{"id":67613,"date":"2024-03-05T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=67613"},"modified":"2024-03-04T20:17:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T01:17:53","slug":"ott-pirates-catcher-passes-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/03\/05\/ott-pirates-catcher-passes-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Ott, Pirates World Series Champion Catcher, Passes Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ed Ott, catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates team that won the 1979 World Series, passed away on Sunday. He was 72. It&#8217;s been a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/29\/larry-demery-pirates-pitcher\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">bad week for former Pirates<\/a> and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/news\/tim-wakefield-wife-stacy-dies-rcna141113\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">their spouses<\/a>. From 1974-81 with the Pirates and California Angels, Ott batted .259\/.311\/.368, 33 HR, and 195 RBI. Ott was known as much for his participation in several baseball brawls as he was for his play on the diamond.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We are saddened today by the passing of Ed Ott.<\/p>\n<p>A beloved member of the Pirates family, Ed spent seven of his eight years in the Major Leagues with the Pirates and was a valued member of our World Series Championship team in 1979.<\/p>\n<p>Our sincere condolences to his wife, Sue,\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/b3tN0ON66u\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/b3tN0ON66u<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pirates\/status\/1764421181208445046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Former Pirates Catcher Ed Ott Passes Away at 72<\/h2>\n<p>The left-handed hitting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/otted01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ed Ott<\/a> was drafted by the Pirates in the 23<sup>rd<\/sup> round of the 1970 June Amateur Draft. Ott began his minor league career as a rifle-armed right fielder who the Pirates eventually converted to a catcher. It was a wise move, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/stargwi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Willie Stargell<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/oliveal01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Al Oliver<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/parkeda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dave Parker<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/z\/ziskri01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Richie Zisk<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clinege01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gene Clines<\/a> patrolling the outfield for the big club, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/morenom01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Omar Moreno<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/armasto01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Armas<\/a> on their way up. Ott made the majors for good in 1976 as a seldom-used third-string catcher behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sanguma01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Manny Sanguill\u00e9n<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dyerdu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Duffy Dyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After the 1976 season, the Pirates traded Sanguill\u00e9n to the Oakland Athletics for manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/tannech01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chuck Tanner<\/a>. Dyer was ticketed to be the starting catcher for the 1977 season. However, after four games, the light-hitting Dyer was 3-for-12. Ott started the fifth game against the Montreal Expos and from then on, Ott and Dyer were a platoon combo. As the left-handed half of the tandem, Ott saw most of the action at catcher for the Pirates.<\/p>\n<h3>&#8220;I&#8217;ll Come and Get You&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>Naturally, Pirates fans missed the popular Sanguill\u00e8n. If they hadn\u2019t warmed up to Ott yet, they were all in on July 8, 1977. The rival Philadelphia Phillies were in Three Rivers Stadium to begin a series with the Pirates, with Ott as catcher. In the seventh inning, Pirates pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kisonbr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bruce Kison<\/a> hit Phillies star slugger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/schmimi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Schmidt<\/a> with an inside pitch. There was no apparent reason to be throwing at Schmidt in that situation. But Kison had a reputation as a guy who threw at batters and Schmidt had just been hit by a pitch for the third time in four games.<\/p>\n<p>As Schmidt walked to first base, he pointed angrily at Kison and said, \u201cNext time that happens, I\u2019ll come and get you!\u201d Kison stepped toward him and replied, \u201cWhy wait till next time?\u201d Schmidt then spiked his batting helmet and charged Kison. After they mixed it up with a few blows, Ott, a former high school wrestler, charged Schmidt, slammed him to the turf, and pinned him there until cooler heads prevailed. When Schmidt finally got up, his face was as red as the Phillies\u2019 logo. The incident fired up the Pirates, who scored four in the eighth and one in the ninth to win, 8-7.<\/p>\n<h3>Upside Down<\/h3>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t long before Ott was fighting again. It was on August 12 in the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets at Three Rivers. In the seventh inning, Ott slid hard into Mets second baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/millafe01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">F\u00e9lix Mill\u00e1n<\/a> to break up a double play. Mill\u00e1n objected to Ott\u2019s slide and hit him on the side of the face with the ball in his hand. Furious, Ott lifted the 172-pound Mill\u00e1n by his upper leg, turned him upside down, and slammed him to the turf, breaking Mill\u00e1n\u2019s collarbone. Both combatants were ejected, although the umpires and even Mill\u00e1n\u2019s teammates saw nothing wrong with Ott\u2019s slide. The Pirates won this one in twelve innings, 6-5. Mill\u00e1n never played in the majors again.<\/p>\n<h3>Clutch Hits<\/h3>\n<p>The Pirates were locked in a tight race with the rival Phillies in 1978. Ott had gotten hot with the bat, raising his average from .236 on August 10 to .269 in the end. Eventually, Ott became the Pirates\u2019 everyday catcher, batting fifth behind Stargell. The Pirates closed the season with a four-game series at home against the Phillies. They also happened to be four games behind the first-place Phillies, needing a four-game sweep to force a one-game playoff.<\/p>\n<p>In the opening game of the series, which was also the first game of a Friday night doubleheader, the teams were tied 4-4 going to the bottom of the ninth. Ott led off with a pop fly into right-center field. