Rick O'Keeffe

[Michael Trzinski]

Richard J. O’Keeffe was born in the Bronx, New York and played high school ball at Yorktown High School in Yorktown Heights, New York. Yorktown Heights—about an hour north of New York City—is the ‘hometown’ of musician Dave Matthews, politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and sportscaster Buster Olney.

O’Keeffe earned notoriety as a junior in high school. Opposing coach Andy Castallano of Gorton (NY) High School said after his team lost to O’Keeffe and Yorktown, “I saw a major leaguer today. I haven’t ever seen a high school pitcher that fast.” After his senior year, the big redhead (6-foot-6, 225-pound) was selected by the Brewers as the fifth overall pick in the 1975 MLB Amateur Draft. O’Keeffe pitched three no-hitters among his seven wins as a senior, along with a batting average of .426 with five home runs. The southpaw had a K rate of approximately 53% as a senior, while allowing walks at a rate of about 11%. That number would get a lot worse during O’Keeffe’s career and led to his downfall.

Playing at Low-A Newark (New York) in the New York-Penn League in 1975, O’Keeffe had a pair of shutouts and seven wins in his 11 starts but walked nearly as many as he struck out (54 BB, 59 K). He moved up to Class A Burlington (Iowa) in the Midwest League the following season. He won seven games, compiled an ERA of 2.87 and made the MWL All-Star team, but had continued control problems, walking men at a rate of nearly 13%. Manager Matt Galante commented that O’Keeffe was a “strikeout pitcher who is a bit wild.”

The following season, O’Keeffe started out at Double-A Holyoke (Massachusetts) in the Eastern League but after 13 starts, O’Keeffe and Garry Pyka were traded to Cincinnati for pitcher Mike Caldwell, who would go on to win 102 games for the Brewers over eight seasons.

O’Keeffe made 15 starts for Three Rivers (Quebec) and finished the year with a record of 9-10 and an ERA of 4.05.

Over the next four seasons, O’Keeffe bounced around in the Reds organization and in three of those seasons had more walks than strikeouts. Tired of the wildness, the Reds released O’Keeffe in April 1982. The pitcher was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays in a minor league deal, but after 16 appearances at two stops was released by the Blue Jays in late July.

After missing the 1983 season with tendonitis and surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow, O’Keeffe was signed by the New York Mets in early 1984. O’Keeffe had a complete game one-hitter in late April but suffered a groin pull a week later. He returned and made three appearances but was ineffective. O’Keefe announced his retirement from baseball a few weeks later.

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