Oscar Gamble

Outfielder / Designated hitter

Born: December 20, 1949 (age 67)
Ramer, Alabama

Batted: Left

Threw: Right

MLB debut

August 27, 1969, for the Chicago Cubs

Last MLB appearance

August 8, 1985, for the Chicago White Sox

MLB statistics

Batting average

.265

Home runs

200

Runs batted in

666

Teams

Oscar Charles Gamble (born December 20, 1949) is a former outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball. He played for 17 seasons, from 1969 to 1985, on seven different teams: the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees on two separate occasions, as well as the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers.

His quote about the Yankees' disorganization and circus-like atmosphere, "They don't think it be like it is, but it do", has also been called one of baseball's "immortal lines" by sportswriter Dan Epstein.

Born in Ramer, Alabama, Gamble was discovered playing baseball in a semi-professional league by legendary Negro League baseball player Buck O'Neil, who was working as a scout for the Chicago Cubs at the time. O'Neil convinced the Cubs to draft Gamble, which they did in the sixteenth round. Gamble played with the Caldwell Cubs of the Pioneer League in 1968 and the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League in 1969, from where he received his call-up to the Chicago Cubs late in the 1969 season.

Nicknamed the Big O by Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto, Gamble was a relatively small man, listed at 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 165 pounds. He still hit 200 career home runs in just over 4500 major league at bats. Oscar's career peaked in 1977 with the White Sox, when he hit 31 home runs and tallied 83 RBI. After an ill-fated, injury-plagued year in San Diego, he returned to the American League in 1979 to hit a career-best .358 batting average, slamming 19 home runs with the Yankees and Rangers. (He did not have enough plate appearances to qualify for the American League batting title.)

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