Bob Ojeda

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#ff5731
bgcolor2=#003581
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Bob Ojeda
position=Pitcher
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1957|12|17
Los Angeles, California
debutdate=July 13
debutyear=1980
debutteam=Boston Red Sox
finaldate=April 22
finalyear=1994
finalteam=New York Yankees
stat1label=Record
stat1value=115-98
stat2label=Earned Run Average
stat2value=3.65
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=1128
teams=
*Boston Red Sox (by|1980-by|1985)
*New York Mets (by|1986-by|1990)
*Los Angeles Dodgers (by|1991-by|1992)
*Cleveland Indians (by|1993)
*New York Yankees (by|1994)
highlights=
*National League pennant: 1986
*World Series champion: 1986

Robert Michael Ojeda (born December 17, 1957) is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who pitched for the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees, over fifteen seasons. Ojeda was a starting pitcher for the 1986 World Champion Mets. He is also known for being the lone survivor of a March 22, 1993 boating accident that killed fellow Cleveland pitchers, Steve Olin and Tim Crews.

Early career

Ojeda was born in Los Angeles, California and attended Redwood High School in Visalia, California. He attended College of the Sequoias before being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 1978.

In 1979, as a starting pitcher in Winter Haven of the Florida State League, Ojeda went 15-7 in 29 games started earning a promotion to the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox for 1980. With a good earned run average, Ojeda was called up to the majors in July 1980. Shelled in his first few starts, he registered his first victory on 1980-08-02 with six shutout innings against the Texas Rangers. Two starts later, he was removed from a game without getting a single out and was sent back to Pawtucket.

On June 23, 1981, Ojeda was the winning pitcher in the longest professional baseball game in history. The famous game between Pawtucket and the Rochester Red Wings had started on 1981-04-18 but was suspended after 32 innings. Ojeda started the 33rd when play was resumed two months later and got credit for the win when Pawtucket won in the bottom of the inning after just eighteen minutes (the first 32 innings had taken over eight hours). When the 1981 Major League Baseball strike ended, Ojeda's 2.13 ERA earned him a recall to the majors. He responded with a complete game seven-hit victory. This time, his stay in the majors was permanent as he pitched well in all but his last two starts for Boston.

Boston Red Sox

1982 went poorly for Ojeda in his first full season in the majors. After a couple of poor starts in May, he started splitting his time between starting and relief pitching and was shut down in mid-August with an ERA near six.

In 1983, Ojeda turned things around for a Boston team that finished near the bottom of the division. As the fourth starter, he posted a 12-7 record and a 4.04 ERA which were both tops in the rotation. In 1984, Ojeda and Bruce Hurst were the number-one starters and Ojeda posted another twelve wins (to go with twelve losses) which included a Major League lead-tying five shutouts. The Red Sox improved in the standings but Ojeda's numbers – including an ERA again near four – mostly stayed the same.

When 1985 started, the Red Sox were overstocked on starting pitchers, including a young Roger Clemens, so Ojeda was relegated to the bullpen. He pitched so well in that capacity that he was moved back into the rotation at the end of May, but his ERA again ballooned over four, prompting the Red Sox to trade him after the season. The eight-player trade seemed minor at the time but would have repercussions the following year as it sent Ojeda to the New York Mets and Calvin Schiraldi to the Red Sox. Both would play important roles in the 1986 World Series.

New York and a championship

In 1986, Ojeda was fantastic for the Mets almost from day one. Despite starting in the bullpen and then being only the fourth starter, he finished with an 18-5 record, 2.57 ERA (second-best in the league) and 148 strikeouts – all career-bests. He got through the fifth inning in all but two of his starts and allowed zero earned runs in eight different starts. His lone blemish occurred off the field when, on July 19th, he and teammates Ron Darling, Rick Aguilera, and Tim Teufel were arrested outside a bar in Houston, Texas for fighting with security guards (who were also off-duty police officers). All four were released in time for the following game and the worst results were $200 fines but the incident fed into the Mets' reputation as a rowdy crew that season.

