Batting average .237 Role Baseball player Name Bob Oldis | Runs batted in 22 Home runs 1 | |
Memories of Life in the Major Leagues
Robert Carl Oldis (born January 5, 1928) is a scout for the Miami Marlins of American Major League Baseball and a former professional baseball player and coach.
Oldis was a catcher whose playing career lasted for 15 seasons, 1949–63. The native of Preston, Iowa, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg) and threw and batted right-handed during his active career.
As a Major Leaguer, he appeared in 135 games as a second- or third-string receiver over all or parts of six seasons (1953–55; 1960–63) with the Washington Senators, Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. He was a member of the 1960 World Series champion Pirates that beat the New York Yankees, serving as the club's third catcher behind Smoky Burgess and Hal Smith. Although he got into only 22 games during the 1960 season (three as a starting catcher), Oldis appeared in Games 4 and 5 of the World Series as a defensive replacement, spelling Burgess, but had no plate appearances. However, the Pirates won both contests, and went on to a seven-game upset on Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run.
For his MLB career, Oldis hit .237 with one home run—hit off Pete Richert of the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 9, 1962—along with 22 runs batted in and 56 hits.
Following his playing career, he was a coach for the Phillies (1964–66), Minnesota Twins (1968) and Montreal Expos (1969), and scouted for the Phils and Expos. He has been associated with the Marlins since 2002.
As of December 26, 2016, he was the 98th oldest former living major league player.