128. the most famous # 15 that I can think of is the late Thurman Munson - he passed away in an airplane crash on August 2, 1979 while practicing landings on an off day when the Yankees did not play.
Oswalt’s Lone Loss
Before Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt took the loss in game 4 of the 2010 National League Championship Series on Wednesday evening, 2002 Versailles High School graduate Craig Stammen was the answer to a trivia question that many people were asking.
Oswalt had a won-loss record of 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA during the regular season after being traded from the Houston Astros on July 29th. The trivia question - Who was the starting pitcher in the game that he lost for Philadelphia before Wednesday night???
Oswalt’s lone regular season loss as a Phillie came on Friday, July 30th at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. The starting pitcher for the Nationals was indeed North Star, Ohio favorite son Craig Stammen as he pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up five hits and a lone run on a Jayson Werth home run to lead off the top of the seventh inning. Stammen recalls the night vividly, “I had all my pitches working for me and threw one of my best games of the year. The Phillies got a two-out hit in the first but that was there only hit in the first three innings. I had a shutout through six innings and I had thrown 89 pitches by the time Coach Riggleman came out to get me.”
According to Stammen, the Phillies are most definitely looked upon throughout the entire National League as having assembled the best team on paper, “Chase Utley did not play the night that I beat them – and his presence makes all the difference for that team.” He added, “Roy Oswalt has really turned up the heat once he hit the middle of September or so. He usually throws his fastball at about 91 to 93 miles per hour, but he has it cranked up to 94 to 96 here lately.”
Stammen’s close friend, Tyler Clippard, came on in the seventh and pitched 1 2/3 innings of no-hit ball and Collin Balester pitched the ninth to help seal the Nationals 8-1 victory. Oswalt went six innings and allowed five runs on seven hits. One of those seven hits belonged to Stammen. He had a third inning line drive to right and came around to score the Nationals second run of the game. He wanted to discuss the hit as much as his pitching, “It was a solid single to right. Bragging rights for the pitching staff are on the line for the pitchers every time you step into the box.” The hit raised Stammen’s batting average for the season to a very respectable .265 at the time. He and veteran pitcher, Livan Hernandez, discuss the topic of hitting as a pitcher just about every day throughout the course of the baseball season. “We let each other know who has more hits on the season almost every day of the season – it is something that we know exactly where we stand at all times”, said Stammen.
Stammen went on to finish his second season for the Nationals (he made his major league debut on May 21, 2009) with a 4-4 record and a 5.13 ERA. He started 19 games for the Nationals while appearing in a total of 35 games. His batting average slipped to .237 for the season after his hit off Oswalt in late July.
The all-time strikeout leader at the University of Dayton is looking forward to some time off in the off-season before starting his training regimen in early December to prepare for when pitchers and catchers report to their Viera, Florida spring training complex in the middle of February.
Before Craig headed out to play a round of golf with a former high school teammate, other topics of discussion which the very likable and extremely humble Stammen spoke about included Adam Dunn and the tremendous amount of support that he receives from his family, friends, and even strangers back home in West Central Ohio. “I really hope that we can sign Adam Dunn to a long term deal – he wants to stay in Washington and especially stay in the National League – he does not want to be a designated hitter. He is a very good person and a lot of fun to play with for 162 games every season.” To me, Adam Dunn seems like he would feel right at home in North Star and the surrounding communities. About the support from back home, Stammen said, “After a good outing, I might get 40 or 50 text messages – many from numbers that I do not know and do not recognize. That is a lot of fun. I just hope people realize that it is very difficult to reply to all of those after a game.” He is very grateful for the overwhelming support and hopes that it continues for many seasons to come.
Here is wishing Craig the best and hoping that he can give Roy Oswalt many more “L’s” in the future!
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