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maddoga01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Garry Maddox<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcbriba01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bake McBride<\/a> converged on the ball, then peeled away, allowing it to drop. Hustling all the way, Ott made it into third for a triple. Maddox\u2019s throw went into the Phillies\u2019 dugout, allowing Ott to score the winning run.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ytbeaxMHx4A?si=YUtOxfFvwI2HwR-T\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 1979, Ott was again platooning at catcher for the Pirates, now with rookie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nicosst01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Nicosia<\/a>. En route to a World Series championship, Ott slashed .273\/.314\/.385 with 7 HR and 51 RBI. His finest moment came on August 11 in Philadelphia\u2019s Veterans Stadium, when the Pirates came back from an early 8-0 deficit to win, 14-11. On that day, Ott was 4-for-5 with 5 RBI. In the top of the eighth, Ott came to bat with the bases loaded and two outs against left-handed screwball specialist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcgratu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tug McGraw<\/a>. Rather than counter with Nicosia, Tanner allowed Ott to bat. Tanner never minded left-handed batters against McGraw, feeling they took away the screwball. Ott rewarded Tanner\u2019s faith with a grand slam that caromed violently off the right field fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n<h3>The Hook Slide<\/h3>\n<p>In the 1979 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, Ott was 4-for-12 with 3 RBI. With Baltimore starting left-handers in four games, Nicosia saw most of the action behind the dish. Lost among <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2022\/10\/28\/world-series-mvp-roster\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Stargell\u2019s MVP performance<\/a> was Ott\u2019s main contribution in the Series, in Game Two at Baltimore\u2019s Memorial Stadium. With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth, Ott hit a two-out infield single against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/stanhdo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Don Stanhouse<\/a>. After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garneph01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Phil Garner<\/a> walked, advancing Ott to second, pinch hitter Sanguill\u00e9n (reacquired in 1978) lined a single to right field. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=murraed02,murray005edd&amp;search=Eddie+Murray&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eddie Murray<\/a> sent a strong relay throw home. However, Ott\u2019s brilliant hook slide got around catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dempsri01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rick Dempsey<\/a>\u2019s tag. The 3-2 lead held up when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tekulke01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kent Tekulve<\/a> retired the Orioles in order.<\/p>\n<h3>Pirates Trade Ott<\/h3>\n<p>In the spring of 1981, with prospect catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/penato01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Pe\u00f1a<\/a> deemed ready, the Pirates traded Ott to the California Angels in a controversial deal for first baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompja01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Thompson<\/a>. The Pirates had pre-arranged for Thompson to be immediately flipped to the New York Yankees for first baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/spencji01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jim Spencer<\/a> and cash \u2013 a lot of it. Pirates fans were outraged that their favorite team would even think of trading Thompson for Spencer. General manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/peterha01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hardy Peterson<\/a> explained that Spencer hit left-handed pitching better and fielded better, while Thompson typically hit to the deepest part of the ballpark. However, as was his wont, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the deal because of the amount of cash involved. Soon, Pirates fans discovered that Thompson couldn\u2019t hit left-handers, fielded poorly, and hit to the deepest part of the ballpark.<\/p>\n<h3>Still Fighting<\/h3>\n<p>Meanwhile, with the Angels, Ott was at the center of three bench-clearing brawls with the Oakland Athletics. Oakland\u2019s fiery manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=martibi02,martibi01&amp;search=Billy+Martin&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billy Martin<\/a> singled out Ott as an instigator of each of the altercations. On one occasion, Ott objected to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/henderi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rickey Henderson<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/babitsh01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shooty Babitt<\/a> answering questions that were intended for the umpire. On another, Martin didn\u2019t like Ott\u2019s aggressiveness in blocking home on a suicide squeeze play. There is no record of Ott employing his wrestling moves on any of these occasions. However, it\u2019s easy to imagine he wasn\u2019t a mere spectator.<\/p>\n<p>A torn rotator cuff ended Ott\u2019s major league career after the 1981 season when he was just 29 years old. He joined the Houston Astros as a coach from 1989-93. On April 11, 1991, benches cleared when Cincinnati Reds pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dibblro01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rob Dibble<\/a> threw a pitch behind Houston\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/yeldier01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eric Yelding<\/a>. Soon Dibble was at the bottom of a pile of players in a choke hold, courtesy of \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 coach Ott, a fighter to the end.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ed Ott, catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates team that won the 1979 World Series, passed away on Sunday. He was 72. It&#8217;s been a bad week for former Pirates and even their spouses. From 1974-81 with the Pirates and California Angels, Ott batted .259\/.311\/.368, 33 HR, and 195 RBI. Ott was known as much for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":66267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,2,1071,35],"tags":[3443,5263,332,4211,5452],"class_list":["post-67613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-featured","category-mlb","category-news","tag-billy-martin","tag-chuck-tanner","tag-mike-schmidt","tag-rob-dibble","tag-willie-stargell"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}