Though primarily known for his nine years as a Los Angeles Dodger
pitcher, Claude Osteen was closing out a nice 18-year career in 1976,
and I wanted to give him a "Super Veterans" card as part of my "Then and
Now" thread.
Check it out:
Osteen fell just short of 200 wins in his career with 196, as he
posted a 7-16 record with the "South-Siders" in 1975 over 37 starts and
204.1 innings of work.
But he did have a solid career nevertheless, winning 20 games twice
(1969 and 1972), throwing 40 shutouts (with a high of seven in 1969),
and finishing with a 3.30 earned run average, with four seasons posting a
sub-3.00 figure.
Coming over from the Washington Senators in 1965, he must have been
overjoyed becoming a Dodger, teaming up with Don Drysdale and Sandy
Koufax (and soon enough Don Sutton), to form quite the formidable
rotation.
He was part of a World Championship team right off the bat in 1965
as the Dodgers beat the Minnesota Twins, but was also part of the Dodger
team that got swept in the series the following year by the Baltimore
Orioles.
A three-time All-Star, Osteen is also in the top-50 all-time in shutouts and games started (with 488).
