Joe Trimble

Joseph Gerard Trimble

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• High School La Salle Academy (Providence)
• Debut April 29, 1955
• Final Game July 14, 1957
• Born October 12, 1930 in Providence, RI USA
• Died August 11, 2011 in Lincoln, RI USA

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Biographical Information

Right-hander Joe Trimble was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cincinnati Reds before the 1949 season. The Rhode Island native spent his first season in pro baseball with two teams, the Lockport Reds of the PONY League and the Tyler Trojans of the East Texas League, putting together a combined record of 6-10 with a 5.09 ERA.

Joe spent the 1950 season with the Muskogee Reds of the Western Association, chalking up a 9-10 record with a 4.79 ERA while pitching 173 innings. Cincinnati released Joe before the 1951 season.

The twenty-year-old pitcher was then inducted into the United States Military Services and spent the next three years (1951-1953) with the Armed Forces during the Korean War. Joe was back before the 1954 season and signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates and spent the year with the Burlington-Graham Pirates of the class B Carolina League, where he won 9 times while losing 12 with a 3.02 ERA. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox on November 22, 1954 in the 1954 Rule V Draft.

Joe would have two stints in the majors, making two early-season appearances out of the 1955 Red Sox bullpen, allowing no runs or hits in two innings. The Red Sox, then sent Joe back to the Pirates on May 11, 1955, not being willing to keep him on their major league staf all season, as required under the terms of the Rule V draft. He finished the season big-time, with the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League, going 11-4 with a 3.27 ERA, his best numbers to date. Joe was back with the Hollywood club for the 1956 season, lost a wheel and went 4-11, just the opposite of his previous year.

Trimble spent the entire 1957 season with the Forbes Field club, where he appeared in five games and went 0-2 with an 8.24 ERA in 19 innings. This would be it for Joe in the big leagues. The twenty-seven-year-old spent 1958 with the Salt Lake City Bees of the Pacific Coast League, chalking up 4 wins and 4 losses in 88 innings and he decided to call it a career. Joe had spent six seasons in the minors when he left with a 43-51 record and a 4.26 ERA while pitching 834 innings.

After baseball, Trimble worked as a plant manager for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. He later retired in Lincoln, RI. Trimble passed away on August 11, 2011.

See also: Baseball Players of the 1950s

Related Sites

• Joe Trimble at the SABR Bio Project