The Mets cruised through the 1986 regular season building a double-digit lead before July that only widened in the second half of the season. They lost the first game to the Houston Astros in the 1986 National League Championship Series but Ojeda pitched a complete game to easily win Game 2. He also started Game 6 but quickly gave up three runs in the first inning. The Mets didn't recover until the ninth but won the game in an epic sixteen innings to earn a trip to the World Series. Coincidentally for Ojeda, the Mets' opponents in the World Series were Ojeda's old team, the Boston Red Sox.

The Mets had easily won their division with 108 wins – by far the most in the majors – and won the NLCS in six games. In contrast, the Red Sox won their division by only five-and-a-half games and then had to overcome a three-games-to-one deficit to squeak by the California Angels in the 1986 American League Championship Series. Despite the apparent disparity, the Red Sox shocked the Mets by winning the first two games of the World Series at Shea Stadium. With the Mets back in Boston staring at disaster, Bob Ojeda pitched in Game 3 and cruised to a Series-saving 7-1 victory.

When the Mets' ace, Dwight Gooden, again faltered in Game 5, they needed another big performance in Game 6. They turned to Ojeda again but, this time, he was less than perfect, giving up two early runs. The Mets recovered later to tie and Ojeda left the game with a no-decision. When the Red Sox scored again to take the lead, they turned to the pitcher they traded Ojeda for, Calvin Schiraldi, to close out the World Series. Instead, Schiraldi gave up the lead after just five batters. With another chance to close out the first Boston championship since 1918, Schiraldi let the tenth inning turn into the greatest comeback in World Series history and a legendary nightmare for Bill Buckner and the Red Sox.

Ojeda had surgery in May 1987 and missed most of that season. He pitched well in 1988 but was involved in what some consider one of the most ridiculous accidents in baseball history when he severed the tip of his left middle finger while trimming his hedges in mid-September. After microsurgery to reattach his fingertip (and save his career), he missed the playoffs and the Mets lost the NLCS. Ojeda did not recover well, declining in 1989 and spending most of 1990 pitching out of the bullpen. After 1990, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Hubie Brooks.

End of career and boating accident

In his first season with the Dodgers, Ojeda pitched well as their only left-handed starter. He won an important game in the heat of a pennant race but the Dodgers lost three of their last four games and missed the playoffs. In 1992, his numbers sank some and he became a free agent after the season. (Ojeda was the last left-handed pitcher to start for the Dodgers until five years later.) After six weeks as a free agent, he was signed by the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians were in Winter Haven for spring training on March 22, 1993 when Ojeda went on a boat ride with new teammates Steve Olin and Tim Crews. Crews was legally drunk and it was nearly dark when the boat struck a pier, killing Crews and Olin. It was the first death of active major league players since Thurman Munson in 1979. Ojeda suffered major head lacerations and sat out most of the season to recuperate – both physically and mentally. He attributed his slouch (in his seat) for saving his life. He returned late that season and had a respectable 4.40 ERA in 43 innings. [http://espn.go.com/page2/tvlistings/show155_transcript.html]

Ojeda became a free agent after the 1993 season. He was signed by the New York Yankees for 1994 but pitched poorly in two games and was soon released. He retired as a player soon after.

Post-retirement

Since retiring, Bob Ojeda was out of the public eye until 2001 when he was hired as the pitching coach for Mets A-level Brooklyn Cyclones. After two seasons in Brooklyn, he was promoted to be the pitching coach of the AA Binghamton Mets for by|2003.

In 2003, the major league Mets suffered with terrible pitching throughout the year, resulting in pitching coach Vern Ruhle being fired. While searching for a new coach, Ojeda's name was mentioned as a possibility but the job ultimately went to Rick Peterson who was Mets' manager Art Howe's former coach with the Oakland Athletics. Not long after, Ojeda left the Mets, criticizing the organization as a whole but saying his unsuccessful candidacy for pitching coach was not a factor. [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/story/154055p-135547c.html]

In by|2005, Ojeda was named the pitching coach for the Can-Am League's Worcester Tornadoes under Worcester manager and Ojeda's former batterymate, Rich Gedman, helping the team win the Can-Am championship in its first year. [http://www.worcestertornadoes.com/tornadoes/coaches/?id=527]

Ojeda has a wife, a son and five daughters. They currently reside in Rumson, New Jersey.

External links

* baseball-reference|id=o/ojedabo01