![]() ![]() ![]() After some experience playing in a church league and then for his college team, he signed with Quincy’s minor league club and began working his way up the professional ladder within the Cardinals’ organization. Born in Quincy, Illinois, he was raised on a dairy farm. My first reaction to hearing of such inaccuracies was this: if the filmmakers couldn’t correctly identify Ostermueller as a left-handed pitcher, and couldn’t accurately portray Robinson being hit in the arm instead of the head, then what else did they get wrong in portraying Ostermueller? Why should we believe anything that 42 says, or even hints at, about the career of Fritz Ostermueller?įirst off, let’s provide a biographical summary of Ostermueller. But in actuality, when Ostermueller hit Robinson with a pitch that day, it was in the left arm, and nowhere near his head. In the top of the first inning, Ostermueller hit Robinson with a pitch, marking the fourth time that Jackie had been hit overall that season. The incident refers to a game between the Dodgers and Pirates at Forbes Field on May 17, 1947. He won 114 games over a decade and a half, finishing in the top 10 in league ERA three times.įar more importantly, the film shows the Ostermueller/Robinson incident to involve a beanball that nails Robinson in the head. 42 shows him to be a right-handed pitcher baseball fans who recall the 1930s and 40s will surely remember him to be a left-handed pitcher, and a good one at that. There are at least two clear mistakes in the film’s characterization of Ostermueller. Who was the real Fritz Ostermueller? That is a question that historians like myself are trying to contend with as the film continues to enjoy a successful run in theaters nationwide. So we are left to rely on the testimony of others, a group that includes his surviving family members. Diagnosed with cancer in 1956, he died one year later, at the age of 50. Ostermueller is no longer around to defend himself. “I can understand Hollywood making a good story,” said Sherrill, “but not at an expense of someone else and someone else’s memory and legacy.” Sherrill may not be the most objective source on the subject, but it’s also safe to say that she knew her father better than most people did. “It was Hollywood taking maybe a little piece of history and rewriting it their way.” “I’d just like people to know that the man that they portrayed was not Fritz Ostermueller, was not my dad,” said his daughter, Sherrill Ostermueller Duesterhaus. The portrayal has drawn the wrath of Ostermueller’s daughter, who contends that her father was not a racist, but a kind and open-hearted man. The veteran moundsman is seen intentionally throwing a pitch at Robinson’s head, hitting him with that pitch, and then attempting to insult him with a dismissive and racially tinged remark. It is a film that may earn Harrison Ford an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Branch Rickey.īut there is an ongoing controversy with this film, and it involves the characterization of former Pirates pitcher Fritz Ostermueller. It is a film that does a skilled job in telling the story of Jackie Robinson’s entrance into the major leagues and the season-long struggles that he faced as the game’s greatest racial pioneer. He can't use his special during neutral or down-smash hitlag, so consider it a free opportunity to steal his ball.By all accounts, 42 is a wonderful movie, beautifully filmed and superbly acted. He has a very apparent deadzone between his neutral and his up angle, and his down angle can be countered pretty easily by just facing the direction he is. They can also go in both directions, so if your opponent isn't standing right next to you, the shallow overhead-switchflip angle can really throw them off.Īlso, his up angle isn't broken. Overhead smash switchflips are also just as deadly because they give him his shallow angle that he would normally only be able to use on the ground. That, coupled with his up angle, can make him rather unpredictable at high speeds. If he fires straight, then you can simply smash - that might be a bit of a problem, though, at lower speeds.ĭo note that his down angle mid-air is very similar to Raptor's smash. Standing directly behind him and smashing just before the end of hit lag (and I do mean just before) can allow you to hit his up angle and his grounded down angle. ![]()
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