Then, I watched it. You should too. It's really cool. The fun for Pirates fans begins at the 1:00 mark.
My first reaction: Oh boy! Meet the most evil player in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates!
I think Warner Bros. must have missed the memo stating that only the New York Yankees are
to be used as the embodiment of pure evil in major motion pictures about baseball.
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Who is that pitcher seen beaning Jackie Robinson in the head? Did this really happen?
The trailer provides us with the clue we need. When the pitcher turns his back you can clearly see his jersey #21. It didn't take long to learn the mystery pitcher being portrayed on screen is a real person.
Fritz Ostermueller pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1944-1948. Over those five season the southpaw started 106 games, posting a 49-42 record and a 3.48 ERA. It was the final stop of his 15 year career, that previously included time with Branch Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers.
The actor playing Ostermueller in "42" is Linc Hand. The beaning scene was filmed in Birmingham, Alabama earlier this year. A local newspaper reported on Hand's role, and added a few details on the scene we see in the trailer.
Ostermueller hit Robinson with a pitch early in his groundbreaking rookie season and was also on the mound in June 1947 when Robinson led his team to a 4-2 victory against the Pirates by stealing home.A quick look at Baseball Reference located the first game referenced in the article.
On May 17, 1947, Ostermueller scattered 12 Dodger hits in a complete game shutout victory at Forbes Field. The Pirates scored 4 runs on 4 hits to create the winning margin. The box score shows Robinson went 2-4, and was hit by a pitch, the fourth HPB of the season for him.
Was the incident as violent and mean-spirited as it appears in the "42" trailer? The 2008 book, "Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season", includes the original reporting of the game by the Pittsburgh Courier's Wendell Smith.
...pitcher Fritz Ostermueller threw a fastball up and in. Robinson, unable to duck it in time, raised his arm to protect his face and fell to the ground.
"When the ball hit him a deathly silence hovered over the entire park," Smith wrote. "Jackie was on the ground grimiacing in pain." The Dodger bench emptied as teammates checked to see if he was all right. As soon as Robinson got up and ran to first, some of his teammates began shouting threats at Ostermueller.
Though the taunting was profane, Smith interpreted the Dodgers' attacks on the pitcher as "expressions of their regard for Robinson." Later in the game, Frankie Gustine singled and went to first, where he apologized to Robinson on Ostermueller's behalf. "I'm sure he didn't mean it," Gustine told Robinson, adding that he, too, was happy to see the rookie getting on well in the big leagues.
The trailer seems to indicate that the beaning incident involving Ostermueller is some kind of retaliation against Robinson, but there's nothing I can find to support that being the case.
The box score for the game on the Retrosheet website shows Robinson was hit by the pitch in the top of the first inning, after the Dodgers lead-off man had grounded out. It's Robinson's rookie year, and the first series of the season between the Dodgers and Pirates. Safe to assume, Jackie Robinson and Fritz Ostermueller had never faced one another on the diamond previously. Smith's report also indicates that Ostermueller was apologetic after the incident.
Most of us understand that any movie based on actual events is going to take some liberties with the truth in the interest of pacing or simply telling a better story. However, if Fritz Ostermueller is indeed portrayed as a villain in "42", I wonder if it would have been better to simply make up a fictional name for the Pirates pitcher who beans Robinson.
Honestly, I had never heard the name Fritz Ostermueller until my curiosity about the "42" trailer led me to him. I'm now wondering how much the line between truth and fiction is blurred in this movie. Whether a forgotten, yet successful, Pirates pitcher from the past is having his name dragged back into the spotlight for the wrong reason.
Mr Carlins,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the excellent historical work, I just came back from the movie. I am a big Jackie fan and I had hoped that there would at least be a basis for the Ostermueller incident. I had heard of Ostermueller but I could not have told you a think about him before tonight much less that he perhaps had any history with Jackie Robinson.
Thanks again!!
Thanks for reading. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I just "42" myself and I have a lot of thoughts that I'm hoping to share soon on this blog. In short, I enjoyed it. Seeing Forbes Field on the big screen was a lot more moving than I expected.
DeleteMatt, I have seen the movie "42" and have nothing but the upmost respect for Jackie Robinson. He faced and overcame racial bigotry that I'm not sure many of us could have endured. If it weren't for him I may not have had my other favorite number 21, Roberto Clemente for my baseball hero growing up. But Jackie's story should have been told by actual experiences and not harmful fabricated portions of Fritz Ostermueller's relationship with Jackie Robinson. Just a level 1 google search will tell you Fritz did NOT "bean" Jackie Robinson. I have a newspaper clipping written by Les Biederman, of the Pittsburgh Press-Gazette, who was actually there. Scrapbooks are a wonderful thing. He writes, "Jackie Robinson collected a single to center and beat out a bunt to run his batting streak through 14 games in a row. Osty threw a high inside pitch that caught Robinson on the left wrist in the first inning." Remember it was chronicled by Wendell Smith that Fritz was apologetic, which of course was left out of the movie. Also the actor that portrayed Fritz was right handed. They called Fritz, "Lefty", for a reason. There was no melee on the mound that day. The "revenge" homerun banter was another rewrite of history by screenwriters as Jackie got his first homer off Fritz at Ebbets Field on June 5, 1947...so there was no need for such words in Sept. Not much research done here. No one contacted me or any family member for information and we are not hard to find. Now to further substantiate that this was no more than a veteran pitcher facing a rookie hitter I off the following. In an article titled, "Old Folks Talks on Pitching" the writer starts by saying, "Ever since he joined the Pirates in 1944, Fritz Ostermueller has been one of my favorite baseball people. Not because Fritz can pitch well at an age when most ball players are looking up their pension fund benefits, but because he is gentlemanly, soft-spoken, intelligent and an interesting conversationalist." Then it quotes Fritz, "Just sitting on the bench watching what the other fellows are doing, whether in practice or during a game, will teach you things. Observation, like experience, is a great teacher. By observing other ball players you learn both their strong and weak points. For instance, when the Dodgers were in town I had a chance to study Jackie Robinson before going in to pitch one game. I noticed he crowded the plate and lunged at every pitch. He didn't give the pitcher 'much room'. I didn't like that at all because I want my half of the 'heart' of the plate, and no batter, no matter who he is will crowd me out of my share. I told my wife the night before I pitched I might have trouble with Robinson-that one of my pitches would hit him, if he didn't move back. I knew, too, some people would say it was intentional. It wasn't at all, but in his first trip to the plate I hit him. After that he moved back a couple of inches and showed me some respect. The idea is to keep the batter off balance, besides keeping him guessing as to what you're going to throw next...." Pure baseball..nothing more. Fritz was a good pitcher, a good man and a great Dad. It is hard to defend yourself when you are no longer here and those who knew you best are no longer here but as you said, I AM HERE. And this is for you Dad, with love. Fritz' daughter, Sherrill
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