Tuffy Gosewisch

James Benjamin "Tuffy" Gosewisch (born August 17, 1983), is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners. Prior to beginning his professional career, he played college baseball at Arizona State University. Gosewisch has also competed for the United States national baseball team.

Amateur career Gosewisch attended Horizon High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was named to the All-State team in his senior season. Undrafted out of high school, Gosewisch enrolled at Arizona State University, where he played college baseball for the Arizona State Sun Devils baseball team in the Pacific-10 Conference of NCAA Division I. He was named the Tempe Regional Most Valuable Player in the 2005 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, as the Sun Devils reached the 2005 College World Series. That season, he was named a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the best catcher in NCAA Division I.

Gosewisch played for the United States national baseball team in the 2011 Pan American Games, winning the silver medal. He also appeared in the 2011 Baseball World Cup.

Professional career Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies drafted Gosewisch in the 11th round (337th overall) of the 2005 MLB draft. He made his professional debut with the Batavia Muckdogs of the Low–A New York–Penn League in 2005. He played for the Clearwater Threshers of the High–A Florida State League in 2006, and for the Threshers and the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Single–A South Atlantic League in 2007. He played for the Threshers in 2008, then served as the regular catcher for the Reading Phillies of the Double–A Eastern League from 2009 to 2012 aside from a stint with the Triple–A Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the International League in 2009. The Phillies invited him to spring training in 2012, but assigned him to Lehigh Valley that season.

Toronto Blue Jays On July 31, 2012, the Toronto Blue Jays acquired Gosewisch from the Phillies and assigned him to the Triple–A Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League. He played for Las Vegas for he rest of the season Gosewisch made his major league debut the same day. He got his first major-league hit, a single, in the same game. Arizona optioned him back to Reno on August 26, and later recalled him on September 3 after major league rosters expanded to 40 players. Overall, Gosewisch played in 45 games for Arizona in 2013, batting .178 with three RBI. He played in 38 games before his injury, batting .211 with one home run and 13 RBI. To make room for Hermann to serve as their Opening Day back-up catcher, Arizona optioned Gosewisch to Reno on March 31, two days before the start of the season. On November 30, he signed a one-year contract with the team worth $635,000. The Braves designated him for assignment in January 2017.

On January 26, 2017, the Seattle Mariners claimed Gosewisch off waivers. He began the season with the Triple–A Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. The Mariners called him up on May 5. He went 2-for-28 (.075) in 11 games for Seattle, and the Mariners released him,

Washington Nationals On April 13, 2018, Gosewisch signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals. The Nationals assigned him to the Triple–A Syracuse Chiefs in the International League, for whom he batted .219/.310/.335 with three home runs and 25 RBI across 73 games.

Milwaukee Brewers On December 7, 2018, Gosewisch signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers that included an invitation to spring training. He spent the 2019 season with the Triple–A San Antonio Missions, playing in 49 games and slashing .205/.299/.308 with three home runs and nine RBI. Gosewisch elected free agency following the season on November 4, 2019.

On January 9, 2020, Gosewisch re-signed with the Brewers on a minor league contract. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gosewisch became a free agent on November 2.

In the offseason, Gosewisch retired and joined X10 Capital as the director of baseball relations.

Post-playing career In 2023, Gosewisch was announced as a broadcaster for a series of Spring Training webcasts of Diamondbacks games.

Personal life Gosewisch's father gave him the nickname "Tuffy" when he was six months old, because he was an especially destructive baby. "I used to break my crib and fall out and just keep on going and it wouldn't faze me," recalls Gosewisch.

He met his wife, Kyleyn, at Arizona State.