Addie Joss

At 31 years old, Addie Joss has this physical status:

Adrian "Addie" Joss (April 12, 1880 – April 14, 1911), also known as "The Human Hairpin," was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Between 1902 and 1910, he pitched for the Cleveland Bronchos, later known as the Naps.

Joss, a 6 foot 3 inches (1.91 m) and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg), pitched the fourth perfect game in baseball history (which, incidentally, was the second of the modern era).

His 1.89 career earned run average (ERA) is the second lowest in MLB history, behind Ed Walsh. Joss was born and raised in Wisconsin, where he attended St. Mary's College (later part of the Wyalusing Academy) in Prairie du Chien and the University of Wisconsin.

He played baseball at St. Mary's and later competed in a semi-pro league where Connie Mack attracted his attention.

Joss did not sign with Mack's staff, but he piqued even more major league interest after winning 19 games for the Toledo Mud Hens in 1900.

In 1901, Joss had another good season for Toledo. He made his Cleveland debut in 1902 after an offseason labor dispute between Joss, Toledo, and Cleveland.

Joss was the league's top shutouts last year.

Joss had won the first of his four straight 20-win seasons by 1905.

Joss served as a newspaper sports reporter from 1906 to his death.

He pitched a superb game in 1908 during a close pennant tournament that saw Cleveland finish a half-game out of first place; it was the closest that Joss came to a World Series berth.

Joss missed the bulk of the year due to injury, and the 1910 season was his last. Joss became sick in April 1911 and died the following month as a result of tuberculous meningitis.

He finished his career with 160 victories, 234 complete games, 45 shutouts, and 920 strikeouts.

Despite that Joss spent only nine seasons and missed significant playing time due to a variety of ailments, the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Board of Directors approved a special bill in 1977 that eliminated the minimum playing career for Hall of Fame eligibility.

In 1978, he was elected into the Veterans Committee of the United States.

Early life

Addie Joss was born in Woodland, Dodge County, Wisconsin, on April 12, 1880. Jacob and Theresa (née Staudenmeyer) were farmers; his father, a cheesemaker who was active in local politics, immigrated from Switzerland. He died of liver disease in 1890, when Joss was ten years old; Joss stayed sober as a result of his father's death. Joss was a junior and Portage high school at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in Juneau and Portage. He left high school and started teaching himself by age 16. He was given a scholarship to attend St. Mary's College (also known as Sacred Heart College) in Watertown, where he competed on the school's baseball team. P.21 He attended the University of Wisconsin (now University of Wisconsin–Madison), where he studied engineering. Officials in Watertown were impressed with the team's professionalism and sent it on a semi-pro circuit. p.21 Joss played his unique pitching windup during his time on the semi-pro circuit, which required hiding the ball until the very last moment of his delivery. p.21.

In the Western League, Connie Mack sent a scout to watch Joss and then offer the young pitcher a job with his Albany club in the Western League, which the Joss declined. p.22 Joss played in 1899 for a team in Oshkosh, earning $10 per week ($326 in today's money). Joss joined the junior team in Manitowoc, which had been divided into two teams, as a second baseman, and was soon promoted to the senior squad, where he was developed into a pitcher. He was spotted by a scout for the Toledo Mud Hens and in 1900, he accepted a position with the team for $75 per month ($2,443). P.22 In Ohio, he was named "the best amateur pitcher in the state" and was named "the best amateur pitcher in the state." He appeared in the team's 16-8 victory on April 28 and started the Mud Hens' season opener. In 1900, he played in 19 games for the club.

The Boston Americans of the upstart American League, who were a student in the Massachusetts department, charged Toledo $1,500 ($48,858) to buy out Joss's contract midway through the 1901 season. The National League's St. Louis Cardinals matched Boston's bid, though Toledo turned down both bids. Joss continued to pitch for the Mud Hens and by the end of the 1901 season, he had won 27 games and had 216 strikeouts (some sources say he had 25 games). p.22. p.47 He was dubbed "the God of the Western League" by some people. "P.47 is the time of a lifetime" in the United States.

