose Moran, Marguerite O’Brien, and Joan Murray. John O’Brien had six children, Jacqueline Levangie (three children Philip, Shannon, and Tara); Kathleen Johnson (one child Sean, and Sean's daughter Calla); Joseph O’Brien (hall of fame member at Boston College for pitching and quarterback, two sons Joseph and Michael), GiGi Green (three sons Joe, Patrick, and Brendan); John O’Brien (three girls Genevieve, KellyRose, and Brenna); and Thomas J. O’Brien (daughter Brehan and son Jake who was captain of BU's basketball team.) Rose Moran had four children, Billy, Brian, Maureen, and Nancy. Joan Murray had three, Peter, Steven, and Christine.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Buck 1882 births 1959 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Boston Red Sox players Chicago White Sox players Evansville River Rats players Hartford Senators players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Baseball players from Boston Baseball players from Brockton, Massachusetts American vaudeville performers Brockton Tigers players