Dan Osinski

Daniel Osinski (November 17, 1933 – September 13, 2013), nicknamed "the Silencer", was an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher. The , right-hander was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before the 1952 season. He played for the Kansas City Athletics, Los Angeles Angels (1962–1964), Milwaukee Braves (1965), Boston Red Sox (1966–1967), Chicago White Sox (1969), and Houston Astros (1970).

Born in Chicago, Osinski played baseball, football, and basketball in high school. He almost attended the United States Naval Academy on a football scholarship, but after flunking his physical, he chose instead to sign a contract with the Indians. He played minor league baseball with them for a few years but was plagued by mononucleosis, which he was diagnosed with in 1955. In 1957, Osinski was drafted by the United States Army, serving at Fort Campbell for two years. Unsure whether he should continue playing baseball or not, Osinski tried out with the White Sox in 1959 and was added to one of their minor league clubs. He focused on serving as a relief pitcher and made his major league debut with the Athletics in 1962. Though he did not last long with the Athletics, Osinski impressed the Angels' general manager while pitching for the minor league Portland Beavers. The Angels acquired him in a trade, and he helped give the team one of the best bullpens in the major leagues in 1962. In 1963, he made 16 starts for the club, though he also appeared in 31 games in relief. He posted a 3.48 earned run average (ERA) used mainly in relief in 1964, then was traded to Milwaukee.

Osinski posted a 2.82 ERA with the Braves in 1965 and also was asked by broadcaster Howard Cosell to demonstrate the spitball on national television. He was traded to the Red Sox in December, with whom he spent the next two seasons. Osinski had the lowest ERA of his career (2.54) in 1967 and pitched in two games in the 1967 World Series, which Boston lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. However, he was released during 1968 spring training and spent the season in the minor leagues. He earned a spot on the White Sox' roster in 1969 and posted a 3.56 ERA in 51 games. In 1970, he began the year with Houston but was assigned to the minor leagues after three games; he retired after the year. Following his baseball career, Osinski owned a restaurant as well a steel fabrication shop in Oak Forest, Illinois. Later, he sold cars in Sun City, Arizona. He died on September 13, 2013.

Early life Osinski was born in Chicago on November 17, 1933, the first child of Anthony and Veronica Osinski. He had one younger sibling, brother Ed.

Career 1952–58: Early minor league career, military service In 1952, Osinski played his first professional season with the Fort Smith Indians of the Class C Western Association. Years later, he recalled facing John Blanchard of the Joplin Miners. "I can remember throwing him a fastball and he hit that thing up the light tower in right-center field. I never had a ball hit that hard off me ever."

Osinski remained at the Class C level in 1953 but this time pitched for the Sherbrooke Indians of the Provincial League. "I remember going swimming [at Lake Magog] one time, and I never got sunburned so bad. And then I had to come back and pitch the next day," Osinski recalled about one of his starts with Sherbrooke. "I had sunburn all over and I just covered myself up with this Noxzema, and I had a wool sweatshirt on, and I went out there. I was loose, don't get me wrong, I got very loose. I walked 17 batters and I still had a shutout going in the eighth inning...I won the ballgame 5-1."

In 1954, Osinski was promoted to the Keokuk Kernels of the Class B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, where he was teammates with Roger Maris, the future New York Yankees star who would be his roommate with three different teams from 1954 to 1955. His season got off to a strong start, meriting him the start for the league's All-Star Game at midseason. However, he pitched poorly in the second half, battling fatigue and ineffectiveness.

Osinski was assigned to the Tulsa Oilers of the Class AA Texas League to begin the 1955 season, but he only pitched in five games for them.

By 1957, Osinski was unsure whether it was worth continuing his baseball career. "At that time I was just thinking about hanging it up. I just wasn't moving at all going from Double A to A, to B again, and then to B again which was not considered as strong a league as the Three-I League. You think, oh, you're done."

