1907
Born September 15, 1907
Quincy, IL, USA
Fritz Ostermueller Marquee
b. September 15, 1907 · Boston Red Sox 1934–1940, St. Louis Browns 1941–1943, Brooklyn Dodgers 1943–1944, Pittsburgh Pirates 1944–1948
Fritz Ostermueller pitched fifteen seasons and 2,067 innings, mostly for clubs going nowhere: seven years with Boston Red Sox teams stuck behind the Yankees, three with the St. Louis Browns, and a productive late run in Pittsburgh where he won thirteen games in 1947 at thirty-nine.
He is now most widely known through a film. The 2013 picture 42 casts him as the pitcher who threw at Jackie Robinson's head, a portrayal his family disputed on the grounds that the pitch in question hit Robinson in the arm and that Ostermueller's own record does not support the characterisation.
Born in Quincy, Illinois in 1907, he finished 114-115 with 113 complete games. He was fifty at his death, in December 1957.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | BOS | 33 | 78 | 4 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .167 |
| 1935 | BOS | 22 | 49 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 |
| 1936 | BOS | 43 | 64 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .234 |
| 1937 | BOS | 25 | 33 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| 1938 | BOS | 33 | 74 | 7 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .216 |
| 1939 | BOS | 34 | 56 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .161 |
| 1940 | BOS | 33 | 54 | 9 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .315 |
| 1941 | SLB | 16 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .214 |
| 1942 | SLB | 10 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .188 |
| 1943 | BRO/SLB | 19 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .111 |
| 1944 | BRO/PIT | 40 | 93 | 7 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 1 | .237 |
| 1945 | PIT | 14 | 28 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .321 |
| 1946 | PIT | 28 | 64 | 7 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 0 | .328 |
| 1947 | PIT | 26 | 64 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 0 | .188 |
| 1948 | PIT | 23 | 44 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .182 |
| Career | — | 399 | 749 | 60 | 175 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 62 | 35 | 80 | 1 | .234 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | BOS | 10 | 13 | 33 | 23 | 3 | 198.2 | 200 | 77 | 99 | 75 | 3.49 |
| 1935 | BOS | 7 | 8 | 22 | 19 | 1 | 137.2 | 135 | 60 | 78 | 41 | 3.92 |
| 1936 | BOS | 10 | 16 | 43 | 23 | 2 | 180.2 | 210 | 98 | 84 | 90 | 4.88 |
| 1937 | BOS | 3 | 7 | 25 | 7 | 1 | 86.2 | 101 | 48 | 44 | 29 | 4.98 |
| 1938 | BOS | 13 | 5 | 31 | 18 | 2 | 176.2 | 199 | 90 | 58 | 46 | 4.58 |
| 1939 | BOS | 11 | 7 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 159.1 | 173 | 75 | 58 | 61 | 4.24 |
| 1940 | BOS | 5 | 9 | 31 | 16 | 0 | 143.2 | 166 | 79 | 70 | 80 | 4.95 |
| 1941 | SLB | 0 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 46.0 | 45 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 4.50 |
| 1942 | SLB | 3 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 43.2 | 46 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 3.71 |
| 1943 | BRO/SLB | 1 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 56.0 | 57 | 26 | 25 | 19 | 4.18 |
| 1944 | BRO/PIT | 13 | 8 | 38 | 28 | 2 | 246.1 | 247 | 77 | 77 | 97 | 2.81 |
| 1945 | PIT | 5 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 80.2 | 74 | 41 | 37 | 29 | 4.57 |
| 1946 | PIT | 13 | 10 | 27 | 25 | 0 | 193.1 | 193 | 61 | 56 | 57 | 2.84 |
| 1947 | PIT | 12 | 10 | 26 | 24 | 0 | 183.0 | 181 | 78 | 68 | 66 | 3.84 |
| 1948 | PIT | 8 | 11 | 23 | 22 | 0 | 134.1 | 143 | 66 | 41 | 43 | 4.42 |
| Career | — | 114 | 115 | 390 | 246 | 15 | 2066.2 | 2170 | 917 | 835 | 774 | 3.99 |
On this day & linked events
1957
Died December 17, 1957
1934
Major-league debut: Fritz Ostermueller
Fritz Ostermueller made a major-league debut on April 21, 1934.
1944
Jim Tobin's No-Hitter
Jim Tobin threw a no-hitter for the Boston Braves against the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 27, 1944, winning 2–0.
1948
Final major-league game: Fritz Ostermueller
Fritz Ostermueller played a final major-league game on September 30, 1948.
Image: Goudey, public domain