Addie Joss: King of the Pitchers

by Scott H. Longert

As a seven-year-old growing up in the small town of Juneau, Wisconsin, Adrian "Addie" Joss had one ambition: To be a ballplayer. He excelled at the high school level, town ball, semi-pro and one year of college. Through hard work and a tremendous fast ball, he earned a tryout with the minor league Toledo Mud Hens. He made the best of the opportunity, and in 1902 became a member of the American League's Cleveland Blues. In his first Major League start against the St. Louis Browns he allowed only one hit, a disputed pop fly single. Weeks later he nearly had a no-hitter against Detroit. In the ninth inning, angry Tiger fans stormed the field, taunting the twenty-two-year-old pitcher. The Tigers got a hit, yet notice was served that Addie Joss had the goods. From 1905 through 1908, Joss won twenty games each season, with a high of twenty-seven in 1907. He had established himself as an elite pitcher, going head-to-head with Rube Waddell, Eddie Plank, Ed Walsh and Walter Johnson. Fans in their suits and straw hats were spellbound watching Addie mow down batter after batter. Even with tiny wooden ballparks and fans standing in the outfield, Joss continued to rack up the wins, including a legendary perfect game in the midst of a fantastic 1908 pennant race between Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago. Addie Joss was not just a Hall of Fame pitcher. He was an accomplished sportswriter, editing the Sunday sports page for the Toledo News Bee. He wrote features for newspapers all around the United States. Addie had a magnetic personality with friends in every Major League city. Tragically, he only lived to be thirty-one-years-old, dying of tubercular meningitis before the start of the 1911 season. King of the Pitchers takes the reader back to a golden time before radio, television and the earliest computers. A time when fans left their jobs early and boarded a streetcar to get to the ballpark. Scott Longert's book is a must read for baseball fans of any generation.

Genres: Baseball, Biography, Sports, Nonfiction

110 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Scott H. Longert, an avid baseball historian, has an undergraduate degree from the Ohio State University and an M.A. degree in American History from Cleveland State University. He has spent many years in the history field serving as the Sports Archivist for the Western Reserve Historical Society and Site Manager for Shandy Hall, an 1815 home in northeast Ohio. Scott was a Park Ranger for the National Park Service, stationed at the James A. Garfield National Historic Site until his recent retirement.

Scott has been a freelance writer for twenty- five years, publishing news articles on baseball history for The Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine, The National Pastime, The Baseball Research Journal and TimeLine Magazine.

In addition to writing, Scott is an accomplished speaker, presenting talks on Cleveland baseball history and League Park. He spoke at the 100th anniversary ceremony of Addie Joss's perfect game, held on the grounds of historic League Park. Scott enjoys speaking to groups and organizations all around northeast Ohio. Check the home page for dates and times.

As a huge Indians fan Scott and his wife Vicki attend many games each summer, patiently waiting for another World Series appearance. Although it finally happened in 2016 both Scott and Vicki will remain loyal fans until the end of time.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty standard, straightforward biography of an early twentieth century pitcher. I picked it up out of curiosity while in Cooperstown last year…wanting to know how Addie Joss had come to die at such a young age (31; tuberculosis exacerbated by meningitis). I also wondered how a 31-year-old came to look at least twenty years older by the time of his death (I presume this was a result of his illness as there’s no mention of hard living). It’s written primarily from contemporary newspaper accounts with the twist that Joss often acted as a reporter so the author quotes some of his own material, which is written in the trite, stilted manner of the time. It’s very short in keeping with what must be limited material describing a short life. Despite being published by the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR), there’s no mention of advanced metrics to speak of, probably due to having been published in 1999. Scott Longert has written a number of books about Cleveland baseball, but this was the first. I’m not sure if I’ll read more…not that the book was bad, but more because I’m not that interested in the Indians.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good biography of a little-known Hall of Famer. There were some typos, most notable was one that made it appear as if Honus Wagner played for Cleveland, which caused me to briefly second guess everything I thought I knew about baseball history. Other than that it was a nice read about a man who lived a couple hours away and played baseball down the road...and whom I knew next to nothing about.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story of the life of the great Cleveland pitcher, Addie Joss. It appears there was no editor because there are a list of typos in the book.

[Ron Kaplan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Addie Joss,biography

[Luke Koran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Addie Joss, the greatest baseball pitcher that many have never even heard of, is given the honor he so rightfully deserves in this 130 page biography. Longert, a baseball historian who has produced numerous articles and three books about baseball in northeast Ohio, (likely) painstakingly researched numerous primary sources from both the 19th and early 20th century in detailing the life and career of "The Human Hairpin." As a history major myself and avid baseball card collector (and diligent researcher of those players I select for my collection), I was very curious when I was looking for baseball biographies to purchase when I came across this small-but-detailed literary work on the Hall of Famer Addie Joss. Joss initially sparked my interest while I was building my baseball card collection beyond the big name stars, past and present. I noticed Joss in several places - he has the second lowest ERA at 1.89 in Major League Baseball history, he threw only the fourth perfect game EVER, and is in the Hall of Fame EVEN THOUGH he only officially played nine years in the majors (a minimum of ten playing seasons is required for induction). That last part got me wondering ... how did a player get in the Hall of Fame without playing at least ten years? Did his playing career earn that honor, and convincingly so? Internet research wasn't enough for me. I needed to read about this guy - makes no difference if it's a 130 page book or a 300 pager. Someone prove to me that he is that good.

Longert takes up that offer, and goes one (giant) step further. He proclaims Joss as the "King of Pitchers." After reading this book in a few days, I am indeed convinced of Addie's Hall of Fame status. DONE - my initial goal and curiosity: accomplished. However, I'm not sure if Longert, or any author for that matter, could possibly convince me that the #1 pitcher of all time was one who pitched pretty well, and oftentimes excellent, during "only" nine seasons but is a man who was dead and buried within a week of his 31st birthday. However, it is incredible to see his final stat line: 160-97, 1.89 ERA, 920 strikeouts, two no-hitters (includes the perfect game), seven one-hitters, 45 shoutouts, and fewest walks allowed per game. In the end, I feel good about bestowing this new title unto this man from rural southeastern Wisconsin: "Addie Joss: High Prince of the Pitchers."

Final note: If I had any qualm with this work, it would be the occasional literary misstep or failure to further explain or remind the reader of the significance of certain events or persons. However, that's all forgiven since not only did the author produce the first Joss biography and at a high quality, but he also uncovered numerous instances of Ty Cobb being a first-class gentleman to Addie, both during Joss' life and death. Ty Cobb deserves a better legacy than the one many have bestowed upon him. Thank you, Mr. Longert, for doing so much good in this biography. I tip my hat to you.