| 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 record | 116–117 |
| Earned run average | 3.11 |
| Strikeouts | 1,065 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Joel Edward Horlen (August 14, 1937 – April 10, 2022) was an American professionalbaseballpitcher. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1972 for theChicago White Sox andOakland Athletics. In references, he is calledJoe Horlen orJoel Horlen with roughly equal frequency.[1]
From 1964 to 1968, Horlen led all American League pitchers with a 2.32 earned run average (ERA).[2] In his career, Horlen won 116 games against 117 losses, with a 3.11 ERA and 1,065 strikeouts in 2,002innings pitched.
He is the only baseball player to play for teams that won a Pony League World Series (1952), aCollege World Series (Oklahoma State, 1959), and a Major League World Series (Oakland, 1972).[3]
Horlen was born on August 14, 1937, inSan Antonio, Texas.[4] He attendedLuther Burbank High School, in San Antonio.[4] Horlen attended high school contemporaneously with future major league pitcherGary 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 attendedOklahoma State University and playedcollege baseball for theOklahoma 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 the1959 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.[8]
Horlen was signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1959. That year he pitched for theLincoln Chiefs.[9] The next season he pitched inSingle-A for theCharleston White Sox, and had a 7–5win–loss record with a 2.93earned run average (ERA).[9] He began 1961 pitching for theTriple-ASan Diego Padres, for whom he was 12–9 with a 2.51 ERA.[9]
Horlen made his Major League debut against theMinnesota Twins in the second game of a September 4, 1961doubleheader.[4][10] He won the game inrelief 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 Triple-AIndianapolis 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 ERA (1.88; second in the American League only toDean Chance's 1.65[11]) andstrikeouts (138), as theWhite Sox finished with a record of 98-64.[4] He also led the majors by allowing only 6.07 hits per nine innings, betteringSandy Koufax'sNational 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 theNew York Yankees andBaltimore 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, andJuan Pizarro),[13] but the team batting average was .247, with only 106 home runs.[14]
In 1965, Horlen was second in the league inshutouts (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 inwalks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) (.953).[17] He was named to the American LeagueAll-Star team for the only time in his career, but did not pitch in the game.[4][18]
On September 10, Horlen threw ano-hitter as the White Sox were involved in a four-way pennant race with the Twins,Boston Red Sox, andDetroit Tigers.[19] The only Detroit player to reach base wasBill 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 lowlyKansas City Athletics swept a doubleheader from the White Sox and effectively eliminatedEddie Stanky's "Hitless Wonders" (the White Sox led the Majors with a 2.45 earned run average but also posted a .225batting average, with no regular batting above .250[22]) from pennant contention.[23]
Horlen lost the second game, as 21-year-oldCatfish 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 toJim Lonborg, the star of the Red Sox staff, in the American LeagueCy Young Award balloting, and fourth inMost Valuable Player (MVP) voting, won by Boston'sCarl Yastrzemski.[4][29]
In 1968 Horlen led the AL in hit batsmen (14).[4] In 1970 he was fifth inbases on balls per nine innings pitched (2.14).[4] In 1971, he had knee surgery early in the season.[30] Inspring training of 1972, the White Sox released Horlen.[31]
Horlen later signed with Oakland, and pitched mostly in relief as the Athletics won the1972 World Series.[7] During the regular season he pitched in 32 games, with a 3–4 record.[4] He pitched 1.1 innings in relief in one World Series game, the only World Series appearance in his career, and was not involved in the decision.[32] This would be the final major league game of his career.
He had been the losing pitcher in Game 4 of the1972 American League Championship Series against theDetroit Tigers. He entered the game as a relief pitcher in the bottom of the 10th inning, with the A's leading 3–1. The Tigers had runners on first and second base. Horlen threw a wild pitch and then gave up a base on balls toGates Brown loading the bases. The next batter hit a ground ball that could have been a double play, but the A's had inexperiencedGene Tenace at second base who mishandled the throw from third basemanSal Bando allowing a run to score, and leading to Horlen's removal from the game. Horlen's replacement was ineffective and Brown eventually scored the winning run for the Tigers, placing the loss on Horlen.[33]
In 1993, he was inducted into the Oklahoma State University Cowboys Baseball Hall of Fame.[8] In 2004, he was inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame.[2] In 2017, he was inducted into the San Antonio Independent School District Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.[6]
In 1973 he pitched for theDouble-ASan Antonio Brewers, going 6–1 with a 2.87 ERA.[9] In 1989, Horlen played for theSt. Lucie Legends of theSenior Professional Baseball Association.[34]
In 1981, Horlenconverted to Judaism when he married Lois Eisenstein.[7][35][36][37]
In 2017, it was announced that he hadAlzheimer's disease.[2] He died on April 10, 2022, at the age of 84.[38][39]
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