Fred Ostendorf

Fred Ostendorf pitched in one game for the 1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Federal League.

Frederick K. Ostendorf was born August 5, 1892, in Baltimore to Frank, a police officer, and Katie, both children of German immigrants. (The first four censuses of his life all show him a year older, but his military records and death certificate have the 1892 date.) In the 1900 census the family lives at 1335 S. Charles Street in Baltimore; there are two children, Frank and sister Mamie, two and a half (or else one and a half) years older. In 1910 they are at the same address, Frank is a police sergeant, 20-year-old Mamie is a bookkeeper for a music store, and Fred, not yet 18, is a stenographer.

The first newspaper mention of Fred I found was in the Baltimore American of January 30, 1911:

Fred Ostendorf, 19-year-old lad of this city, has signed with the Danville team of the Virginia League. He stands 6 feet 1 inch and weighs 160 pounds. Last season Ostendorf pitched fine ball for the Western Athletic Club, Inc., losing only two games and having an average of ten strikeouts a game. He should have no trouble in making good.

Apparently nothing came of his contract with Danville. From the May 21 Baltimore Sun:

AH! COOL WAVE IS HERE

Temperature Drops And Baltimore Sighs Relief—Showers

…One heat prostration was reported. Frederick Ostendorf, 20 years old, son of Lieut. Frank Ostendorf, of the Eastern district, was overcome at 5:15 o’clock in the afternoon while playing baseball at Union League Park, South Baltimore. He was attended by Dr. J.F. Hawkins, 1618 Light street, and was later taken to his home, 1335 South Charles street. His condition is not considered serious.

From the Baltimore Sun of January 9, 1912:

BUSCH SIGNS SOUTHPAW

Fred Ostendorf, one of the best amateur pitchers in the city, has signed a contract with the Petersburg (Virginia League) Club. Part of last season he pitched for Western Athletic Club and Maryland Meter Athletic Association. His best game was against the Halethorpe Country Club, one of the strongest teams in the city, allowing one hit and striking out 11. While away with the Cherokee Indians he showed that he was equal to pitching professional ball. He is 20 years of age, stands 6 feet and weighs 162 pounds.

Meanwhile, Fred’s social club was getting regular writeups in the Sun. He was one of the listed attendees in this item from January 28:

Reception To Jesters.

The Jesters held a reception at the home of Miss Flora Durst, 1043 Riverside avenue, last Sunday. The rooms were beautifully decorated with flowers and palms and with the colors of the social. The evening was spent in singing and playing games. Songs were rendered by the Jesters’ quartet…

And February 4:

Miss Kelly Receives Jesters

The Jesters held a reception at the home of Miss Gertrude Kelly, 2531 Canton avenue, on Sunday….An enjoyable evening was spent in singing and playing leap year games…Jerry Teuteberg, Martin Stout and Fred Ostendorf gave selections on the piano…

On February 21 the Washington Evening Star mentioned Fred in an article on Petersburg’s pitching prospects, but it does not appear that he actually played in a game for them. Apparently he pitched in spring training for the AA International League Baltimore Orioles, one step below the majors, in between Jesters parties—an April 14 Sun story headlined “Jesters’ Easter Party” mentions that “Miss Maude Kaskell sang ‘That Hypnotizing Man,’ accompanied on the piano by Mr. Fred Ostendorf” and the April 28 edition has a story on their “last party of the season.” He then was sent to Henderson, Kentucky, and the Henderson Hens of the Class D Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee (Kitty) League, as told in the April 29 Paducah Sun-Democrat:

Fred Ostendorf, a southpaw twirler farmed to the Hens by the Baltimore International league club has arrived in Henderson. In an exhibition game this spring he twirled three innings against the Athletics and allowed only one hit.

Fred spent the Kitty League season in Henderson, pitching in 28 games with a 14-14 record. Then he got called up to Baltimore, where he made at least one September appearance; the IL stats merely list him as one of the players in fewer than ten games.

