Oakland A's
Odom's arrival as a quality major league starter seemed to have coincided with his franchise's arrival in Oakland, California, as he improved to 16-10 with a 2.45 ERA the season after A's owner Charles O. Finley moved his franchise. He had a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles broken up by a Davey Johnson single with two out in the ninth on June 7, 1968. Baltimore scored a run in the first on three walks as Odom walked eight in the game. He finished third in the American League with 98 walks and tied Frank Bertaina for the league lead in wild pitches with seventeen. He was also named to his first All-Star Game, and pitched two scoreless innings.
Odom was simply dominant in the first half of the 1969 season, going 14-3 with a 2.41 ERA heading into the All-Star break. He also showed himself to be one of the league's better hitting pitchers as he went 3-for-3 with a home run and six runs batted in against the Seattle Pilots on May 4. He was named to his second consecutive All Star team, but was tagged for five runs (four earned) in just a third of an inning as the National League cruised to a 9-3 victory. His numbers tailed off considerably following the All-Star break, as he went 1-3 with a 4.09 ERA in the second half of the season.
After finishing second to the Minnesota Twins two years in a row in the newly realigned American League West, the A's finally won their division in 1971. Odom did not get the opportunity to pitch in the post-season as they were swept by the Orioles in the 1971 American League Championship Series.
Prior to the start of the 1972 season, Odom was shot twice by a burglar while trying to prevent a burglary at his neighbor's house. Odom went 15-6 with a 2.50 ERA in a rotation that also included Catfish Hunter, Ken Holtzman and Vida Blue as the A's cruised to their second consecutive division title in 1972.
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