Saturday, July 29, 2006

Featured Player: Oscar Gamble

Oscar Charles Gamble (born December 20, 1949 in Ramer, Alabama) is a former outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball. He played for 17 seasons, from 1969 to 1985, on 7 different teams: the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees on two separate occasions, as well as the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers.

A relatively small man, listed at 5 feet 11 inches tall and 165 pounds, Oscar hit 200 career home runs in just over 4,500 major league at bats, an impressive ratio for the era he played in. A deadly left-handed pull-hitter against right-handed pitching, Oscar's career peaked in 1977 with the White Sox, when he hit 31 Home runs and tallied 83 RBI. After an ill-fated, injury-plagued year in San Diego, he returned to the American League in 1979 to hit a career-best .358 batting average, slamming 19 home runs with the Yankees and Rangers. (His 274 at bats were not enough to qualify him for the American League batting title.)

Unlike some players who failed to cope with the New York media, Oscar thrived on it, and was always a favorite with sportswriters.

Gamble, whose hitting prowess was overshadowed by his famously-large afro hair, has the distinction of logging the last hit and RBI at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium on October 1, 1970. His 10th inning single gave his Phillies the 2-1 win in the stadium's final game. Coincidentally, that feat was also overshadowed as unruly fans stormed the field during and after the game to claim bases, infield dirt, seats, and other various stadium items.

In 1976, Gamble helped the Yankees return to prominence as the "Bronx Bombers" won their first American League pennant in 12 seasons, hitting 17 Home runs and 57 RBI. Arguably, his left-handed power stroke was ideal for the renowned short right field fence at Yankee Stadium. He would later settle into a limited role with the team, as he once again aided the Yankees to an AL East division title in 1980 and a World Series appearance in 1981.

Notably, Gamble also finished with more career walks (610) than strikeouts (546).


Add to RootZoo
BallHype: hype it up! Posted by Steve Kenul at 3:33 PM

1 Comments

  • Anonymous Anonymous posted at 4:16 PM  
    Whatcha doin Yanks? And why aren't there any pics of you in your mankini??
  • Post a Comment

    « Home

    Sponsors

    By far, the online casino reviews can be found at Jaxcasinos.com. Looking for a top online sports betting website? Try Sportsbetting3.com. When Pro football starts, look to NFL-betting.com for the best NFL betting news and information. At the end of the season, enjoy first class SuperBowl betting by joining our top sportsbook sites.

    Blogging Sponsorships

    If you would like to sponser on this site, contact:
    bronxbloggers@yahoo.com

    Vote 2008 Bloggers Choice Awards

    Scores

    Baseball Terminology

    Terms and Abbreviations

    Front Office

    Owner [-]
    Bio [-]
    Name:
    Location: Plainview, New York, United States

    I have, and always will be, a true Yankees fan. Don't give me that bandwagon crap; bandwagon fans are for people who need to belong.

    Public Relations [â??]
    Enter your email address below to subscribe to Bronx Bloggers!


    powered by Bloglet

    Links





    The Bandwagon

    Kokoyaku
    RetroSheet
    Baseball Reference
    SABR
    National Baseball HoF
    Yankees Official Site
    SportsWorld NY
    A Must Read
    Cheating Barry
    CGBB
    Live Soccer Streaming
    Yankees-Chick
    The Sports Flow
    The Sports Hernia
    Sports Blog Directory
    BernieWilliams.net
    Big Reds Blogger
    Sport For People
    SportsBlog NY
    Sports Betting
    Smarter Sports Blog
    BigFlySports.com
    Sport Blog Man
    Don Mattingly Online - The Official Website!

    The Back Page

    Attendance

    Web Page Hit Counters eXTReMe Tracker

    Disclosure statement
    Creative Commons License
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.