Former pro player reminisces on baseball's past and present

Name: Ed Ott (Retired Major League Baseball player)
Age: 58
Major League experience: Played parts of eight seasons, mainly as a catcher – seven seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, one for the (then) California Angels. Ott also coached in the Pirates’ minor league system.
Local connection: Ott moved to Forest three years ago, after living for several years in Texas. He previously lived in Huddleston, where he helped relatives run a sporting club in the 1980s and ‘90s.

How did you get started in baseball?

“I think I started baseball when I was about 4 or 5 years old.”

“I watched my brothers grow up playing baseball, and actually I was like the bat boy,” he said, for his brothers’ baseball and softball teams.

“I’ve been involved in it since I was like knee-high to a grasshopper.”

What is your favorite memory?

“I think the seventh game of the (1979) World Series, when we finally won it.”

Ott was not playing in that game, but he said the experience was unforgettable.

“That ballclub was just strictly a unit,” he said. “That was the closest-knit 25 guys I’ve ever been involved with for a full season. Everybody on that ballclub contributed to our success.”

What are the differences between baseball when you played and baseball now?

“I don’t even watch it. I’d break my TV.”

Ott said the overriding emphasis on offense has diminished a focus on defense.

“I can’t stand outfielders missing cutoff men by 15 feet, missing home plate by 40 feet,” he said, adding, “Ray Charles wouldn’t miss home plate by 40 feet.”

Also, he said, high payrolls are creating huge amounts of pressure on the players and changing their attitude toward the game.

“The problem is they don’t care about the sport of baseball. It’s, ‘what can I earn, and how long can I earn it for?’

“Everything has changed. The ownership has changed, players have changed, the game has changed.”

What are the similarities?

“There are still nine guys on the field.”

If you had advice for kids wanting to get involved in baseball, what would it be?

“You’ve just got to dedicate yourself. Dedicate yourself to the sport of baseball.”

Ott also said youth should try to make themselves as complete players as possible.

“Unfortunately kids nowadays don’t realize that it’s a two-sport sport. It’s an offense and a defense,” he said.

Interesting note:

“I think I was the only manager ever to take Barry Bonds out of a game,” Ott said, referring to a time when the slugger was playing for the single-A Prince William team in the Carolina League.

Ott said Bonds missed a tough play on a ball, but instead of hustling to recover the ball, he jogged after it.

Bonds, Ott said, met him on the dugout steps and said, “It’ won’t ever happen again.”

Ott said in more recent meetings with Bonds, the career home run record holder has told him, “I still remember you taking me out of that game.”

Interesting Lynchburg connection:

Ott said the best sign he’s seen at a ballpark was in Lynchburg, when he was playing for the Salem Pirates.

The sign, he said, advertised a utility company and promised free service if a batter hit a home run over the sign.

“The sign was in foul territory,” Ott laughed.