Kirt Stanley Ojala (born December 24, 1968) 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 ...

(MLB) left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

from 1997 to 1999, and is remembered for being the pitcher who gave up the 400th career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

Amateur career

Ojala was born in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

, and graduated from

Portage Central High School Portage Central High School (PCHS) is a high school in Portage, Michigan. History The high school has resided in 3 separate building over its history. History 1922-1949 The building of the original high school building was completed in 1922 as ...

and the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. In 1989, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. He was selected by the

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

in the 4th round of the 1990 MLB Draft.

Professional career

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch (baseball), pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from Laminar flow, lamin ...

specialist, Ojala pitched mostly in long relief, although he made 5 starts for the Marlins in 1997 after being called up from the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

,O'Brien, David. "Eight-year Wait Ends For Ojala"
''Sun Sentinel'', Monday, Aug. 18, 1997. Accessed 7/5/2010.] and 13 the following year. On August 23, 1998, he gave up a solo home run to Bonds in the top of the third inning in

Pro Player Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Southeastern United States, located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the Universit ...

, giving Bonds 400 homers for his career."NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP; Milestone For Bonds"
nytimes.com, Sunday, Aug. 24, 1998. Accessed 7/5/2010 On September 16, 1998, Ojala became one of only 50 major league pitchers to strike out four batters in a single inning."4 Strikeouts in 1 inning", baseball-almanac.com. Accessed 7/5/2010.
/ref> He spent time in 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 ...

organization prior to the Marlins. Following his release by Florida, he briefly was a member of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. He finished with a career record of 3 wins and 10 losses and a career batting average of .121.

References

External links

Florida Marlins players Major League Baseball pitchers Knuckleball pitchers Michigan Wolverines baseball players Harwich Mariners players Baseball players from Kalamazoo, Michigan Businesspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan 1968 births Living people Albany-Colonie Yankees players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Calgary Cannons players Charlotte Knights players Columbus Clippers players Indianapolis Indians players Oneonta Yankees players Prince William Cannons players Trenton Thunder players Portage Central High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub

Amateur career

Professional career

See also

References

External links