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Joe Horlen

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Joe Horlen
Pitcher
Born: (1937-08-14)August 14, 1937
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Died: April 10, 2022(2022-04-10) (aged 84)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 4, 1961, for the Chicago White Sox
Last MLB appearance
October 4, 1972, for the Oakland Athletics
MLB statistics
Win–loss record116–117
Earned run average3.11
Strikeouts1,065
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Joel Edward Horlen (August 14, 1937 – April 10, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1972 for the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics. In references, he is called Joe Horlen or Joel Horlen with roughly equal frequency.[1]

From 1964 to 1968, Horlen led all American League pitchers with a 2.32 ERA.[2] In his career, Horlen won 116 games against 117 losses, with a 3.11 earned run average and 1,065 strikeouts in 2,002 innings pitched.

He is the only baseball player to play for teams that won a Pony League World Series (1952), a College World Series (Oklahoma State, 1959), and a Major League World Series (Oakland, 1972).[3]

Early life

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Horlen was born in San Antonio, Texas.[4] He attended Luther Burbank High School, in San Antonio.[4] Horlen attended high school contemporaneously with future major league pitcher Gary Bell, graduating one year later. Both he and Bell were inducted into the San Antonio Independent School District Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.[5][6]

Horlen attended Oklahoma State University and played college baseball for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. He was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association All-America second team, and first-team All-Big Eight, as he helped lead Oklahoma State to victory in the 1959 College World Series.[7][8] He was named to the All-Tournament Team, with a 2-0 record (pitching two complete games), 1.99 ERA, and tournament leading 18 strikeouts. In his two years on the team, he was 15-4, with a 2.26 ERA, and 128 strikeouts in 143 1/3 innings. In 1993, he was inducted into the Cowboys Baseball Hall of Fame.[8]

Minor league career

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Horlen was signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1959. That year he pitched for the Lincoln Chiefs.[9] The next season he pitched in Class A for the Charleston White Sox, and had a 7–5 win–loss record with a 2.93 earned run average (ERA).[9] He began 1961 pitching for the AAA San Diego Padres, for whom he was 12–9 with a 2.51 ERA.[9]

Major league career

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Chicago White Sox (1961–1971)

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Horlen made his Major League debut against the Minnesota Twins in the second game of a September 4, 1961 doubleheader.[4][10] He won the game in relief while wearing a numberless uniform, as the only available road uniform did not have a number.[7] Horlen pitched as a spot starter in his first two full seasons with the White Sox. In 1963, he returned to the minors to pitch four games for the AAA Indianapolis Indians, going 3–0 with a 1.74 ERA.[9]

In 1964 he earned a spot in the starting rotation, posting a 13–9 record and setting career bests in earned run average (1.88; second in the American League only to Dean Chance's 1.65[11]) and strikeouts (138).[4] He also led the majors by allowing only 6.07 hits per nine innings, bettering Sandy Koufax's National League-leading 6.22.[11] In the next 42 years, only eight right-handed pitchers bettered that ratio in a season. He also led the AL in Walks + Hits per IP (WHIP) (.935), just .007 behind Koufax.[11] That year his White Sox battled the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles for the pennant, but finished second, one game behind the Yankees and one game ahead of the Orioles.[12][7] Three of the top 10 ERA pitchers in the American League were White Sox (Horlen, Gary Peters, and Juan Pizarro),[13] but the team batting average was .247, with only 106 home runs.[14]

In 1965, Horlen was second in the league in shutouts (four), and was third in walks/9 IP (1.60), with a 2.88 ERA.[15][4] In 1966, he led the league in wild pitches (14), was sixth in hit batsmen (six), and was second in ERA (2.43) behind teammate Gary Peters.[4][16]

Horlen finished the 1967 season with a 19–7 record and led American League pitchers with a 2.06 ERA and six shutouts, was second in W-L percentage (.731), fourth in wins, complete games (13), and walks/9 IP (2.02), and 7th in innings pitched (258).[4] He also led the AL in walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) (.953).[17] He was named to the American League All-Star team for the only time in his career, but did not pitch in the game.[4][18]

On September 10, Horlen threw a no-hitter as the White Sox were involved in a four-way pennant race with the Twins, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers.[19] The only Detroit player to reach base was Bill Freehan, who was hit by a Horlen pitch.[20] Horlen recorded victories in his next three starts, including one five days later against the Twins. However, on September 27, which would be known by fans as "Black Wednesday",[21] the lowly Kansas City Athletics swept a doubleheader from the White Sox and effectively eliminated Eddie Stanky's "Hitless Wonders" (the White Sox led the Majors with a 2.45 earned run average but also posted a .225 batting average, with no regular batting above .250[22]) from pennant contention. [23]