Osinski began the 1960 season with the Charleston White Sox of the Class A South Atlantic League. He had a 2.31 ERA in 14 games for them but spent most of the year with the Lincoln Chiefs of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. He pitched in three more games that month, struggled with his control, and was sent down to the minor leagues. First, he pitched for the Albuquerque Dukes of the Texas League, but on May 29, he was transferred to the Portland Beavers of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL). Used often, he posted a 1.06 ERA in a 20-day span where he made 16 appearances; this earned him a selection to the PCL All-Star Team. The PCL All-Stars played an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Angels on July 11, and Fred Haney (the Angels' general manager) was impressed with the right-hander. He joined the Angels three days after the trade and earned his first big league save that day with two scoreless innings in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles at Chavez Ravine Stadium. Then, nine days later, he got his first major league win with a scoreless inning against the Cleveland Indians. After Bo Belinsky allowed three runs in the second inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox on August 15, Osinski entered, stranded a runner on second base, and threw innings of relief, allowing just one run and picking up the victory as the Angels won 5–4. From August 21 through 23, he pitched in all three games of a series against the New York Yankees, losing the game on the 22nd after giving up two runs in innings but winning the game on the 23rd when he threw five scoreless innings of relief as the Angels scored the winning run in the 13th inning. In 33 games for the Angels in his rookie year, Osinski was 6–4 with four saves and an ERA of 2.82. Including his Kansas City statistics, his final ERA was 3.97. After just five games back, Osinski was inserted into the Angels' starting rotation. On June 4, he threw a three-hit shutout, beating the Chicago White Sox 1–0 at Chavez Ravine Stadium. Failing to make it through the first inning after allowing four runs to the Twins on June 8, he made another start on June 10 against his former team, throwing a complete game as the Angels beat the Athletics 13–3. Nine days later, in the first game of a doubleheader, he threw another complete game against the Athletics, limiting them to two runs in a 4–2 victory. He had a 6–5 record and 3.06 ERA through July 11 but was moved back to the bullpen after starting his 13th game that day. For most of the rest of the year, he served as a relief pitcher, though he would make three more starts. In 47 games (16 starts), he had an 8–8 record, four saves, a 3.28 ERA, 100 strikeouts, and 80 walks in innings. On May 29, he threw five shutout innings of relief and struck out 10 batters in a 3–2 loss to the Orioles. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on June 14, he gave up two runs (one earned) in five innings of relief, but the Angels lost 6–5. He threw three shutout innings and picked up a save against Kansas City on June 25 in a 4–3 victory. On August 20, he entered a game against Detroit in the sixth inning and threw four shutout innings, allowing only one hit and picking up the win in a 4–3 victory. He was used to start the last game of the season on October 4 and threw a six-inning shutout in a rain-shortened, 3–0 victory over the Twins. In 47 games, he had a 3–3 record, two saves, a 3.48 ERA, 88 strikeouts, and 39 walks in 93 innings. On October 14, the Angels traded a player to be named later to the Milwaukee Braves for Ron Piche and Phil Roof. The Angels named Osinski as the other player on November 29. This season, he never pitched more than innings in a game. His most memorable moment with the Braves came on July 30. "We're playing the [San Francisco] Giants...and [Bob] Shaw was pitching for the Giants and throwing nothing but spitters. I remember [manager Bobby Bragan] calling the bullpen and asking if anybody down there threw a spitter, and I got elected." The next day, broadcaster Howard Cosell had him demonstrate the spitball to national television on the game's pre-game show. Osinski claimed that after the game, he never had a strike called for him all season. Interestingly, his 1966 Topps baseball card listed his team as the Braves on the front but mentioned the trade to the Red Sox on the back.

Dick Radatz was the main relief pitcher for the Red Sox, but Osinski was expected by manager Billy Herman to provide a strong second option in 1966. Hall of Famer Ted Williams said, "I'd hate to hit against [Osinski]. What a motion he's got. He's got to help this club." In the first game of a doubleheader against Washington on July 4, he threw innings in a 6–4 loss. After September 6, he was not used again by the Red Sox until the 27th, when he was used to start the second game of a doubleheader against the White Sox, Boston's last game of the year. In 44 games (one start), he had a 4–3 record, two saves, a 3.61 ERA, 44 strikeouts, and 28 walks in innings. In his first appearance of the year on April 16, he threw six shutout innings in an 18-inning, 7–6 loss to the Yankees. On May 7, he limited the Twins to one run in five innings of relief, picking up the victory as the Red Sox won 9–6. He threw eight innings over a two-day span on July 28 and July 29 in two losses to the Twins. In 34 games, he had a 3–1 record, two saves, a career-low 2.54 ERA, 38 strikeouts, and 14 walks in innings.

1968–70: Final seasons Despite his low ERA in 1967, Osinski was released by Boston during spring training in 1968; he said later he found out the news not from the team but from a sportswriter. On April 29, the Chicago native was signed by the White Sox and assigned to the Hawaii Islanders of the PCL. He was used heavily by Hawaii, throwing a streak of over 25 scoreless innings in May. For the second time in his career, he was named to the PCL All-Star team at midseason. He allowed a run in two innings on May 11 but picked up the save in a 7–5 victory over Cleveland. On May 16, after Wilbur Wood gave up three runs and allowed the Senators to tie the game in the seventh inning, Osinski entered the game with one out, shut out the Senators for the rest of the game, and got the win as the White Sox prevailed 7–6. On May 22, he gave up a run in innings but picked up another save in a 7–3 victory over Detroit. In 51 games (his total with Hawaii the previous year), he compiled a 5–5 record with two saves, a 3.56 ERA, 27 strikeouts, and 23 walks in innings. It was his final major league appearance, as the Astros optioned him to the Oklahoma City 89ers of the Class AAA American Association on April 22, where he spent the rest of the season. He died in Sun City on September 13, 2013.