[Terry D]

Some of you may dimly remember Dave Hostetler. Dave was your typical big power-hitting first baseman. He started off in the Expos organization, for which he hit 27 homers with 103 RBI at AAA Denver in 1981. (Thin air.) That got him a swift look from Montreal and then a trade to Texas as part of the deal for Al Oliver. The Rangers had lost faith in Pat Putnam by then, so Dave pushed Putnam out of the picture in 1982 and hit 22 homers as a rookie for Texas. It didn't last. The pitchers caught up to Hoss in the second half in '82 and he couldn't hold the job in '83, when Pete O'Brien pushed him aside. Hoss lingered on into '84 with Texas, but strikeouts and mediocre defense finally forced him into the minors and eventually to Japan. Dave spent two OK years there, came back after the '87 season, learned to catch, and made the Pirates out of spring training in 1988. Jim Leyland gave Dave every chance that year--Hostetler said later that Leyland was very decent to him--but he got into only six games with the Bucs (one as a catcher), did not hit well for AAA Buffalo, and got released. This image of Dave as a Pirate was cropped out of a 1988 spring training photo which shows him high-fiving Randy Milligan. I know this is not a face shot, but it is the first and so far only image I have ever seen of Hostetler as a Pirate.