#570 Claude Osteen - Los Angeles Dodgers

Claude Wilson Osteen
Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  160
Born:  August 9, 1939, Caney Springs, TN
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Redlegs as an amateur free agent, July 2, 1957
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1957, 1959-1961; Washington Senators 1961-1964; Los Angeles Dodgers 1965-1973; Houston Astros 1974; St. Louis Cardinals 1974; Chicago White Sox 1975

Lefty pitcher Claude Osteen made his big league debut in July 1957, a month shy of his 18th birthday, and he'd pitch sparingly for the Reds over the next three-plus seasons.  Dealt to the Senators in September 1961, he was inserted into the team's starting pitching rotation, enjoying moderate success in his four seasons in Washington.  Osteen turned in the first of ten consecutive double digit win seasons in 1964, when he was a 15-game winner.  He developed into an All-Star following his trade to the Dodgers in December 1964 as part of a blockbuster seven-player trade.  Osteen started two games of the 1965 World Series, pitching to a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings and recording a complete game shutout in Game 3.  The Dodgers would down the Twins in seven games.  He'd help pitch the Dodgers back to the World Series in 1966, but the Orioles would sweep his club.

1985 Tastykake Phillies #3

Osteen was an All-Star in 1967, 1970 and 1973 and a 20-game winner in 1969 and 1972.  Osteen's best season came in 1969 when he was 20-15 with a 2.66 ERA, striking out 183 over 321 innings pitched.  He threw 16 complete games that season, including seven shutouts.  Osteen would pitch through the 1975 season before retiring as a player and beginning his second career as a pitching coach.  In 541 games, Osteen was 196-195 with a 3.30 ERA and 1,612 strikeouts with his 40 career shutouts currently 44th on the all-time list.  Osteen would coach in the majors with the Cardinals (1977-1980), Phillies (1982-1988), Rangers (1993) and Dodgers (1999-2000).

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #538

This is the 54th of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March.  We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room.  Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders.  Much to my pleasant surprise, they had.  

This Osteen card was $8 and was one of 49 commons and semi-stars purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.

Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up on this blog by mid-October.  It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.

The Card / Dodgers Team Set
Osteen is hatless and wearing a Senators jersey here.  Dealt with John Kennedy (#119) to the Dodgers on December 4, 1964, Topps was able to reflect both players on their new team.  The back of the card cleverly depicts the big trade in cartoon form and includes all of Osteen's already lengthy minor and major league statistics.

1965 Season
Osteen joined an already dominant Dodgers' starting pitching rotation along with Don Drysdale (#260), Sandy Koufax (#300) and Johnny Podres (#387).  Koufax, Drysdale and Osteen each made at least 40 starts, with Osteen going 15-15 with a 2.79 ERA in 287 innings pitched.  He struck out 162, which was third on the team behind the two future Hall of Famers.  A good fielding pitcher, Osteen led the league with 82 assists, one of four times he'd top all pitchers in that category.  Along with his complete game shutout in Game 3 of the World Series, he also started Game 6, taking the loss after allowing a pair of runs (only one earned) in five innings of work.

Phillies Career
Pat Corrales (#107) was named the new Phillies manager on November 4, 1981, succeeding Dallas Green (#203), and Corrales named Osteen his pitching coach a month later.  Osteen had started his coaching career in 1976 spending one season with the Double-A Reading Phillies.  As the pitching coach for the Phillies, he saw three pitchers win Cy Young Awards - Steve Carlton (#477) in 1982, John Denny in 1983 and Steve Bedrosian in 1987.  Osteen outlasted Corrales, who was let go during the 1983 season, and he served as the pitching coach for Phillies teams managed by Paul Owens, John Felske and Lee Elia.  Osteen left the Phillies following the 1988 season with Darold Knowles (#577) succeeding him as part of the new Nick Leyva regime.

1959 Topps #224

1964 Topps #28

1969 Topps #528

1972 Topps #298

1976 Topps #488

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1959 Topps #224
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17):  1959-1960, 1962-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1992 Fleer ProCards #740

154 - Osteen non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/28/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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