Ronald John Oester (born May 5, 1956) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

. He played his entire MLB career with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

from 1978 to 1990. He is a native of Cincinnati.

Baseball career

Drafted by the

in the 9th round of the MLB amateur draft, Oester made his debut with the Reds on September 10, 1978, and appeared in his final game on October 3, 1990. He finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1980. Oester was one of the few major leaguers who did not wear batting gloves. He perpetually developed blisters on his hands, and according to teammates, they would develop into deep wounds on his palms. In 1984 Oester had a career best 21 game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pl ...

. In 1985 he had a .295

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, a career high. On July 5, 1987, during a Mets-Reds game at

Riverfront Stadium Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Field from 1996 to 2002, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 Cincinnati Reds season, 1970 through 2002 Cincinna ...

, the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Mookie Wilson William Hayward "Mookie" Wilson (born February 9, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder and coach who played for the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays over 12 major league seasons. He is best remembered as the Met who ...

slid hard into second base during a double-play attempt. During the slide, Oester, who was playing second, collided with Wilson. His cleats got caught in the turf, and he tore his left ACL. Oester did not return to action until July 16, 1988. For his comeback from this injury, Oester earned the Hutch Award. Oester was a member of the Cincinnati Reds team that defeated the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

in the

1990 World Series The 1990 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1990 season. The 87th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the defending champions and heavily favored American League (AL ...

. Although he lost the starting second baseman job to

Mariano Duncan Mariano Duncan Nalasco (born March 13, 1963) is a Dominican former second baseman and shortstop who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and ...

that season, Oester was one of the team's top pinch hitters, hitting .299 that season and going 2-for-4 (.500) in the postseason. His final major league plate appearance was a hit that drove in Joe Oliver in Game 2 of the

, keeping the Reds in the game, a game they would go on to win in 10 innings, 5-4.

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...

described him as "a quiet, efficient player who was always overlooked". Oester ended his career with a

WAR War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

of 10.9 and a batting average of .265.

Post career

In 2001, while serving as the Reds third base coach, Oester was offered the job of manager of the club. As the offer was below the market average, Oester turned it down. Withrow High School, which Oester attended, renovated and renamed its field in honor of him. Oester was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2014

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oester, Ron 1956 births Living people Baseball players from Cincinnati Billings Mustangs players Chattanooga Lookouts managers Chattanooga Lookouts players Cincinnati Reds coaches Cincinnati Reds players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third base coaches Nashville Sounds players Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Trois-Rivières Aigles players

Baseball career

Post career

See also

References

External links