Addie Joss
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
6-3, 185lb (190cm, 83kg)
Born: April 12, 1880 in Woodland, WI
Died: April 14, 1911 in Toledo, OH
Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery, Toledo, OH
High School: Wayland Academy (Beaver Dam, WI)
Schools: Sacred Heart College (Watertown, WI), University of Wisconsin at Madison (Madison, WI)
Debut: April 26, 1902 (2,387th in major league history)
Last Game: July 25, 1910
vs. PHA 5.0 IP, 5 H, 6 SO, 2 BB, 0 ER, L
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1978. (Voted by Veteran’s Committee)
View Addie Joss’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: Adrian Joss
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1902
Joe Tinker
Johnny Evers
Red Dooin
Patsy Dougherty
Tom Jones
Heinie Wagner
George Mullin
Addie Joss
Homer Smoot
All-Time Teammate Team
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Notable Events and Chronology for Addie Joss Career
Contemporaries of 6’3″ Addie Joss admired him as much as almost anyone who ever put on a major league uniform. His untimely death from an attack of tubercular meningitis in April 1911 shocked the baseball world; Cleveland’s opener in Detroit was postponed due to funeral services in Toledo. So well thought of was Joss that the top AL players of the day formed an all-star team to play the Indians for the benefit of his widow.
After winning 25 games in his second pro season at Toledo (Western Association), Joss pitched a one-hitter in his 1902 debut. He led the AL with five shutouts that season, and he won at least 20 games each year from 1905 through 1908. His career-high 27 victories in 1907 tied him for the AL lead with Chicago’s Doc White. Joss used a good fastball and an exceptional curve to five times record ERAs of 1.83 or less. His 1908 league-leading ERA of 1.16 is the eighth-lowest ever. On October 2, 1908 Joss and Chicago’s 40-game winner, Big Ed Walsh, squared off in one of the game’s most memorable pitching duels. Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit (who ultimately prevailed) were locked in a pennant race, adding to the tension of the contest. Walsh tossed a four-hitter, striking out 15 and allowing only one run. Joss, however, was even better, setting down 27 straight for a perfect game. Two years later, he no-hit the White Sox again.
Perhaps most remarkable of Joss’s feats was his completion of 234 of his 260 starts. In his final season he was plagued by arm injuries, making just 13 appearances. His lifetime 1.88 ERA ranks second all-time to Ed Walsh’s 1.82. Joss pitched only nine years; it was his ERA that convinced the Veterans Committee to bend the 10-year career minimum rule and let him into the Hall of Fame.
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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts
Played For
Cleveland Indians (1902-1910)
Best Season: 1908
Joss had more than a few great years, but his 1.16 ERA in 1908 brings that season to the top of the list. He was 24-11 with nine shutouts (the second time he’d thrown that many white-washes in one campaign), and walked just 30 batters in more than 320 innings. In his 11 losses, his team scored a total of 11 runs. He lost four games in which his team was shutout, and lost three games by scores of 2-1, and six overall by one run. The Indians finished second, a half-game behind Detroit.
Major League Debut
April 26, 1902 … Joss had one of the best debuts of any pitcher in history, hurling a 3-0 one-hitter over the Browns. The only hit was a single by Jesse Burkett
No-Hitter
10/2/1908: For CLE (A) vs. CHI (A), 1-0 at CLE. 9 innings pitched.
4/20/1910: For CLE (A) vs. CHI (A), 1-0 at CHI. 9 innings pitched.
Feats
Joss threw two no-hitters, and when Cy Young joined the Tribe’s staff in 1909, it gave Cleveland two pitchers with multiple no-hitters to their credit. On October 2, 1908, Joss turned in one of the most clutch performances by a pitcher in baseball history. With Cleveland in a tight race with both Chicago and Detroit for the American League pennant, Joss tossed a perfect game, setting down 27 straight White Sox batters to out-duel Ed Walsh, 1-0 (Walsh allowed just four hits and struck out 15)… Two years later, on April 20, 1910, Joss no-hit the ChiSox again, 1-0. In that game, Joss fielded ten balls from the pitcher’s spot flawlessly as he joined a select circle of two-time no-hit pitchers.
Replaced
The mysterious Pete Dowling, who pretty much disappeared after the 1901 season.
Replaced By
George Kahler, who went 6-4 with a 1.60 ERA for Cleveland in 1910.
Best Strength as a Player
Control
Largest Weakness as a Player
None. Joss was a tremendous pitcher, and he deserves more attention. His abbreviated career stacks up well against Sandy Koufax.
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