Eddie O'Brien (baseball)
Edward Joseph O'Brien was an American Major League Baseball shortstop, outfielder and pitcher. He played his entire five-year baseball career for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His twin brother, Johnny, is a former second baseman and pitcher.
O'Brien attended Saint Mary's High School in South Amboy, now Cardinal McCarrick High School, where he has been inducted into the school's sports hall of fame.
He attended Seattle University, where he played on the basketball team for the Chieftains and participated in a stunning 84–81 upset over the Harlem Globetrotters on January 21, 1952. Later he and Johnny were drafted by the NBA's Milwaukee Hawks in 1953, but they never played in the NBA.
While in Pittsburgh, Johnny and Eddie O'Brien became the first twins in major league history to play for the same team in the same game. They are also one of only four brother combinations to play second base/shortstop on the same major league club. The others are Garvin and Granny Hamner, for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1945; Frank and Milt Bolling, with the Detroit Tigers in 1958, and Billy and Cal Ripken, for the Baltimore Orioles during the 1980s.
In Jim Bouton's book Ball Four, a memoir of the 1969 baseball season, O'Brien—who in that year had served as bullpen coach for the Seattle Pilots expansion club—was represented as Bouton's consistent antagonist. O'Brien also worked as the Athletic Director at Seattle University and as an energy consultant for the Alaskan shipping industry.
On February 21, 2014, O'Brien died at the age of 83.
