1960
Born May 1, 1960
Tulsa, OK, USA
Charlie O'Brien Marquee
b. May 1, 1960 · Oakland Athletics 1985, Milwaukee Brewers 1987–1990, New York Mets 1990–1993, Atlanta Braves 1994–1995, Toronto Blue Jays 1996–1997, Chicago White Sox 1998, Anaheim Angels 1998–1999, Montreal Expos 2000
O'Brien received his largest workload with Toronto in 1996 and set career highs across the board. In 109 games he collected 77 hits, hit 13 home runs, drove in 44 and scored 33 while batting .238.
Fifteen seasons gave him 493 hits, 119 doubles, 56 home runs, 261 runs batted in and a .221 average across 800 games. He caught 782 of them and did not appear at another fielding position. His playing time came through specialized work behind the plate rather than offensive production.
Oakland brought O'Brien up for 16 games in 1985, and he returned with Milwaukee in 1987 after a year outside the majors. He later played for the Mets, Atlanta and Toronto, then moved from the White Sox to Anaheim during 1998. Nine final games for Montreal in 2000 completed a career with eight organizations.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | OAK | 16 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .273 |
| 1987 | MIL | 10 | 35 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | .200 |
| 1988 | MIL | 40 | 118 | 12 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 0 | .220 |
| 1989 | MIL | 62 | 188 | 22 | 44 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 35 | 21 | 11 | 0 | .234 |
| 1990 | MIL/NYM | 74 | 213 | 17 | 38 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 21 | 34 | 0 | .178 |
| 1991 | NYM | 69 | 168 | 16 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 17 | 25 | 0 | .185 |
| 1992 | NYM | 68 | 156 | 15 | 33 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 0 | .212 |
| 1993 | NYM | 67 | 188 | 15 | 48 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 14 | 14 | 1 | .255 |
| 1994 | ATL | 51 | 152 | 24 | 37 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 15 | 24 | 0 | .243 |
| 1995 | ATL | 67 | 198 | 18 | 45 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 23 | 29 | 40 | 0 | .227 |
| 1996 | TOR | 109 | 324 | 33 | 77 | 17 | 0 | 13 | 44 | 29 | 68 | 0 | .238 |
| 1997 | TOR | 69 | 225 | 22 | 49 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 22 | 45 | 0 | .218 |
| 1998 | ANA/CHW | 62 | 175 | 13 | 45 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 10 | 33 | 0 | .257 |
| 1999 | ANA | 27 | 62 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .097 |
| 2000 | MON | 9 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .211 |
| Career | — | 800 | 2232 | 216 | 493 | 119 | 4 | 56 | 261 | 209 | 354 | 1 | .221 |
On this day & linked events
1985
Major-league debut: Charlie O'Brien
Charlie O'Brien made a major-league debut on June 2, 1985.
2000
Final major-league game: Charlie O'Brien
Charlie O'Brien played a final major-league game on June 21, 2000.
Image: Milwaukee Brewers, public domain