What years did Claude Osteen play?

Claude Osteen played in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1975.

Was Claude Osteen a pitcher?

Yes. Claude Osteen pitched in the major leagues, recording 196 wins and 1612 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Claude Osteen hit?

Claude Osteen hit 8 career home runs with 207 hits.

What teams did Claude Osteen play for?

Claude Osteen played for 6 teams: the Cincinnati Reds (1957, 1959–1961), the Washington Senators (1961–1964), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1965–1973), the Houston Astros (1974), the St. Louis Cardinals (1974), and the Chicago White Sox (1975).

Did Claude Osteen win a Cy Young Award?

No. Claude Osteen did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Claude Osteen win?

Claude Osteen was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were Claude Osteen's career stats?

In 541 games, Claude Osteen went 196-195 with a 3.30 ERA, 1,612 strikeouts, 3,460.1 innings pitched, and 1 saves. At the plate he had 207 hits and 8 home runs.

What position did Claude Osteen play?

Claude Osteen played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Claude Osteen and how much did he weigh?

Claude Osteen was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 160 pounds.

What was Claude Osteen's career ERA?

Claude Osteen finished with a 3.30 career ERA, going 196-195 with 1,612 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Claude Osteen have?

Claude Osteen recorded 1,612 career strikeouts.

Is Claude Osteen in the Hall of Fame?

No. Claude Osteen has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

How many All-Star Games did Claude Osteen make?

Claude Osteen was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

Claude Osteen

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1957-1975)

Claude Osteen was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1975 for 6 teams, including the Cincinnati Reds, a span of 19 seasons. Across 541 career appearances, he went 196-195 with a 3.30 ERA and 1,612 strikeouts. He also batted .188 with 8 home runs. Claude Osteen was a 3-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 14773.6.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 196–195

ERA 3.30

WHIP 1.27

SO 1,612

Pitcher PIV 14773.6

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 5'11" / 160 lb
Born: 8/9/1939 in Caney Springs, TN, USA
MLB Debut: 1957-07-06
Last Game: 1975-09-27
Awards: 3× All-Star

Full name: Claude Wilson Osteen

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Career Pitching Statistics

Claude Osteen — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
196	195	541	488	140	40	1	3460.1	3,471	1,268	249	940	1,612	3.30	14773.6

Career ERA 3.30 vs. league average 3.61 across their career seasons — 8.7% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Claude Osteen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1957	CIN	NL	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	4.0	4	1	3	3	2.25	—	0.0
1959	CIN	NL	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	7.2	11	6	9	3	7.04	—	0.0
1960	CIN	NL	0	1	20	3	0	0	0	48.1	53	27	30	15	5.03	3.82 (-32%)	-1641.0
1961	CIN	NL	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0.1	0	0	0	0	0.00	—	0.0
1961	WS2	AL	1	1	3	3	0	0	0	18.1	14	10	9	14	4.91	4.03 (-22%)	-359.3
1962	WS2	AL	8	13	28	22	7	2	1	150.1	140	61	47	59	3.65	3.96 (+8%)	261.8
1963	WS2	AL	9	14	40	29	8	2	0	212.1	222	79	60	109	3.35	3.46 (+3%)	-1398.2
1964	WS2	AL	15	13	37	36	13	0	0	257.0	256	95	64	133	3.33	3.58 (+7%)	1466.8
1965	LAN	NL	15	15	40	40	9	1	0	287.0	253	89	78	162	2.79	3.50 (+20%)	3064.0
1966	LAN	NL	17	14	39	38	8	3	0	240.1	238	76	65	137	2.85	3.52 (+19%)	5959.8
1967	LAN	NL	17	17	39	39	14	5	0	288.1	298	103	52	152	3.22	3.30 (+3%)	3056.3
1968	LAN	NL	12	18	39	36	5	3	0	253.2	267	87	54	119	3.09	2.98 (-4%)	800.3
1969	LAN	NL	20	15	41	41	16	7	0	321.0	293	95	74	183	2.66	3.61 (+26%)	6915.0
1970	LAN	NL	16	14	37	37	11	4	0	258.2	280	110	52	114	3.83	3.89 (+2%)	1861.0
1971	LAN	NL	14	11	38	38	11	4	0	259.0	262	101	63	109	3.51	3.47 (-1%)	-1036.2
1972	LAN	NL	20	11	33	33	14	4	0	252.0	232	74	69	100	2.64	3.26 (+19%)	-225.6
1973	LAN	NL	16	11	33	33	12	3	0	236.2	227	87	61	86	3.31	3.75 (+12%)	61.6
1974	HOU	NL	9	9	23	21	7	2	0	138.1	158	57	47	45	3.71	3.63 (-2%)	-396.9
1974	SLN	NL	0	2	8	2	0	0	0	22.2	26	11	11	6	4.37	3.63 (-20%)	-255.5
1975	CHA	AL	7	16	37	37	5	0	0	204.1	237	99	92	63	4.36	3.71 (-18%)	-3360.3
Career · 20 seasons			196	195	541	488	140	40	1	3,460.1	3,471	1,268	940	1,612	3.30	—	14,774

