Roy Oswalt

Roy Edward Oswalt is a professional baseball player from the United States of America and is considered as one of the legends of pitching at the Houston Astros, a team where he has spent his entire career so far. Oswalt went to the Weir High School where he played football and baseball. It was in football that he made a name then, playing defensive back and wide receiver on the way to helping his team win the state title in his final year in high school.

Oswalt went to the Holmes Community College where, after his freshman year, he was offered a contract and a $50,000 signing fee, by the Houston Astros. Oswalt decided to stick to college for another year, adding some height and weight to his frame, as well as strength to his arms. After his sophomore year, he declared for the 1996 MLB Amateur Draft and was picked in the 23rd round along with a $500,000 signing bonus.

Oswalt, like many others before and after him, began his Astros career at the Rookie League with the Gulf Coast League Astros. After just 5 games, he was called up to play for the Auburn Doubledays in the New York-Penn League. 1998 held a similar pattern for Oswalt, although in his 16 innings pitched for the GCL Astros, Oswalt had 27 strike outs and just one walk. With the Doubledays, Oswalt recorded the fourth-lowest ERA in the league, 2.18, for that season.

Oswalt moved up to the Michigan Battle Cats in 1999, playing in the A-League. During this tenure, Oswalt was suffering from pain in the upper shoulder area of his pitching arm. Convinced that he had torn a muscle, Oswalt decided to take it easy for a while.

One day, while checking the spark plugs on his pick-up truck, Oswalt accidently cause the truck to start by touching the spark plug wire and completing the circuit. Unable to let go of the wire, the current kept passing through his body for almost a minute until his foot finally slipped off the bumper and Oswalt got thrown off. Suddenly, Oswalt’s pain in the shoulder vanished and he hasn’t felt any pain since.

On the baseball field, Oswalt had a club-leading 13 wins in a 13-4 record, striking out 143 batters. 2000 was a good year for Oswalt as he started off with the Kissimmee Cobras and quickly made his way to the Round Rock Express in the AA-League when an injury opened up a roster spot in the Express. Initially, Oswalt was given a round-trip ticket as he was expected to pitch only in a few games. However, 15 strikeouts in his first start meant that the return ticket was cancelled and Oswalt stayed on for 19 games, seeing out the season at Round Rock. Oswalt had a 1.94 ERA and an 11-4 record during his time at Round Rock, striking out 141 batters in 18 starts.

The Round Rock experience brought Oswalt into the notice of the USA national team and Oswalt was part of the team that went to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Oswalt and USA went on to win the Gold Medal, surprising many, while Oswalt just pitched in the Semi-finals against South Korea.

In 2001, Oswalt was no longer with Round Rock as he moved up to the AAA-League to play with the New Orleans Zephyrs. Standing at a 2-3 record after just 5 games, Oswalt was called up to the MLB roster once Wayne Franklin was optioned to the AAA-League, opening up a roster spot.

Oswalt had a sensational rookie season, notching up a 14-3 record and a 2.73 ERA with a second place finish in the Rookie of the Year race for the National League. He was fifth in the race for the Cy Young award and had pitched 24 consecutive scoreless innings through the season.

In 2002, Oswalt ended with a 19-9 record and struck out 208 batters on the way to a 3.01 ERA. He ended tied on fourth for the Cy Young Award but he did manage to set a club record, at the time, of 9 straight winning starts for the Astros.

Injury hit Oswalt in 2003 but that didn’t prevent the master from recording a 10-5 win-loss season in just 21 starts. Oswalt won the Darryl Kile Award presented by the Baseball Writers Association of America to the player who reflects the qualities of decency and character represented by Darryl Kile.

Oswalt bounced back from his injury, in 2004, and went on to create a 20-10 record, the only National League pitcher to record 20 wins that season. His ERA stood at 3.49 while he struck out 206 batters but still ended up third in the Cy Young award behind teammate Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson. His first post-season appearance went 1-0 in 3 starts with a 4.19 ERA. Oswalt had two complete-game shutouts against the Milwaukee Brewers during that season.

By 2005, Oswalt was already a legend to the Astros faithful and if his performance till date had been wonderful, then this would be something over and beyond what he had ever done. In an incredible 241.2 innings, Oswalt struck out 184, walked 48 and got his second 20-win season with a 20-12 record to become the first Astros’ player, since Joe Niekro in 1979-80, to do so. He had a 10-game winning streak added to his 2.94 ERA and was picked for his first MLB All-Star Game as part of the National League team. Chris Carpenter won the Cy Young award that year with Oswalt finishing in the top-5 again. Oswalt won the National League Championship Series MVP award during post-season, going 3-0 in four starts.

2006 was as rosy, if not more, for Oswalt as he went 15-8 on his way to a second All-Star appearance. His league-leading 2.94 ERA made his 166 strikeouts and 38 walks look even better, although he finished fourth again, for the Cy Young award. Oswalt also recorded his 1,000th strikeout in September that year, becoming only the 8th player from the Astros to achieve this feat.

2007 began with a lot of hype around Roy Oswalt as Sports Illustrated rated him at second highest in the Pitcher Player Value Ranking, only behind 2006 Triple Crown winner, Johan Santana. Oswalt was ahead of Brandon Webb and Chris Carpenter, getting rated as the best in the National League. He replaced John Smoltz in the All-Star Game to make a third consecutive appearance in a season where he three 212 innings, had a 14-7 record and a 3.18 ERA with 154 strikeouts. A poor bullpen ruined Oswalt’s record, costing him almost 4 wins that season.

In 2008, despite a poor start to the season, Oswalt fought back in the second half and picked up a 17-10 record at an ERA of 3.54 with 165 strikeouts. He joined an elite club of just 10 pitchers who have won 11-games or more, between 2004 and 2008.

In 2009, Oswalt was picked to represent Team USA at the World Baseball Classic where he played two games. Although he won the team the game against the Netherlands, Oswalt gave away 6 runs against Japan, in the semi-finals, before being pulled out.

In his 30 starts and appearances for the Astros, Oswalt notched up an 8-6 record at a 4.12 ERA, his poorest season performance so far in the MLB.