claude osteen (o'steen?) through the mail success!

since i can't seem to find an address for peter o'malley, i will dub claude osteen 'o'steen' for saint patrick's day and celebrate the cards he signed and returned to me last summer.

1971 topps

1972 topps in action

1974 topps

i have had that 1972 in action card for about 31 years or so.  it really fascinated me as a youngster because of the flamingo pose.  i may even have wondered if osteen were missing a leg at some point.  luckily, he was not.  after coming over from the senators in the frank howard trade, osteen was a horse for the dodgers.  he never pitched less than 236.2 innings for the blue, maxing out at 321 in 1969.  over his 9 seasons in la, he won 147 games, including 20 twice, had a 3.09 era and threw 100 complete games.

in the postseason, he pitched better than his 1-2 record would imply, going 21 innings while allowing just 2 earned runs in three starts in the 1965 and 1966 world series.

osteen was traded to the houston astros prior to the 1974 season for jimmy wynn.  he would later pitch for the cardinals and white sox.

thanks gomer!