Oscar Carlos Acosta was a Major League Baseball pitching coach of Hispanic descent. He and a colleague, Humberto Trejo, were killed in an automobile accident on April 19, 2006, while coaching with the New York Yankees Minor League system.^[1] Acosta, who was 49 years old at the time of his death, served as international coordinator of instruction as well as manager of the Gulf Coast Yankees of the Yankees' Gulf Coast team in Tampa since 2004, guiding the team to the Gulf Coast League championship in his final two seasons. He had first joined the Yankees' organization in 1996, spending three seasons as the pitching coach at Triple-A Columbus (1996-98).

[edit] Biographical Information

Oscar played in the minors from 1978 to 1982. He debuted with the Helena Phillies, going 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in five appearances. In 1979, he pitched for the Peninsula Pilots and had a career year, with a 10-7, 3.04 season. He finished 9th in the Carolina League in ERA. Returning to Peninsula in 1980, he only pitched in 9 games, going 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA, 2 saves and a shutout. He resurfaced in the 1982 Mexican Baseball League, posting a 0-3, 6.75 record for the Plataneros de Tabasco to complete his career.

Acosta began coaching in the Texas Rangers organization with the Butte Copper Kings in 1988. He coached the Gastonia Rangers (1989), GCL Rangers (1990, 1993), Tulsa Drillers (1991) and Oklahoma City 89ers (1992). Moving to the Chicago Cubs' organization, he then coached the Daytona Cubs (1994) and GCL Cubs (1995). Next he coached the Columbus Clippers (1996-1998) for the New York Yankees. He managed^[2] the Cubs Class A Lansing Lugnuts in the Midwest League in 1999, and was then promoted to the Major League level, serving as the pitching coach for the Chicago Cubs (2000-01) and Texas Rangers (2002).

During his big league coaching career, Acosta primarily wore number 8. Oscar, who resided in Florida, is survived by his wife, Kathy, and three children -- Melissa, Amanda and Ryan. Ryan was drafted by the Cubs in the 2007 amateur draft and currently plays in the minors.

[edit] Related Sites

• MWL Guide.com
• New York Yankees
• Chicago Cubs
• Pitching Coach
• Minor League Baseball
• Deaths in 2006

[edit] References