Joe Harris (harrijo02)

Joseph Lionel White Harris

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 198 lb.
• High School Melrose (MA) High School
• Debut September 22, 1905
• Final Game October 5, 1907
• Born February 1, 1882 in Melrose, MA USA
• Died April 12, 1966 in Melrose, MA USA

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Biographical Information

Talk about hard luck: Despite an ERA of 3.35 during his three years with the Boston Americans and a respectable WHIP of 1.174, Joe Harris only managed to win 3 of his 33 career decisions. The ERA is misleading, however, as this was the heart of the deadball era and his ERA+ was only 81, showing he was well below average, although not as much as his win/loss record would imply. In 1906, his record was 2-21 and he led the American League in losses. On September 1st, he faced Jack Coombs of the Philadelphia Athletics in an epic duel: the game lasted 24 innings and both pitchers went all the way, with Harris ending up on the losing end of a 4-1 final score when he gave up three runs in the 24th after pitching 20 straight scoreless frames. He racked up a career-high 14 strikeouts that day, while Coombs had 18 for a combined total of 32 which has not been matched since that day.

Joe went 25-9 for the Fall River Indians of the New England League in 1905. He worked one American League game as an umpire in 1906.

He is not to be confused with a later Joe Harris, who was a position player. That later player is sometimes called "Moon Harris".

After his professional baseball days, he became a firefighter for 30 years.

Notable Achievements

• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 1 (1905)

Related Sites

• Joe Harris at the SABR Bio Project