Addie Joss
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Addie Joss | ||
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| Pitcher | ||
| Born: April 12, 1880 Woodland, Wisconsin |
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| Died: April 14, 1911 (aged 31) Toledo, Ohio |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | ||
| April 25, 1901 for the Cleveland Bronchos |
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| Final game | ||
| July 11, 1910 for the Cleveland Naps |
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| Career statistics | ||
| Pitching Record | 160-97 | |
| Earned run average | 1.89 | |
| Strikeouts | 920 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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| Member of the National | ||
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Elected | 1978 | |
| Election Method | Veteran's Committee | |
Adrian Joss (April 12, 1880 – April 14, 1911) was a Major League Baseball pitcher in the early 20th century. His father had been a cheese maker in Wisconsin and several of his nicknames in baseball reflected this. As a youth, Joss was a star athlete at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. As a town ball player, Joss pitched in, and won, the Wisconsin town championship game against Rube Waddell who was playing as a 'ringer' while 'moonlighting' away from his job in the Major Leagues -- fishing.
As a pitcher, Joss's repertoire included a fastball, a "slow ball," or changeup, and a single hard curve. George Moriarty explained that he had only one curveball because "he believed that with a few well mastered deliveries he could acquire great control and success with less strain on his arm." [1] In an era filled with spitball pitchers, Joss achieved his success without ever experimenting with altering the baseball. Joss threw with a "corkscrew" windup motion. Roger Peckinpaugh described his windup:
- He would turn his back toward the batter as he wound up, hiding the ball all the while, and then whip around and fire it in.[2]
Joss joined the Cleveland Bronchos in 1902 and was an immediate success, earning a 17-13 record and 2.77 ERA in his first year. He continued to improve over the following decade, posting four 20 win seasons and six sub-2.00 ERAs by 1910. His best season came in 1908 when he was 24-11 with a 1.16 ERA and 9 shutouts. In planning for life after baseball, Joss took up sports writing and worked for a local paper for several years.
Joss' playing career was cut short when he was diagnosed with tubercular meningitis. He died on April 14, 1911 at the age of 31. The first 'all-star' game was played as a benefit for Joss' family, over the opposition of American League management (Ban Johnson threatened punishment for any who participated, but relented).
Joss pitched a perfect game on October 2, 1908 opposite Hall of Fame pitcher Ed Walsh, accomplishing the feat with just 74 pitches. He pitched a second no-hitter in 1910. Both no-hitters were against the Chicago White Sox; to date, Joss is the only pitcher in Major League history to no-hit the same team twice. His 1.89 career ERA is ranked second all-time.
Joss was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. They explained what they called "the Smokey Joe Wood Syndrome," where a player of truly exceptional talent but a career curtailed by injury or illness should still, in spite of not having had career statistics that would quantitatively rank him with the all-time greats, be included on their list of the 100 greatest players. They believed that Joss' career ERA was proof enough of his greatness to be included.
[edit] References
- ^ "The Greatest Pitcher I Ever Faced." Baseball Magazine, 1911
- ^ Honig, Donald. The Man in the Dugout, 1977.
[edit] See also
- List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
- List of Major League Baseball wins champions
- Pitchers who have thrown a perfect game
- List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
| Preceded by Earl Moore |
American League ERA Champion 1904 |
Succeeded by Rube Waddell |
| Preceded by Ed Walsh |
American League ERA Champion 1908 |
Succeeded by Harry Krause |
| Preceded by Al Orth |
American League Wins Champion 1907 (with Doc White) |
Succeeded by Ed Walsh |
| Preceded by Cy Young |
Perfect game pitcher October 2, 1908 |
Succeeded by Charlie Robertson |
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Baseball Hall of Fame Biography
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