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Claude Osteen — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
588	1,099	90	207	31	6	8	76	2	40	291	.188	.217	.249	.467	-4,821

Career AVG .188 vs. league average .251 across their career seasons — 25.0% below league average.

Career OBP .217 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — 31.7% below league average.

Career SLG .249 vs. league average .374 across their career seasons — 33.4% below league average.

Career OPS .467 vs. league average .692 across their career seasons — 32.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Claude Osteen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1957	CIN	NL	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1959	CIN	NL	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1960	CIN	NL	26	12	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	.083	—	—	—	—	0.0
1961	CIN	NL	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1961	WS2	AL	3	7	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1962	WS2	AL	37	48	3	10	1	1	0	2	0	0	10	.208	—	—	—	—	0.0
1963	WS2	AL	49	70	8	12	0	0	1	4	0	4	20	.171	.246 (-30%)	.308 (-30%)	.371 (-42%)	.680 (-37%)	-381.6
1964	WS2	AL	40	90	8	14	4	0	1	7	1	3	34	.156	.250 (-38%)	.312 (-40%)	.377 (-38%)	.690 (-39%)	-568.3
1965	LAN	NL	42	99	6	12	0	1	0	2	0	3	32	.121	.245 (-51%)	.310 (-53%)	.371 (-62%)	.682 (-58%)	-866.8
1966	LAN	NL	39	76	8	16	1	2	1	6	1	5	18	.211	.248 (-15%)	.309 (-16%)	.376 (-16%)	.685 (-16%)	-197.1
1967	LAN	NL	42	101	9	18	3	1	2	9	0	4	22	.178	.242 (-26%)	.306 (-33%)	.357 (-20%)	.663 (-26%)	-429.5
1968	LAN	NL	40	84	4	15	3	0	0	2	0	2	26	.179	.236 (-25%)	.298 (-34%)	.340 (-37%)	.638 (-36%)	-433.9
1969	LAN	NL	44	111	7	24	1	0	1	12	0	5	25	.216	.248 (-13%)	.320 (-23%)	.369 (-32%)	.689 (-28%)	-490.9
1970	LAN	NL	39	93	10	19	5	0	1	9	0	3	20	.204	.253 (-20%)	.325 (-29%)	.385 (-25%)	.711 (-27%)	-423.8
1971	LAN	NL	39	86	7	16	3	0	0	7	0	4	21	.186	.249 (-25%)	.316 (-31%)	.365 (-40%)	.682 (-35%)	-474.5
1972	LAN	NL	36	88	9	24	5	1	1	11	0	5	19	.273	.243 (+12%)	.310 (+3%)	.353 (+9%)	.664 (+6%)	70.8
1973	LAN	NL	33	78	4	12	1	0	0	1	0	2	22	.154	.256 (-40%)	.325 (-46%)	.378 (-56%)	.703 (-51%)	-625.3
1974	HOU	NL	23	46	4	13	4	0	0	3	0	0	10	.283	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	SLN	NL	8	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	CHA	AL	37	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 20 seasons			588	1,099	90	207	31	6	8	76	2	40	291	.188	—	—	—	—	-4,821

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Claude Osteen — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
3	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.200

Playoff Batting by Year

Claude Osteen — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1966	WS	LAN	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
1965	WS	LAN	2	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333

Playoff Career Pitching

Claude Osteen — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	2	3	3	0	21.0	12	2	6	7	0.86

Playoff Pitching by Year

Claude Osteen — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1966	WS	LAN	0	1	1	1	0	7.0	3	1	1	3	1.29
1965	WS	LAN	1	1	2	2	0	14.0	9	1	5	4	0.64

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1129 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Claude Osteen — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	290	523	36	95	2	39	.182
Away	298	576	54	112	6	37	.194

Pitching — Home / Away

Claude Osteen — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	270	1807.0	1779	627	457	852	3.12
Away	271	1653.2	1692	642	483	760	3.49

