Roy Edward Oswalt (; born August 29, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Oswalt played for the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Houston Astros. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and Colorado Rockies.
Oswalt was selected by the Astros in the 1996 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut with Houston, in 2001, finishing his rookie season with a win–loss record of 14–3. Oswalt was a back-to-back 20-game winner in 2004 and 2005. He helped lead the Astros to their first World Series appearance in 2005, and was named Most Valuable Player of the 2005 National League Championship Series (NLCS). When Oswalt left the Astros in 2010, both his wins (143) and strikeouts totals (1,593) ranked second in franchise history to Joe Niekro (144) and Nolan Ryan (1,866), respectively. Oswalt was a three-time All-Star, selected from 2005 to 2007.
Oswalt was born and raised in Weir, Mississippi, the son of Billy Joe and Jean Oswalt. Billy was a Vietnam War veteran and logger. Oswalt grew up with his older brother, Brian, and their older sister, Patricia. Jean was an avid baseball fan and taught her kids about the game. Oswalt grew up rooting for the Atlanta Braves.
Oswalt joined the Weir High School football team as a quarterback and the baseball team as a pitcher. He could throw in the mid 80s with good control, but his relatively slight stature (5'10", 150 lbs.) scared away scouts. Oswalt reflected, "I always heard that I was too small." Weir itself was very small in size, making it difficult for scouts to hear about Oswalt. Nonetheless, he was recruited to join the baseball team at Holmes Community College.
At Weir High School, Oswalt played defensive back and wide receiver on the football team, which won a state title his senior year. He graduated in a class with 32 students. Oswalt attended Holmes Community College in Goodman, Mississippi, for two years.
Oswalt was spotted by only one MLB scout, James Farrar of the Houston Astros. Convinced that Oswalt's anonymity kept him hidden from other teams, the Astros allowed him to drop into the 23rd round of the 1996 MLB draft. By this point, Oswalt had drawn the attention of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, for whom he had long wanted play. The Astros enticed Oswalt with a $500,000 signing bonus, and he signed with the club on May 18, 1997. Oswalt would eventually become the latest-drafted player to lead his draft class in career Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement as of 2019.
In 1997, Oswalt played rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League, where he gave up only two runs in five starts. He was then called up to the Auburn Doubledays of the New York–Penn League, where he went 2–4 the rest of the way.
Oswalt split 1998 between the same two teams. In 16 innings of work with the Gulf Coast Astros, he struck out 27 batters and walked just one. Oswalt was promoted again to Auburn, where he recorded the league's fourth-lowest ERA (2.18).
During the 1999 season, when Oswalt was with the Class A Michigan Battle Cats in the Midwest League, he began suffering pain in his upper shoulder. A month after the season was over, he was still suffering pain. Team doctors diagnosed the pain as tendinitis earlier in the year, although Oswalt was convinced that his shoulder was torn. A few days after returning home, he was checking the spark plug wires on his pickup truck. He touched one of the spark plug wires, causing the truck's engine to start. The truck's electric current flowed through Oswalt's body, and consequently the muscles in his hand tightened on the spark plug wire. Unable to let go of it, Oswalt grasped the wire for what he said felt like two days, but was probably just a minute. He claimed his foot finally slipped off the truck's bumper and which threw him off the truck. Oswalt told his wife, "My truck done shocked the fire out of me, and my arm don't hurt no more." He finished 1999 with 143 strikeouts and a club-high 13 wins.
Oswalt began 2000 with the Class A Kissimmee Cobras of the Florida State League, going 4–3 with a 2.98 ERA before a player injury on Class AA Round Rock Express of the Texas League led to his promotion. Oswalt was only expected to pitch a few games and had been given a round-trip ticket. But after striking out 15 batters in his first start with the Express, manager Jackie Moore tore up his ticket. Nolan Ryan, owner of the Express and Oswalt's idol, admired his calm demeanor and his aggressiveness so much that he successfully lobbied to keep Oswalt on the roster, where he would go 11–4 with a 1.94 ERA, and record 141 strikeouts over 19 games (18 starts). It was in Round Rock that he met pitching coach Mike Maddux, who counseled the young Oswalt to be economical in his pitch selection by throwing more breaking balls and inducing groundouts early in the count.
As a result of his success at Round Rock, Oswalt was selected to play on the U.S. Olympic baseball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In Olympic baseball competition, Oswalt pitched in the semi-finals against South Korea, a game that the U.S. won with a walk-off home run by Doug Mientkiewicz en route to their gold medal finish. Oswalt struck out ten and allowed two runs (1.38 ERA) in his two starts.
In 2001, Oswalt started the season with the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, where he went 2–3 before being called up to the MLB when left-hander Wayne Franklin was optioned down.
On May 6, 2001, Oswalt made his major league debut in a relief appearance at Olympic Stadium to work the ninth inning of a 13–7 Astros win over the Montreal Expos. He retired Vladimir Guerrero on a strikeout for the first of his major league career. Oswalt yielded two hits, including a run batted in (RBI) double to former Astro Geoff Blum, but limited any father scoring to close out the game.
From August 30 to September 18, 2001, Oswalt tossed 24 consecutive scoreless innings before giving up a home run at Pacific Bell Park to Andrés Galarraga of the San Francisco Giants. During that streak, Oswalt earned his first major league shuout on September 9, tossing it at home against the Milwuakee Brewers and striking out a career-high 12.
Oswalt finished his rookie campaign with a 14–3 record and a 2.73 ERA, including a 12–2 mark with a 2.82 ERA in his 20 starts. He finished second in voting for National League Rookie of the Year, losing unanimously to Albert Pujols. He also placed fifth in Cy Young Award voting, which was won by Randy Johnson. He won the Sporting News NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award.
Oswalt was unavailable to pitch in the playoffs due to a groin strain. The Atlanta Braves swept the best-of-3 National League Division Series (NLDS), eliminating the Astros and ending their season.
The 2002 season was another step forward for Oswalt, who finished the season with a 19–9 record, striking out a career-high 208 batters and finishing with an ERA of 3.01. He tied with Éric Gagné for fourth in Cy Young voting, losing once again to Johnson. From July 27 to September 8, he won a then-club record 9 straight starts before getting a no-decision in an extra innings' Astros loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Injuries plagued Oswalt in 2003, but he still recorded a 10–5 record over 21 starts. He started a team no-hitter against the New York Yankees on June 11. Oswalt left after one inning, and 5 more Astros continued to no-hit the Yankees.