Introduction
Frederick Raymond "Fritz" Ostermueller (September 15, 1907 – December 17, 1957) was a pitcher in major league baseball from 1934 to 1948 for the Boston Red Sox, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Browns.
Career
Ostermueller made his major league debut on April 21, 1934 with the Boston Red Sox, pitching seven seasons for them, chiefly as a starter. On December 3, 1940, he was sold to the St. Louis Browns, along with Denny Galehouse.
In popular culture
Ostermueller was portrayed in the film 42 by Linc Hand. In the film, Ostermueller hits Jackie Robinson with a high pitch, but in a subsequent game Robinson hits a game winning home run off him.
In reality his first inning pitch hit Robinson on the left wrist, not his head, and he claimed it was a routine brushback pitch without racist intent. There was no fight on the mound afterwards. The climactic scene in which Robinson hit a home run to clinch the National League pennant for the Dodgers came in the top of the fourth inning of the game, did not clinch the victory (it made the score 1–0, and the Dodgers eventually won 4–2), and did not clinch the pennant; the Dodgers clinched at least a tie for the pennant on that day before clinching the pennant the next day.