In January 1913 Fred was unconditionally released by Baltimore, and in February he signed with the Binghamton Bingoes of the Class B New York State League. In March Sporting Life reported that he had been signed by Keokuk of the Class D Central Association, but I don’t know what to make of that, as he appeared in a box score for Binghamton on May 10. The June 7 Sporting Life reported that Fred had been released, and the next week’s edition reported that he had been released to the Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Electrics of the Class B Eastern Association; however by June 9 he was back in the Kitty League with Henderson, combining with another pitcher to give up 12 runs and 18 hits.

By July 21 Fred had been released by Henderson and signed by the Harrisburg Coal Miners of the same league—on that date he allowed ten runs and 15 hits to Hopkinsville. On August 26 he was one of three pitchers who combined to allow 19 runs and 22 hits to Clarksville; on September 4 he pitched a two-hitter against Paducah, and on September 8 he was one of two pitchers giving up 14 runs and 20 hits to Vincennes—apparently it was feast or famine. The final Kitty League stats show him with a 9-23 record in 32 games.

The 1913 city directory lists Fred as a ball player, while in 1914 he is back to stenographer. The April 18, 1914, edition of Sporting Life reported that he had signed a contract with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class A Southern Association, which is a little surprising given that he had gone 9-23 in Class D; a week later they reported that he had been released. The May 9 issue mentioned his combining with one other pitcher to give up eight runs and 15 hits to Valdosta, pitching for the Cordele Ramblers of the Class D Georgia State League on April 27, but that was the only mention I found of his playing there; the stats show him with five games pitched.

From the June 13 Paducah Sun-Democrat:

“Lefty” Ostendorf, who was with Harrisburg last season and Henderson in 1912, is now pitching for the Bloomer Girls. “Ossie” is sure going down some.

The Bloomer Girls were barnstorming women’s baseball teams, which apparently would carry at least one male player. On July 16 Fred popped up in Kansas City, somehow getting into a game for the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Federal League, then in its first of two seasons as a third major league. He entered the game in the middle of the seventh with the Hoosiers down 6-1 to the Kansas City Packers, and finished up what turned out to be an 11-6 loss, giving up five earned runs on five hits and two walks in two innings. Fred's teammates in this game included Benny Kauff and Bill McKechnie, while the best-known of the Packers was George Stovall.

That was Fred’s only major league appearance, giving him a lifetime ERA of 22.50. He did pitch in an exhibition game five days later, in Lima, Ohio, against the Lima city team, winning 10-6; the Lima Morning Star and Republican-Gazette reported the next day:

For the Feds Ostendorf was given the call by Manager Textor. Ossie is a new man to the club. He failed to show anything against the locals that would justify his staying in fast company. The Lima lads batted his deliveries for ten safeties and had it not been for the superb support that he received the visiting heaver might have ended the game a loser. He gave five passes and struck out 11 of the Lima players.

Fred then vanished until August 17, when he made his debut with the Marshalltown (Iowa) Ansons of the Class D Central Association, walking eight batters in four innings in a 7-4 victory. In his second start he pitched a one-hitter with another eight walks and won 3-2, then he lost 1-0 while walking nine. On August 26 he lost 7-3, only walking four; the Marshalltown Evening Times reported the next evening:

Ostendorf worked nicely until the boys’ industrial school band, which enlivened the afternoon’s exercises with instrumental music and song, started a triumphal march while he was operating in the box. “Lefty” lost his stride then and there and the luck of the game, which had favored the Ansons, thereafter broke for the visitors. Errors by the home team were numerous, but were in most cases excusable as the saliva-coated ball became unmanageable in the late innings. Ostendorf used the spitter constantly.

Fred had three more starts after that, finishing 1-4 in seven games, allowing just 38 hits in 55 innings but walking 43. I assume he is the only player ever to go, in the course of one season, from Class D to the Bloomer Girls to the majors to Class D again.

In the 1915 city directory Fred is again listed as a ball player, still living with his parents on S. Charles Street. He made his way to the Macon Peaches of the Class C Sally League, but appeared in fewer than five games before moving on. He also spent brief stays with Griffin of the Georgia-Alabama League and Thomasville of the Florida-Louisiana-Alabama-Georgia League, both Class D.

