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Joel Edward Horlen
Chicago White Sox
Pitcher
Born: August 14, 1937, San Antonio, TX
Signed: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams: Chicago White Sox 1961-1971; Oakland Athletics 1972
Joel Horlen, known as Joe to his friends, had an impressive run with the White Sox through the entire decade of the 1960s during which he was one of the most underrated starting pitchers in the American League. Horlen won at least 10 games in seven straight seasons between 1963 and 1969, and his 2.32 ERA between 1964 and 1968 led all American League pitchers. His career year came in 1967 when he made the All-Star team, finished with a 19-7 record and led the league with a 2.06 ERA and six shutouts. One of the those shutouts was a no-hitter thrown on September 10, 1967 against the pennant-contending Tigers. Horlen finished second in the Cy Young voting behind Jim Lonborg (#573) and was fourth in the overall league MVP voting.
He pitched for four more seasons with the White Sox and signed with the Athletics in April 1972. In his final season in the majors, Horlen was one of the more frequently used relievers out of the Oakland bullpen, pitching mainly in long relief, and his 84 innings pitched were second only to closer Rollie Fingers. Horlen saw postseason action in 1972, and capped his career with a World Series ring when the Athletics downed the Reds in seven games. In 361 career games, Horlen was 116-117 with a 3.11 ERA and 1,065 strikeouts. He'd stay in baseball throughout the early 2000s as a minor league pitching coach within the Indians, Mets, Royals, Giants and Padres organizations.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
The Card / White Sox Team Set
Horlen first appeared in the set way back on card #7 with 1964 American League ERA leader Dean Chance (#140). Oddly enough, the leaders card shows Horlen's 1964 ERA as 1.92, while this card contains the correct 1.88 number. His nine complete games are highlighted in cartoon form on the back, and Topps also alludes to his poor run support from the White Sox offense, given his 13-9 record in 1964.
1965 Season
The White Sox were in a pennant race all season and Horlen was arguably the staff ace. He started 34 games, tops on the team, and was 13-13 with a 2.88 ERA. His 219 innings pitched led the pitching staff and Tommy John (#208) had one more strikeout than Horlen - 126 to 125. He was a victim of poor run support throughout the season, with the White Sox scoring two runs or fewer in eight of his losses.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #479
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1962-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Fleer ProCards #1537
98 - Horlen non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/21/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
Card #455
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Horlen card which was a little less than $4 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
Horlen first appeared in the set way back on card #7 with 1964 American League ERA leader Dean Chance (#140). Oddly enough, the leaders card shows Horlen's 1964 ERA as 1.92, while this card contains the correct 1.88 number. His nine complete games are highlighted in cartoon form on the back, and Topps also alludes to his poor run support from the White Sox offense, given his 13-9 record in 1964.
1965 Season
The White Sox were in a pennant race all season and Horlen was arguably the staff ace. He started 34 games, tops on the team, and was 13-13 with a 2.88 ERA. His 219 innings pitched led the pitching staff and Tommy John (#208) had one more strikeout than Horlen - 126 to 125. He was a victim of poor run support throughout the season, with the White Sox scoring two runs or fewer in eight of his losses.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #479
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1962-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Fleer ProCards #1537
98 - Horlen non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/21/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #479 Ken Harrelson - Kansas City Athletics
Previous Card: #479 Ken Harrelson - Kansas City Athletics
Next Card: #481 Cleveland Indians Team Card
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