Ray Fosse

Fosse was born in Marion, Illinois, where he grew up listening to the St. Louis Cardinals on the radio.[4] He considered Stan Musial as his favorite player.[4] Fosse played as a catcher for the Marion High School baseball team and was named the team's Most Valuable Player three consecutive years.[1][2] He also played football and basketball in high school.[2] After high school, Fosse attended Southern Illinois University.[3] On June 8, 1965, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the 1965 MLB draft.[5]

Fosse played three seasons in the minor leagues before making his major-league debut with the Indians on September 8, 1967, at the age of 20.[1][6] He returned to the minor leagues for the 1968 season, where he posted a .301 batting average in 103 games for the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League.[6]

Returning to the Indians in 1970, he platooned alongside Duke Sims.[2] In the first half of 1970, he posted a .313 batting average with 16 home runs and 45 runs batted in.[2] He hit in 23 consecutive games beginning June 9, the longest American League (AL) hitting streak since 1961,[2] and was chosen as a reserve for the 1970 All-Star Game by Earl Weaver, the American League manager.[2]

Fosse was a notable participant in the final play of the 1970 All-Star Game, when he was injured in a violent collision with Pete Rose at home plate.[7][8] Initial X-rays revealed no fractures or other damage, but a re-examination the following year found that Fosse had sustained a fractured and separated shoulder, which healed incorrectly, causing chronic pain that never entirely resolved.[9] Rose asserted that he was simply trying to win the game, and that Fosse — who had moved a few feet up the third-base line to receive the throw from Amos Otis[9] — was blocking the plate, but Rose was widely criticized for over-aggressive play in an exhibition game.[9] Fosse went on to play 42 games in the second half of the season, hitting .297 and winning the AL Gold Glove Award.[1]

In 1971, Fosse batted .276 with 12 home runs and 62 runs batted in, but was kicked in his right hand during a brawl against the Detroit Tigers on June 20, sustaining a gash that required five stitches and sidelined him for more than a week.[1][2] When he returned, he tore a ligament in his left hand during an at-bat against Denny McLain, forcing him to miss the 1971 All-Star Game.[2] He did manage to win his second consecutive Gold Glove Award.[10] When Cleveland pitcher Gaylord Perry won the American League Cy Young Award in 1972, he gave Fosse credit for his success: "I've got to split it up and give part, a big part, to my catcher, Ray Fosse. He kept pushing me in games when I didn't have good stuff. He'd come out and show me that big fist of his when I wasn't bearing down the way he thought I should."[2]

In 1973, Fosse was traded along with Jack Heidemann to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Duncan and George Hendrick.[11] He played in 143 games that season, the most of his career, on a team with three 20-game-winning pitchers: Ken Holtzman, Vida Blue, and Catfish Hunter.[12] The Athletics won the AL Western Division pennant by six games over the Kansas City Royals, then defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Championship Series.[13][14] Fosse made his mark in the series, throwing out five would-be base stealers.[2] The Athletics went on to win the World Series against the New York Mets.[15]

The Athletics repeated as world champions in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, but injuries once again plagued Fosse.[2][16] On June 5, he suffered a crushed disc in his neck attempting to break up a clubhouse fight between teammates Reggie Jackson and Billy North,[2] and spent three months on the disabled list. The Athletics won a fifth consecutive division title in 1975, but by then, Gene Tenace had replaced Fosse as the starting catcher.[2] Fosse did participate in a combined no-hitter in the final game of the season, catching for Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers in the final three innings.

The Athletics traded Fosse back to the Indians in 1976[11] where he again became the starting catcher, only to return to the disabled list after a home-plate collision with Jim Rice.[2] When he returned he was platooned with Alan Ashby.[2] Fosse ended the year with a .301 batting average.[1] On May 30, 1977, he caught Dennis Eckersley's no-hitter versus the California Angels.[17][18] Eckersley acknowledged Fosse's contribution to the no-hitter: "Give Fosse a lot of credit too," he said. "He called a helluva game. I think I only shook him off three times."[2] When Jeff Torborg replaced Frank Robinson as manager of the Indians in June 1977, he again placed Fosse in a platoon role with Fred Kendall. In September, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners.[2][11]

After finishing the year with the Mariners, he signed a contract to play for the Milwaukee Brewers,[11] but during spring training, he tripped in a hole while running down the first base line and sustained injuries to his right leg.[2] The most serious injury required the reconstruction of a knee ligament, forcing him to miss the entire season.[2] He came back in 1979, but played in only 19 games; in 1980, he was released at the close of spring training.[2]

In a 12-year MLB career, Fosse played in 924 games, accumulating 758 hits in 2,957 at bats for a .256 career batting average along with 61 home runs and 324 runs batted in.[1] He ended his career with a .986 fielding percentage.[1] Fosse led AL catchers in 1970 with 854 putouts and 48 baserunners caught stealing, and in range factor (7.81).[1] In 1971 he led the league with 73 assists, and in 1973, he led AL catchers in baserunners caught stealing and in caught stealing percentage.[1]

Fosse was a member of two World Series Champion clubs: the 1973 and 1974 A's, and also a member of the inaugural Seattle Mariners team that began playing in 1977.[15][16][19] He won Gold Glove Awards in 1970 and 1971.[10] Fosse was named to the 100 Greatest Cleveland Indians in 2001.[20]

Fosse is a color commentator for the Oakland Athletics on NBC Sports California and occasionally on the A's radio broadcasts when the game is not on television or is on national television.[3] He has served as the color analyst for the Oakland Athletics' radio and television broadcasts since 1986. In 2002, he was nominated for a Ford C. Frick Award.

Fosse has been married to his wife Carol since April 1970.[21] They maintain residences in Oakland, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona.[9]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Retrosheet
• Ray Fosse biography at The Society for American Baseball Research