Horlen lost the second game, as 21-year-old Catfish Hunter shut out the White Sox 4–0.[24] The two games were the last played by the Athletics in Kansas City before the team moved to Oakland for the start of the 1968 season.[25] The White Sox finished fourth, three games behind the Red Sox who,[26] after finishing next to last in 1966,[27] won the pennant on the final day, finishing one game ahead of the Twins and Tigers.[28] Horlen finished runner-up to Jim Lonborg, the star of the Red Sox staff, in the American League Cy Young Award balloting, and fourth in MVP voting, won by Boston's Carl Yastrzemski.[4]

In 1968 Horlen led the AL in hit batsmen (14).[4] In 1970 he was fifth in walks/9 IP (2.14).[4] In 1971, he had knee surgery early in the season.[29] In spring training of 1972, the White Sox released Horlen.[30]

Oakland Athletics (1972)

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Horlen later signed with Oakland, and pitched mostly in relief as the Athletics won the 1972 World Series.[7]

After the major leagues

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In 1973 he pitched for the AA San Antonio Brewers, going 6–1 with a 2.87 ERA.[9] In 1989, Horlen played for the St. Lucie Legends of the Senior Professional Baseball Association.[31] In 2004, he was inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame.[2]

In 1981, Horlen was a convert to Judaism, when he married Lois Eisenstein.[7][32][33][34]

In 2017, it was announced that he had Alzheimer's disease.[2] He died on April 10, 2022, at the age of 84.[35][36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Internet Archive Ngram Viewer. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Bragg, Roy (March 3, 2017). "The lost memories of Joe Horlen". San Antonio Express-News.
  3. ^ "San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame - Inductees". Archived from the original on January 3, 2004. Retrieved August 17, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Joe Horlen Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "Luther Burbank - The Baseball Cube". www.thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  6. ^ "San Antonio ISD". www.saisd.net. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Wolf, Gregory H. "Joe Horlen". sabr.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Cowboy Baseball Hall Of Famer Horlen Passes Away". Oklahoma State University Athletics. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Joe Horlen Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com.
  10. ^ "Chicago White Sox vs Minnesota Twins Box Score: September 4, 1961". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "1964 Major League Baseball Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  12. ^ "1964 American League Standings & Expanded Standings". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  13. ^ "1964 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  14. ^ "1964 Chicago White Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  15. ^ "1965 Major League Baseball Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  16. ^ "1966 Major League Baseball Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  17. ^ "1967 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  18. ^ "1967 All-Star Game Box Score, July 11". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  19. ^ "Every White Sox no-hitter in franchise history, including Carlos Rodón | RSN". Nbcsports.com. April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  20. ^ "Detroit Tigers vs Chicago White Sox Box Score: September 10, 1967". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  21. ^ Liptak, Mark (September 27, 2023). "Today in White Sox History: September 27". South Side Sox. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  22. ^ "1967 Chicago White Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  23. ^ Knosby, Thomas. "September 27, 1967: A's take first game of doubleheader on their last day in Kansas City". SABR.org.
  24. ^ "Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City Athletics Box Score: September 27, 1967". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  25. ^ Knosby, Thomas. "September 27, 1967: Catfish Hunter shuts out White Sox in A's final home game in Kansas City". SABR.org.
  26. ^ "1967 American League Standings & Expanded Standings". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  27. ^ "1966 American League Standings & Expanded Standings". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  28. ^ Armour, Mark. "October 1, 1967: Tigers drop season finale to give Red Sox the AL pennant". SABR.org.
  29. ^ "Horlen Is Sidelined". New York Times. April 6, 1971.
  30. ^ "31 Mar 1972, 10 - Portage Daily Register at". Newspapers.com. March 31, 1972. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  31. ^ "Joe Horlen - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  32. ^ "Horlen, Joe". Jewsinsports.org. August 14, 1937. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
  33. ^ The Big Book of Jewish Sports People, by Peter Horvitz, page 53
  34. ^ Horvitz, Peter S.; Horvitz, Joachim (April 14, 2001). The Big Book of Jewish Baseball. SP Books. ISBN 9781561719730 – via Google Books.
  35. ^ "Cowboy Baseball Hall Of Famer Horlen Passes Away". Oklahoma State University Athletics.
  36. ^ Joel Edward Horlen
[edit]
Preceded by No-hitter pitcher
September 10, 1967 		Succeeded by
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