I saw a report that Ray Fosse passed away after a sixteen-year battle with cancer that he only revealed on August 5th of this year when he had to step away from his announcing job to concentrate on his treatments. That says everything about this man, it seemed like it was never about him.
Ray Fosse was born on April 4, 1947, and passed away on October 13, 2021, at the age of 74. He was born in Marion, Illinois. In his youth he became of fan of the Cardinals, listening to them on the radio. Fosse was a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball and of course a catcher on the baseball team. He attended Southern Illinois University and was drafted by Cleveland Indians in the first round of the 1965 draft.
Ray made his MLB debut on September 8, 1967, for the Indians and his last MLB appearance was for the Milwaukee Brewers on September 30, 1979. He played for Cleveland from 1967 through 1972, the Oakland Athletics from 1973 through 1975, back to Cleveland in 1976 and ’77, to the Seattle Mariners in 1977, then the Milwaukee Brewers in 1978 (sitting out the whole season with a knee injury) through 1979. He was released in 1980 at the end of spring training and retired.
Ray was a 6-foot, 2-inch catcher who played at 214lbs. He threw and batted right-handed. His 12-year, 924 game career batting average was .256, he had 61 career home runs, had 324 runs batted in with a .301 on base percentage. Defensively is career fielding percentage being .986. Fosse was a two time All-Star (1970 and 1971), won two Gold Gloves (1970 and 1971) and was on two World Series Championship teams with the Oakland Athletics (1973 and 1974). He had a solid career that unfortunately was marred by frequent injuries.
Probably the most “famous” of these injuries occurred on the last play of the 1970 All-Star game. He was involved in a collision blocking the plate while taking a throw. The initial examination and x-rays didn’t show any damage. But due to continued pain the following year, it was determined that he had in fact separated the shoulder and sustained a fracture when it was re-examined; due to the length of time that transpired, the injury didn’t heal properly. Fosse endured chronic pain that never was resolved through out the rest of his career and life.
After his retirement he eventually became a colour commentator for the Oakland Athletics television broadcasts and did occasional radio games if the A’s were not being televised. He held this position from 1986 until 2021. He was beloved by the A’s fans and his tv broadcast partner Glen Kuiper and Ken Korach on the radio. Fosse took pride in his broadcasts, and his respect and love of baseball as well as the Athletics’ organization always shone through. Below are some tweets that show how his peers and folks felt about him.
I’d have to agree, retire his number!
I remember watching him in the 1970 All-Star game and later with the A’s during their championship runs. He did his job and he did it well. He was a baseball “lifer” and will be missed. Rest in Peace Ray…
~ Coach Mike
Please feel free to share this post and site with your family, friends and 50 complete strangers if you like.
Sad. He apparently was a classy guy. And had a great career on the field and in the booth.