John Oldham (baseball)

John Hardin Oldham (born November 6, 1932) is a former Major League Baseball player who had one of the shortest baseball careers in the history of the game. Oldham batted right and threw left-handed. Although he was a pitcher during all of his professional career, Oldham's only MLB appearance came as a pinch runner for the Cincinnati Redlegs in the 1956 season.

Oldham was signed by the Redlegs out of San Jose State University in 1954 as a pitcher. He spent that season with the minor league Columbia Reds of the South Atlantic League. In 1955, he pitched for the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, where he had a record of 9-6 and an earned run average of 3.84.

He entered a game on September 2, 1956 against the Chicago Cubs in the third inning at Crosley Field in Cincinnati as a pinch runner for Ted Kluszewski, who himself had pinch-hit for third baseman Alex Grammas. The next batter popped out and Oldham was replaced on defense by Rocky Bridges.^[1] Although he pitched for three more seasons in the minor leagues, his MLB career was over.

College

Oldham was a three-year letterwinner at San Jose State University, from 1952 through 1954. A member of the school's Hall of Fame,^[2] Oldham still holds the Spartans' career and single-season records for strikeouts and walks; he also ranks among the school's top ten for career wins, and career and single-season innings pitched.^[3]

References

External links

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