Richard Allen Bosman (born February 17, 1944) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Washington Senators (1966–71), Texas Rangers (1972–73), Cleveland Indians (1973–75) and Oakland Athletics (1975–76).^[1] Bosman started the final game for the expansion Senators and the first game for the Texas Rangers. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to miss a perfect game due to his own fielding error.^[2]

Baseball career[edit]

Bosman was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1963. Following that season, he was drafted from the Pirates by the San Francisco Giants, and then a year later was drafted again by the Senators.^[3] After another season in the minors, he made his major league debut on June 1, 1966.

Bosman pitched for the Senators, and later the Rangers, for eight seasons. In 1969 he compiled a 14-5 mark and led the league in earned run average (2.19). He reached a career-high 16 victories in 1970, one of which was a one-hit, 1-0 shutout against Minnesota on August 14. César Tovar gave him the Twins only hit, a single.^[4]

Early in the 1973 season, Bosman was traded by the Rangers, along with outfielder Ted Ford, to the Indians for pitcher Steve Dunning. On July 19, 1974, Bosman no-hit the defending World Series Champion Oakland Athletics, a team that would go on to win the 1974 World Series to three-peat after winning the World Series in 1972 and 1973. He missed a rare perfect game due only to his own throwing error in the fourth inning, which gave the A's their lone baserunner in a 4-0 Indians victory.^[5]

The following season, Bosman would be traded to the very team he no-hit, as he was traded by the Indians along with Jim Perry to the A's in exchange for Blue Moon Odom. During the 1975 season, Bosman won 11 games to help Oakland to a division title. He remained with Oakland in 1976, but was released by the A's in spring training of 1977, bringing his baseball career to an end.

Bosman compiled 82 wins, 757 strikeouts, and a 3.67 earned run average.^[1][6] After retiring, he has served as a pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox (1986–87), Rochester Red Wings (1988–91), Baltimore Orioles (1992–94), Texas Rangers (1995–2000), and he has been a coach in the Tampa Bay Rays' system since 2002.

Personal life[edit]

A longtime resident of Pinellas County in Florida, Bosman spends his time rebuilding old cars into hot rods. His daily ride is a fire engine red 1936 Chevy two-door sedan with a 330 horsepower (246 kW) Corvette engine, with cruise control, fuilly air conditioned with power windows. The body and the backseat are the only things '36 on that car. He also has rebuilt about a dozen cars, including a 1946 Chevy he sold to former Devil Rays pitcher Bobby Witt and a 1933 Ford two-door sedan for the left-handed David Wells.^{[citation needed]}

He is the cousin of former MLB player Duane Kuiper.

See also[edit]

Biography portal

• List of Major League Baseball ERA champions

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Sources[edit]

• Robbins, Mike (2004). Ninety Feet from Fame: Close Calls with Baseball Immortality (New York: Carroll & Graf). ISBN 0-7867-1335-6
• Schneider, Russell (2005). The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia, 3d ed. (Champaign, Ill.: Sports Publishing LLC). ISBN 1-58261-840-2