In the spring of 1916 Fred signed a contract with the Norfolk Tars of the Class C Virginia League, but was released at the beginning of the season and picked up by the Newport News Shipbuilders of the same league. Again, he was in the “less than ten games” list at the bottom of the official stats.

In the 1917 city directory Fred is back to being a stenographer, still living on S. Charles. On June 17 he filled out his draft registration card, listing his occupation as ball player for the Chattanooga Ball Club, though he does not appear in the Southern Association stats for the year, even under “less than ten games.” He also lists himself as single, and tall and slender with blue eyes and light hair. I don’t have a date, but it seems as though it must have been soon after this that he got married, to Barbara Kucera.

I don’t know whether he was drafted or if he volunteered, but on September 27 he was inducted into the Army as a private in the 313^th Infantry. In October he made corporal, and then sergeant, and was listed as one of the Duty Sergeants at Camp Meade. In the 1918 Baltimore directory his employer is given as “USA,” and his address as 101 N. Streeper. He got his honorable discharge in January 1919, by which time daughter Helen had been born. In April it was reported that he would be going to spring training with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, but he didn’t make it to the regular season with them and that was apparently the end of his pro baseball career.

In the 1920 census Fred, a salesman for a bookbindery, Barbara, and one-year-old Helen are living in a rented house at 2706 Orleans Street in Baltimore, though the 1920 and 1921 city directories still show him as a stenographer. In 1922 they have moved to 225 N. Linwood Avenue. In 1924, the year daughter Evelyn was born, they have moved to 422 N. Highland Avenue. In 1928 Barbara starts being listed as a hairdresser, operating out of their home.

Apparently by 1930 things were not going so well for Fred. The census shows them living at the Highland Avenue address, a home they own and which is worth $4850; Fred has “none” for his occupation, while Barbara is listed as proprietress of her hairdressing business. Helen and Evelyn are 11 and five. The city directory lists Barbara as a hairdresser with no mention of Fred. And, on August 12, Fred was admitted to the Hampton VA Medical Center in Hampton, Virginia. On admission his disabilities were noted as “1727 under obs for mental disease” and “202 knee right-loose patellar ligament.” It seems like a safe assumption that the reason he was put in the facility was the mental disease and not the right kneecap.

Fred was discharged on July 10, 1931, but readmitted a few weeks later on August 18. He was discharged again on December 30, admitted again on June 9, 1932, discharged June 21, 1933, and admitted, for good, on August 3.

By 1936 the Baltimore directory shows Barbara at 4809 Hamilton Avenue, and in 1937 her occupation changes to factory worker. In the 1940 census she and her daughters are living back at 225 N. Linwood Avenue and she is indicated as the owner; perhaps this had been her parents’ house. She apparently told the census taker that she was a widow. Her occupation is cigar maker, while 21-year-old Helen has followed in her father’s footsteps as a stenographer. 15-year-old Evelyn is in school. Fred was counted at Company No. 4 (Dormicillary Barracks) at the VA facility.

In 1942 Fred had to fill out another draft registration card, which listed him as unemployed and the “person who will always know your address” as Mrs. Charles W. Duvall of 505 E. 41^st Street in Baltimore; this was sister Mamie. The 1942 Baltimore directory was the last one where I found a listing for Barbara, as a roller for the Amorita Cigar Company, living on N. Linwood. In 1951 Fred made an appearance in the city directory for Newport News, which included Hampton; he was listed as a janitor for the Veterans’ Hospital, residence ditto. He also appeared there in 1956, listed as a laborer.

Barbara passed away on December 6, 1961, just short of her 67^th birthday, in Baltimore. On March 8, 1965, Fred died at the Veterans’ Hospital of granulocytic leukemia. His permanent address was given on the death certificate as 305 E. 41^st Street in Baltimore, which was almost the same as the one for Mrs. Charles W. Duvall on his 1942 draft card; I assume one or the other was a typo. The Sporting News of March 27 ran a brief obituary:

Frederick Ostendorf, former pitcher in the old Federal League, died in Hampton, Va., March 8. He was 73.

Ostendorf, who played sandlot ball in his native Baltimore, pitched with Indianapolis of the Federal League in 1914.

Survivors include two daughters and a sister.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/O/Postef102.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ostenfr01.shtml