Before Shohei Ohtani, there was Johnny O’Brien.
A star baseball and basketball player in college, O’Brien was drafted into the NBA in 1953. He opted to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates instead, and played 283 of his 339 career MLB games with the Pirates — as both a pitcher and an infielder.
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O’Brien, who died Friday at age 94, was part of a multigenerational MLB family that included his twin brother (and former Pirates teammate) Eddie, and his grandson Riley, currently a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Despite their listed heights of 5-foot-9, the O’Brien twins were star basketball players at Seattle University before they gained fame in MLB. In the 1951-52 season, Johnny O’Brien became the first college player to score 1,000 points in a season, and gained fame by leading Seattle to an unexpected victory over the Harlem Globetrotters.
Both twins had their choice of professional sports. The Milwaukee Hawks drafted Johnny O’Brien in the sixth round of the 1953 draft, then selected Eddie (who died in 2014) in the seventh round. Both signed professional contracts with the Pirates on March 19, 1953 instead, and never played in the NBA.
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The Pirates employed both O’Briens from 1953-58. Though neither was a star, Johnny had the more notable career.
In 89 games as a rookie in 1953, O’Brien slashed .247/.309/.330 while seeing time at shortstop and second base. He missed the 1954 season while serving in the Korean War, then returned to post a solid 1955 campaign, hitting .299/.346/.378.
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Although his playing time decreased in 1956, O’Brien added a notable position to his resume: pitcher.
From 1956-58, O’Brien went 1-3 with a 5.61 ERA in 25 games (one start) while also spending time on the infield. He was the winning pitcher in his second appearance, a scoreless 2.1-inning relief outing against the Philadelphia Phillies.
However, O’Brien did not win another game, and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in June 1958 along with Gene Freese for Dick Schofield and cash.
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O’Brien played just 12 games with the Cardinals before he was selected by the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft in December 1959. However, the Phillies traded O’Brien to the Milwaukee Braves for three players prior to the 1959 season, and he never suited up for Philadelphia.
In his only 44 games with the Braves, O’Brien slashed .198/.271/.259 — and did not appear on the mound — before he was released. That effectively ended his major league career.
O’Brien is survived by his six children and many grandchildren — including Riley, who’s 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in seven games for the Cardinals this season.
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