Joe Stanley (stanljo02)

Joseph Bernard Stanley

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9½", Weight 150 lb.

• Debut September 11, 1897
• Final Game September 26, 1909
• Born April 2, 1881 in Washington, DC USA
• Died September 13, 1967 in Detroit, MI USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Joe Stanley broke in as a pitcher but got most of his playing time as an outfielder.

Stanley was a major leaguer at age 16 with the Washington Senators for one game in 1897. He was the youngest player in the National League. When he came back in 1902 with the Senators, they were now in the American League (although the two teams were not directly related), and Stanley was still one of the ten youngest players in the league. He went 4 for 12.

Stanley finally got some playing time with the Boston Beaneaters of 1903 who gave him 308 at-bats, the most in one season in his major league career. He hit .250 on a team that hit .245. He came back to Washington in 1905, hitting .261 on a team that hit .224. He closed out his career with the Chicago Cubs in 1909, in the only year during the 1906-1910 period when they did not win the pennant. He hit two career homers - and both of them were grand slams. The first came on August 12, 1903, off Jock Menefee of the Chicago Cubs, and the second on September 26, 1905.

He was the second player with the name "Joe Stanley" to come to the big leagues; the other Joe Stanley played briefly in 1884, but about whom almost nothing is known.

He managed the Springfield Reapers of the Central League in 1913 and 1914 and the Lynchburg Shoemakers of the Virginia League in 1917

Although Stanley broke into the majors in 1897, he was still alive in 1966 when Nolan Ryan broke into the majors. Stanley died in Detroit, MI in 1967, a few months after John Smoltz was born there in the same year. He was the half-brother of Buck Stanley. Both brothers were taken in the 1908 Rule V Draft.

Further Reading

• Chuck Hildebrandt: "Sweet! 16-Year-Old Players in Major League History", Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 48, Nr. 1, Spring 2019, pp. 5-17.