John Joseph O'Brien (February 5, 1873 – June 10, 1933) was 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 catch ...

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 ...

. Between

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

and , O'Brien played with the Washington Senators in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(1899), and for the Washington Senators (1901), Cleveland Blues (1901), and

Boston Americans 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 ...

(1903) of 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 ...

. A native of Watervliet, New York, he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. O'Brien spent part of two seasons with the Washington teams and Cleveland before moving to Boston. His most productive season came in 1899 as a rookie, he posted hit .282 and reached career-highs in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s (6), RBI (51), runs (68),

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions 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 out ...

s (17) and

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. Associat ...

(127). But he is best remembered as the first player to pinch-hit in a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

game, when he struck out for Boston catcher Lou Criger in the 9th inning of Game One of the 1903 series against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He was a .259 hitter in 326 games, including nine home runs with 133 RBI and 171 runs. O'Brien died his homeland of Watervliet at the age of 60.

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Boston Americans players Cleveland Blues (1901) players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Washington Senators (1891–1899) players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Albany County, New York People from Watervliet, New York 1873 births 1933 deaths Rochester Browns players Troy Trojans (minor league) players Rochester Blackbirds players Scranton Miners players Scranton Red Sox players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Marion Glass Blowers players Milwaukee Creams players Newark Sailors players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Burials at St. Agnes Cemetery {{US-baseball-outfielder-1870s-stub