1977 Topps Baseball #256 - Joe Hoerner

• Joe Hoerner returns to the baseball card world after a one year absence. This was Joe's final card.
• Hoerner made all 493 of his major league appearances as a reliever.
• Joe was signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1957. He was pitching in the low minors that year and combined with another pitcher on a no-hitter. 
• Early in his minor league career Joe experienced heart-related blackout spells. In one game in 1958 he  felt his heart racing and then blacked out on the mound. Hoerner was unconscious for several hours and even was given the last rites of the Catholic Church. Joe regained consciousness a few hours later and was pitching again in a few days.
• Hoerner continued to have the blackouts on the mound in 1959. Various doctors were consulted and they had a couple of theories about the cause of the blackouts. Finally someone suggested that Joe alter his pitching motion in order to keep from constricting an artery in his arm. Hoerner dropped down and became a sidearmer.
• Joe continued to pitch in the White Sox organization through the 1961 season. After the season Hoerner was selected by the expansion Houston Colt .45s in the minor league draft.
• Hoerner pitched in the minors in 1962 and in 1963. As part of a publicity stunt, Joe was included in a lineup of all rookie players on September 27, 1963. Hoerner pitched three scoreless innings. It was his only appearance for Houston during the season.
• In 1964 Joe spent most of the year in the minors. He had a short stint with Houston in late April and early May. Hoerner was 0-0 with a 4.91 ERA in seven games for the Colt .45s.
• Hoerner spent the entire 1965 season in the minors. After the 1965 season Hoerner was pitching winter ball in Puerto Rico and both Roberto Clemente and a St. Louis Cardinals scout wondered why Joe wasn't in the majors yet. The scout must have said something to the Cardinals management because Hoerner was drafted by the team in the Rule 5 draft.
• Joe made the St. Louis ballclub in 1966. He had a good year, going 5-1 with 13 saves and had a 1.54 ERA in 57 appearances. 
• Hoerner's ERA was up a bit in 1967, but he was still an effective reliever. He was 4-4 with 15 saves and had a 2.59 ERA in 57 games. In the World Series Joe made two appearances. He was roughed up in one of the games and had a 40.50 ERA for the series. After the Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games, Hoerner severed the tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand when a champagne bottle he was holding exploded.
• Joe was concerned about how the injury would affect his career, but he didn't have much to worry about. Hoerner got either a win or a save in his first seven appearances and ended up with an 8-2 record, 17 saves, and a 1.47 ERA in 47 games. Joe saved game 3 of the World Series but took the loss in game 5. In three appearances Hoerner had a 3.86 ERA.
• Joe's last year with the Cardinals was 1969. He was 2-3 with 15 saves and a 2.87 ERA in 45 games.
• After the 1969 season Joe went to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of the big Curt Flood deal. Hoerner was disappointed in the deal (he had put down roots in St. Louis and formed Cardinal Travel with teammate Dal Maxvill), but he reported to his new team.
• Hoerner had another good year in 1970. He was 9-5 with 9 saves and had a 2.65 ERA in 44 games. Joe was selected to the NL All Star team and was one of the few players who didn't get into the game. As Pete Rose was barreling over Ray Fosse in the 12th inning Joe was completing his warmup tosses (he was due to come in the game in the 13th inning). Joe was briefly hospitalized during spring training when he collided with a photographer while trying to catch a ball.
• Joe went 4-5 and had 9 saves and had a 1.97 ERA in 49 games in 1971. It was his last good year.
• Hoerner started the 1972 season with the Phillies. He was 0-2 with 3 saves and had a 2.08 ERA on June 15 when he was traded (with Andre Thornton) to the Atlanta Braves for Jim Nash and Gary Neibauer. Joe wasn't as effective with the Braves -- he went 1-3 and had a 6.56 ERA in 25 games.
• Joe was on the move again in 1973. He started the year with the Braves (2-2, 6.39 ERA in 20 games), was out for a couple of months recovering from knee surgery, and was sold to the Kansas City Royals on July 18. Hoerner went 2-0 with a 5.12 ERA for the Royals in '73.
• Hoerner spent the whole 1974 season with the Royals. He went 2-3 with 2 saves and had a 3.82 ERA. Joe was released by the Royals after the 1974 season and he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Joe wasn't used very much by the Phillies in 1975. He was used mostly as a situational lefty. Hoerner pitched in 25 games (but only 21 innings) and had a 2.57 ERA. Joe was released after the season and signed with the Texas Rangers.
• The fact that Hoerner pitched only 21 innings in 1975 probably influenced Topps' decision not to give him a card in 1976. Joe appeared in 41 games in 1976 but pitched only 35 innings. He was 0-4 with eight saves and had a 5.14 ERA. 
• Hoerner was released by the Rangers before the 1977 season. Joe was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in late April. Hoerner made eight appearances (0-0, 12.71 ERA) from late June to early August. He also appeared in 12 games for AAA Indianapolis (2-1, 2 saves, 10.50 ERA). Joe was released after the 1977 season and retired.
• Hoerner died in a farming accident on October 4, 1996. He was tilling a friend's field when somehow he got pinned between the tractor fender and a tree trunk.
• Joe Hoerner's SABR biography
• 1977 Stats:
• Cincinnati Reds - 0-0, 12.71 ERA in 8 games
• Indianapolis (AAA) - 2-1, 2 saves, 10.50 ERA in 12 games
• 1977 Highlights:
• Aug 5 - Joe was mopping up in the 9th inning of a 12-1 Reds loss. After retiring the first two batters Hoerner hit Pirate shortstop Frank Taveras with a pitch. Taveras charged the mound and Joe punched him in the face. Both players were ejected. It was the last pitch Joe threw in a major league game.
• Other card blogs: 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975