Raymond Earl Fosse (April 4, 1947 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as an All-Star player for the Cleveland Indians, and then as a two-time World Series champion with the Oakland Athletics dynasty of the early 1970s. He also played for the Seattle Mariners and the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2001, Fosse was voted one of the 100 greatest players in Cleveland Indians' history by a panel of veteran baseball writers, executives and historians. He was named to the Oakland Athletics' 50th-anniversary team in 2018.

Early life and career

Fosse was born in Marion, Illinois, where he grew up listening to the St. Louis Cardinals on the radio. He considered Stan Musial to be his favorite player. 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. 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. Initial X-rays revealed no fractures or other damage, although a re-examination the following year found Fosse had sustained a fractured and separated shoulder, which healed incorrectly, causing chronic pain that was never entirely resolved. 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

Fosse continued to be plagued by injuries in 1971 when he was kicked in his right hand during a brawl against the Detroit Tigers on June 18, sustaining a gash that required five stitches and sidelined him for more than a week. He also posted a .276 batting average and contributed 12 home runs and a career-high 62 runs batted in for the last place Indians. 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. Fosse guided the Athletics pitching staff to the second best team earned run average as well the second most shutouts in the American League as, the Athletics won the AL Western Division pennant by six games over the Kansas City Royals. The Athletics then defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Championship Series. Fosse made his mark in the series, throwing out five would-be base stealers.

The Athletics repeated as world champions in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, but injuries once again plagued Fosse. On June 5, he suffered a crushed disc in his neck attempting to break up a locker room fight between teammates Reggie Jackson and Billy North, and spent three months on the disabled list.

Later career

Fosse returned to the Indians when his contract was sold by the Athletics at the Winter Meetings on December 9, 1975. He again became the starting catcher, only to return to the disabled list after a home-plate collision with Jim Rice. 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."

After finishing the year with the Mariners, he signed a contract to play for the Milwaukee Brewers, He won Gold Glove Awards in 1970 and 1971.

thumb|upright|Fosse in 2012

Television and radio career

From 1986 to 2021, Fosse was a color commentator for the Oakland Athletics on NBC Sports California and occasionally on Athletics radio broadcasts when a game was not on local television.

Personal life and death

Fosse married his wife Carol in April 1970. They maintained residences in Oakland, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona. Fosse died of cancer on October 13, 2021, at the age of 74.

References

  • Ray Fosse biography at The Society for American Baseball Research