Blue Moon Odom
| Blue Moon Odom | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | |||
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Born: May 29, 1945 Macon, Georgia |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 5, 1964, for the Kansas City Athletics | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 17, 1976, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 84–85 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.70 | ||
| Strikeouts | 857 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
Johnny Lee "Blue Moon" Odom (born May 29, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a pitcher in Major League Baseball, most notably for the Oakland Athletics. Odom won three consecutive World Series championships with the Athletics in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
Odom was nicknamed Blue Moon in grade-school by a classmate who thought Odom's round face resembled the moon. Odom led Ballard-Hudson High School in Macon, Georgia to two consecutive state championships while amassing a 42-2 record and pitching eight no-hitters. He signed with the Kansas City Athletics upon graduation.
Odom began his professional baseball career with the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League. After one season in Birmingham, he received a September call-up to the Athletics in 1964, and made his major league debut at just nineteen years old on September 5 at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. Odom lasted just two innings against the New York Yankees, giving up a three-run home run in the first inning to Mickey Mantle and surrendered three more runs in the second before giving way to the bullpen.
Odom spent the entire 1965 season with the Lewiston Broncs of the Northwest League. His debut for the Broncs is locally legendary and was one of the most spectacular in baseball history. In the bottom of an inning with no outs, Odom came to the mound in relief. He not only struck out three in a row, he threw all strikes and left the mound to a rousing ovation (from an eye-witness account). For the season, he went 11-14 with a 4.27 earned run average, and led the league in games started (29) and innings pitched (198). He only made one appearance at the major league level all season, pitching one inning and allowing one earned run against the Washington Senators on September 22.
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