Joss returned to Wisconsin after the season ended, leading Racine to the 1901 Wisconsin baseball state championship against Rube Waddell's Kenosha team. He also played American football at Beloit College and played American football. p.47 Joss was reported that he had signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League as early as August 18 and received a $400 advance ($13,029), but Joss denied receiving any money. p.47 Md Hens owner Charles Stroebel announced on August 12 that he had signed Joss and other Mud Hens players for the 1902 season, which was under the National League's watchdogs until September 1901. The Cleveland Bronchos sold $500 ($16,286) to Toledo in exchange for Joss and manager Bob Gilks, who would be a scout for Cleveland before 1901. Joss joined the American League, valuing baseball talent to rival the National League, according to Toledo and Joss. Charles Ebbets, the Dodgers' owner, arranged a meeting for Joss, but Joss denied, and Joss let it be known that he told Stroebel he would play for the Mud Hens in 1902 and received a $150 ($4,698) advance in February 1902.

Joss joined Cleveland in March 1902. Toledo sportswriters condemned Joss' argument, one writing that "he voluntarily signed a contract [with Toledo] for this season, but after Bill Armour of Cleveland delivered him the $500 bill, he skipped off like a whipped curmency. "p.48 Stroebel later argued that Joss had only recovered $100 of the $300 amount." Joss was charged with a criminal charge for not returning the full amount in advance, and Stroebel brought court action against him. On April 26, Joss made his major league debut with the Bronchos, and two days later, he turned himself in in Toledo, accompanied by Bronchos majority owner Charles Somers, who was also American League vice president Charles Somers. The court set the bond at $500 ($15,660). Stroebel also filed a civil suit against the Bronchos, claiming that his company had been harmed, but Stroebel denied charges against the Bronchos in July, but the Bronchos reportedly agreed to drop charges after they signed Bronchos pitcher Jack Lundbom. The time has come, p.48 p.m.

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Major league career

Joss made his major league debut against the St. Louis Browns against the Cleveland Bronchos (also known as the Bluebirds). Jesse Burkett of the Cleveland Browns made a shallow pop fly in the direction of right fielder Zaza Harvey. Harvey did not make a clean catch, according to home plate umpire Bob Caruthers, so Burkett was credited with a hit. (Harvey and witnesses said the ball never touched the ground.) With a one-hitter, Joss' first appearance in the major leagues came to an end.

During his rookie season in Major League, Joss posted a 17–13 record and 2.77 ERA. With five shutouts, he led the American League.

Joss married Lillian Shinivar in Monroe, Michigan, on October 11, 1902. Shinivar was in attendance when Joss made his Mud Hens debut in 1900. Norman, the couple's son, and Ruth, their daughter. p. 35 Joss was selected to the All-Americans, an all-star squad from the American League who played exhibition games against their National League counterparts. In honor of second baseman Nap Lajoie, the Cleveland organization changed the team's name to the "Naps" in the 1903 season. In Joss' second year, he went 18-13-13 and lowered his ERA from the season to 2.19. His walks had a maximum pitch per inning pitched (WHIP), and he was a MLB-low 0.948.

The 24-year-old Joss went 14-10-38 with a 1.59 ERA and did not give up a home run in 1904, but did not give up a home run during the season. Illness's tenure in the season had a shortened start. In 1905, he had his first 20-win seasons in 1905 as he finished the season with a 20–12 record and a 2.01 ERA. He had a career-high 132 strikeouts. His 1.72 ERA in 1906 was third in the league, and he finished with a 21–9 record and tied for the first time with nine shutouts. Joss made his first ten starts in 1907, his first ten starts. During the season, he threw two one-hitters, the first against the Detroit Tigers on September 4 and the second against the New York Highlanders on September 25. It was just the second time since 1900 that two pitchers from the same team threw back-to-back one-hitters when teammate Heinie Berger threw his own one-hitter on September 26. Joss finished the season with career-best wins (finished 27–11) and 338+2nd innings pitched. His win total tied for second in the American League, and his WHIP was second-best (behind Cy Young), while both his complete game (34) and shutout (6) totals were third-best in the league.

