Baseball Playing Career
Born in Sylva, North Carolina, Oates graduated from Prince George High School in Prince George, Virginia, before going on to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles as their first round pick in the 1967 Major League Baseball Secondary Draft.
He began his baseball career with the Bluefield Orioles and then the Miami Marlins in 1967 at the age of 21. After two seasons with Miami, Oates moved up to the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs in 1969 where he hit for a .288 batting average in 66 games. He continued his climb up the minor league ladder in 1970, playing for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings before making his major league debut with the Baltimore Orioles on September 17, 1970. Oates was not on the post-season roster for The Orioles that won the 1970 World Series. Oates returned to the minor leagues in 1971, playing another season with Rochester where he posted a .277 batting average along with a respectable .364 on base percentage.
Oates was brought back up to the Orioles for the 1972 season, where he caught the majority of the Orioles games. His defensive skills became apparent as he led American League catchers with a .995 fielding percentage. On November 30, 1972, he was traded along with Pat Dobson, Roric Harrison and Davey Johnson to the Atlanta Braves for Taylor Duncan and Earl Williams. Oates spent two seasons with the Braves, platooning alongside Paul Casanova and then Vic Correll, before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in May 1975.
Oates had been designated to platoon alongside catcher Bob Boone in the 1976 season however, in the season-opening game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he cracked his collar bone in a collision at home plate with Dave Parker and missed almost half the season. "That play changed my career", he said afterwards. He returned to help the Phillies win the 1976 National League Eastern Division pennant. Oates had one plate appearance as a pinch hitter in the 1976 National League Championship Series as the Phillies lost to the eventual world champion Cincinnati Reds. After the season, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 20, 1976.
With the Dodgers, Oates worked as a second-string catcher behind Steve Yeager and, would once again reach the post-season as, the Dodgers clinched the 1977 National League Western Division title. The Dodgers went on to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1977 National League Championship Series before eventually losing to the New York Yankees in the 1977 World Series. In 1978, Oates appeared in only 40 games as the Dodgers repeated as Western Division champions and, once again defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1978 National League Championship Series. The 1978 World Series was also a repeat of the previous year as, the Dodgers once again lost to the Yankees in a six-game series. Oates' playing time decreased further in 1979 as he appeared in only 26 games before being released at the end of the season. He became a free agent and signed a contract to play for the New York Yankees on April 4, 1980. Oates served as a back up to Rick Cerone during the 1980 season before playing in his final game on May 24, 1981.
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