Joe Winkelsas

Joseph Winkelsas

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 188 lb.
• School University of South Carolina, Elon University
• High School Bishop Timon High School
• Debut April 10, 1999
• Final Game June 9, 2006
• Born September 14, 1973 in Buffalo, NY USA

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Biographical Information

Pitcher Joe Winkelsas made his big league debut in 1999 with the Atlanta Braves but waited more than seven years to play a second game in the majors. In the minors, Joe began pitching in 1996, and in 2007 played for the Mississippi Braves in Double A and the Richmond Braves in Triple A in the Braves organization. It was his 12th minor league season, and he has pitched for only three different organizations in all that time. He then pitched one more season in the affiliated minors in 2008, and after a year away returned to pitch a few games for the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League in 2010, before finally ending his career.

In the minors, he was solely a reliever, appearing in nearly 300 games.

He made his major league debut with the Braves, giving up 2 runs, 4 hits, and 1 walk against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 10, 1999, before being returned to the minors, where he battled not only on the field but off, including time in rehab for his marijuana habit [1]. After being let go by the Braves in 2003, he spent some time in the Chicago White Sox organization before they eventually cut him as well. He was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers as a minor league free agent on January 28, 2006 and returned to the big leagues on May 23rd of that year. Winkelsas appeared in 7 games for the Brewers, posting a 7.71 ERA. In June he was sent back to the minors, but after just 5 games there, he retired.

His return to the major leagues after seven years away signaled a remarkable comeback. He had worked for a while in the sanitation department of the City of Tonawonda, NY, and as a volunteer coach at Niagara University before being convinced to give baseball another shot.

Ironically, despite giving up 6 earned runs in 7 innings with the Brewers, his performance with the club brought his career ERA down from 54.00 to a much lower 9.82.

Following the 2006 season, Winkelsas returned to baseball again, signing with the Braves organization.