The Naps' home field, League Park, was expanded by around 4,000 seats before the 1908 season began. The Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and Naps were all competing for the postseason, with one of the closest and most exciting known. "p.56": p.56 As the Detroit Tigers came back from a half-game behind the Detroit Naps in the regular season, they were a half-game behind the Chicago White Sox in a match against the Chicago White Sox, who trailed the Naps by a single game. Game attendance was announced at 10,598, which was described by sportswriter Franklin Lewis as a "good turnout for a weekday."

Joss took the field for the Naps in what was one of the best ever pitching duels, while the White Sox pitcher was future Hall of Famer Ed Walsh. In the 1–0 game, neither pitcher will give up an earned run. Walsh, who was battling through his own 39 wins, knocked out 15 batters, leaving only one base on balls and only four scattered hits by the Naps. Joe Birmingham of the Naps scored the team's first run in the third inning, resulting in the lone, unearned run scored as a result of a botched pickoff play and a wild pitch. One writer put it best: "A mouse struggling across the grandstand floor must have sounded like a shovel scraping over concrete." Joss retired the first two batters in the ninth after facing the minimum 24 batters in the first eight innings. Joss then met White Sox pinch hitter John Anderson. Anderson hit a line drive that might have resulted in a double if it hadn't gone foul. Bill Bradley, the third baseman for Naps, was thrown by Bradley before handing the ball to first baseman George Stovall. Stovall made the final out of the dirt by digging the ball out of the dirt. Joss won his second game in the MLB's modern era. He made the feat with just 74 pitches, the lowest known pitch count in a perfect game ever. Fans swarmed the field. "I never would have done it without Larry Lajoie and Stovall's fielding and without Birmingham's base running after the game," Joss said after the game. Walsh was a natural performer, but we needed two lucky strikes to win. "p.57": The p.57 is a p.57 p.m.

Joss averaged 0.83 walks per nine innings for the season, making him one of the worst 29 pitchers in MLB history to walk less than one walk per nine innings. His season-ending WHIP of.806 is his fifth-lowest single-season record in MLB history. The Naps ended with a 90-64 record, a half-game behind Detroit. It was the nearest Joss ever to a World Series appearance.

Joss failed in 1909 as a result of exhaustion; by September, he was officially out of action for the season after four years. Joss finished the year with a 14-13 record in 242+2nd innings pitched and a 1.71 ERA. He ranked fourth in the American League and third in WHIP (.944).

On April 20, 1910, Joss pitched his second no-hitter against the White Sox, becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to no-hit the San Diego Padres in both 2013 and 2014. Freddy Parent of the White Sox hit a ball against third base in the second inning. Bill Bradley struggled to field the ball properly, and therefore his throw to first base was not in time to get Parent out. The first ruling on the field was a base hit, but it was later changed to an error. Joss stopped walking for two walks and got 10 assists. Due to a torn ligament injury in his right elbow, he made just 13 appearances this season. On July 25, Joss made his last game of the season, but the game was called to the fifth inning due to arm soreness. In a 4–0 loss, he allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts. The Naps lost 71–82. Joss had a 5–5 record in 107+1,3 innings in his last major league season. The Naps were 71-81 last year. This was the fifth time in Joss' nine years that the franchise had finished with a losing record.

45 of Joss' 160 major league victories were shutouts, 45 of which were shutouts. Joss' 1.89 career ERA is ranked second all-time (to Ed Walsh), and his 0.97 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) is the lowest in MLB history. p.27 He finished with a 160-97 record, 234 complete games, and 920 strikeouts.

Joss' repertoire included a fastball, a "slow ball" (today known as a shaker), and a "highly efficient" curve. Joss' fastball third (1900–1904) and sixth (1905–1909) in the major leagues were ranked by baseball analysts Rob Neyer and Bill James. "He thought that with a few well-crafted deliveries, he'd have more control and success with less strain on his arm," George Moriarty said. Joss played with spitball pitchers for a while, but he didn't change the baseball. "A corkscrew windup motion" was described as "an exaggerated pinwheel motion" by Joss. "He'll turn his back against the batter as he progressed, concealing the ball all the while, then whip around and fire it in," shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh predicted.

Joss was accompanied by illness and injuries throughout his career. In 1903, a high fever forced him to miss the last month of the season. He contracted malaria in April 1904 and then missed several starts due to a back injury in 1905.

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