Major League Baseball Player, Manager. Played Major League baseball as a catcher for 11 seasons (1970, 1972 to 1981) for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. He had a steady if unspectacular playing career as a back-up player, reaching 100 Games played in a season only once (1974 with the Braves). He did see some post-season playing time during the middle of his career, appearing with the Phillies in 1976 (when they were swept by the "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati Reds in the National League Championship Series), and with the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978. In both years Los Angeles beat his former team - the Phillies - to get to the World Series, and both years they were beaten by the Yankees. Johnny Oates had a single At-Bat in each Series (his 1978 At-Bat resulted in a 2-Run single). He finished out his playing career with the Yankees in 1981, then retired to go into managing. He managed a number of Minor League teams before being tabbed as the Baltimore Orioles manager in 1991. After leading them until 1994, he was named the Manager of the Texas Rangers in 1996. With stars such as slugger Juan Gonzalez and premier catcher Ivan Rodriguez, he guided the team to three post-season appearences - the first in the teams history. The Rangers appeared in (and were ousted from) the American League Divisional Series in 1996, 1998 and 1999, and Johnny Oates captured Co-AL Manager of the Year honors with the Yankees Joe Torre. After his team started the 2001 season 11-17, he resigned. He was diagnosed with brain cancer later that year, a malady that he would succumb to in December 2004. His career playing record was 593 Games Played, 410 Hits, 146 Runs, 14 Home Runs, 126 RBIs and a career .250 Batting Average. His managerial record was 797 Wins and 746 Losses.