By just about any measure, Bob Oldis, who died this past weekend at the age of 97, had a very ordinary, to be kind, major league career, but his death deserves to be noted because he was a part of perhaps the most beloved team in Pittsburgh sports history: the 1960 World Series Champion Pirates.
Oldis spent two seasons with the Pirates, 1960-61, as a third string catcher. In that championship season of 1960, Oldis appeared in only 22 games, had 4 hits in 20 at bats (.200), and had 1 RBI. He appeared in two games in that '60 Series, but had no plate appearances.
His career spanned seven seasons among three different teams, the Senators, Pirates, and Phillies. He appeared in only 135 games and retired with a career batting average of .237. However, he does have one rather cool distinction in his career. In 1962, he threw out Maury Wills attempting to steal second base twice in the same game. He was the only catcher to do that in that season where Wills stole 104 bases, was caught stealing only 13 times, and was the MVP of the National League.
Oldis became the proverbial "baseball lifer" as he spent many years in coaching and scouting, and it was in that capacity that Oldis earned a second World Series from the Marlins in 2003. Oldis also turned up in Pittsburgh whenever there were reunions of the 1960 team.
Only four members of that beloved Pirates championship team remain with us: Roy Face (97), Vernon Law (95), Bob Skinner (94 on October 25), and Bill Mazeroski (89 on September 25).
RIP Bob Oldis.
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