Complex sentence: Oates had been designated to platoon alongside catcher Bob Boone in the 1976 season however, in the season-opening game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he cracked his collar bone in a collision at home plate with Dave Parker and missed almost half the season.
Split into simpler sentences: Oates had been designated to platoon alongside catcher Bob Boone in the 1976 season. However, Oates cracked his collar bone in a collision at home plate with Dave Parker in the season-opening game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and missed almost half the season.