This article is about the major league baseball player. For other people, see Charles O'Brien (disambiguation).

Charles Hugh O'Brien (born May 1, 1960 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played for the Oakland Athletics (1985), Milwaukee Brewers (1987-90), New York Mets (1990-93), Atlanta Braves (1994-95), Toronto Blue Jays (1996-97), Chicago White Sox (1998), Anaheim Angels (1998-99) and Montreal Expos (2000).

While growing up in Tulsa, O'Brien attended and graduated from Bishop Kelley High School. He played baseball collegiately at Wichita State University.

O'Brien was a solid defensive catcher and a modest right-handed batter. He is best remembered for pioneering the hockey-style catcher's mask. He was playing with the Toronto Blue Jays when he invented this different style of mask.

Over the course of his career, O'Brien had the distinction of catching eleven different Cy Young winners: Frank Viola, Dwight Gooden, Bret Saberhagen, David Cone, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Pat Hentgen, Roger Clemens, Chris Carpenter and Jack McDowell. However, he only caught three of these pitchers during Cy Young seasons -- Clemens, Hentgen & Maddux. During Maddux's amazing '94 and '95 seasons when he posted ERA's of 1.56 and 1.63 respectively, O'Brien generally served as Maddux's personal catcher.

After getting smashed in his mask by two consecutive foul-tip balls in a game, O'Brien had the idea for a new catcher's mask (a helmet, actually) while he was watching a hockey game. He worked with Van Velden Mask Inc., of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, to develop his idea. The new design, called the All-Star MVP, was approved in 1996 by Major League Baseball.

In his 15-year career, O'Brien batted .221 with 56 home runs and 261 runs batted in. He was part of the 1995 World Series Champion Atlanta Braves.

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Profile and statistics at CNN/SI
• Page at Baseball Library