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Claude Osteen — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1975-09-27	CHW	MIN	—	4.0	5	0	0	0	1	0
1975-09-23	CHW	LAA	—	4.2	8	4	2	1	1	0
1975-09-19	CHW	TEX	L	3.1	8	5	5	2	1	1
1975-09-15	CHW	KCR	L	8.1	6	3	3	6	2	0
1975-09-07	CHW	MIN	L	6.2	9	7	4	4	3	1
1975-09-01	CHW	KCR	L	9.0	8	3	3	1	2	1
1975-08-27	CHW	CLE	W	8.0	4	0	0	2	1	0
1975-08-22	CHW	BOS	L	8.0	6	2	2	1	3	1
1975-08-13	CHW	CLE	—	4.2	8	3	3	3	0	0
1975-08-09	CHW	BAL	L	5.0	6	7	5	3	2	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Claude Osteen — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
P	541	488	159	699	26	37

Season-by-Season Fielding

Claude Osteen — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1957	CIN	P	3	0	0	0	0	0
1959	CIN	P	2	0	0	1	0	0
1960	CIN	P	20	3	0	13	1	0
1961	CIN	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1961	CIN	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1961	WS2	P	3	3	0	3	0	1
1962	WS2	P	28	22	4	30	0	2
1963	WS2	P	40	29	11	30	3	2
1964	WS2	P	37	36	9	51	0	5
1965	LAN	P	40	40	11	82	3	6
1966	LAN	P	39	38	10	49	4	0
1967	LAN	P	39	39	11	53	2	2
1968	LAN	P	39	36	11	50	1	2
1969	LAN	P	41	41	19	69	3	0
1970	LAN	P	37	37	10	40	1	5
1971	LAN	P	38	38	22	66	1	4
1972	LAN	P	33	33	9	40	1	2
1973	LAN	P	33	33	9	53	2	3
1974	HOU	P	23	21	8	23	1	1
1974	SLN	P	8	2	3	5	1	1
1975	CHA	P	37	37	12	41	2	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Claude Osteen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	541
Left Field	1

Award Voting History

Claude Osteen — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1964	Most Valuable Player	AL	30th	2.0	280	0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Claude Osteen (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Claude Osteen

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Claude Osteen: the record in brief

Claude Osteen's major league career runs from a debut on July 6, 1957 to a final game on September 27, 1975. Club by club, the record runs the Cincinnati Redlegs (1957 through 1959), the Cincinnati Reds (1960 through 1961), the Washington Senators (1961 through 1964), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1965 through 1973), the Houston Astros (1974), the St. Louis Cardinals (1974), and the Chicago White Sox (1975). Osteen played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. The bio adds a birth date on August 9, 1939, in Caney Springs, TN, USA and a listed size of 5 feet, 11 inches and 160 pounds. On the record, Claude Osteen was born Claude Wilson Osteen.

Across 541 games (488 starts), Osteen recorded 196 wins against 195 losses with a 3.30 ERA. The totals include 1,612 strikeouts, 140 complete games, and 40 shutouts. The leagues Osteen pitched in allowed 3.61 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 8.7% better than average.

Frequently Asked Questions about Claude Osteen

What years did Claude Osteen play?: Claude Osteen played in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1975.
Was Claude Osteen a pitcher?: Yes. Claude Osteen pitched in the major leagues, recording 196 wins and 1612 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Claude Osteen hit?: Claude Osteen hit 8 career home runs with 207 hits.
What teams did Claude Osteen play for?: Claude Osteen played for 6 teams: the Cincinnati Reds (1957, 1959–1961), the Washington Senators (1961–1964), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1965–1973), the Houston Astros (1974), the St. Louis Cardinals (1974), and the Chicago White Sox (1975).
Did Claude Osteen win a Cy Young Award?: No. Claude Osteen did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Claude Osteen win?: Claude Osteen was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were Claude Osteen's career stats?: In 541 games, Claude Osteen went 196-195 with a 3.30 ERA, 1,612 strikeouts, 3,460.1 innings pitched, and 1 saves. At the plate he had 207 hits and 8 home runs.
What position did Claude Osteen play?: Claude Osteen played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Claude Osteen and how much did he weigh?: Claude Osteen was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 160 pounds.
What was Claude Osteen's career ERA?: Claude Osteen finished with a 3.30 career ERA, going 196-195 with 1,612 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Claude Osteen have?: Claude Osteen recorded 1,612 career strikeouts.
Is Claude Osteen in the Hall of Fame?: No. Claude Osteen has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Claude Osteen make?: Claude Osteen was selected to 3 All-Star Games.