#522 Joe Hoerner - St. Louis Cardinals

Joseph Walter Hoerner
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  200
Born:  November 12, 1936, Dubuque, IA
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams:  Houston Colt .45s 1963-1964; St. Louis Cardinals 1966-1969; Philadelphia Phillies 1970-1972; Atlanta Braves 1972-1973; Kansas City Royals 1973-1974; Philadelphia Phillies 1975; Texas Rangers 1976; Cincinnati Reds 1977

World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1967-1968
Died:  October 4, 1996, Hermann, MO (age 59)

Joe Hoerner was a veteran of 14 big league seasons, never making a start while appearing exclusively in relief for 493 games.  For nine seasons, between and 1957 and 1965, Hoerner toiled in the minor league stystems of the White Sox and the Colt .45s, eventually only appearing in eight major leagues for the Colt .45s in 1963 and 1964.  He'd finally get his chance as a major leaguer with the Cardinals in 1966, and Hoerner would save at least 13 games each season between 1966 and 1969, with the Cardinals winning the National League pennant in 1967 and 1968.  Hoerner would get hit hard in the 1967 World Series, with the Cardinals winning in seven games over the Red Sox, and he'd save Game 3 of the 1968 World Series, as his team fell to the Tigers in seven games.  Hoerner was dealt to the Phillies following the 1969 season, and he'd continue his success by making his only All-Star team in 1970.  Between 1966 and 1971, Hoerner was one of the league's top relievers, recording 77 saves and earning a 2.16 ERA in 299 games pitched.  His save tally was 8th among all relievers in that span, with Ron Perranoski (#77) topping the list with exactly 100 saves.

1976 SSPC #456

Hoerner would pitch for six more seasons in the majors, never quite finding the success he had with the Cardinals and during his first stint with the Phillies.  For his career, Hoerner was 39-34 with a 2.99 ERA and 98 saves, striking out 412 in 563 innings pitched.

Building the Set / Card #69
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Hoerner card which was $6.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

The cartoon on the back highlights Hoerner striking out six straight Mets in a game on June 1, 1968.  The six victims were Al Weis (#269), Ron Swoboda (#585), Don Bosch (#578), Greg Goossen, Jerry Buchek and Jerry Grote (#55).  Grote struck out to end the game, ending Hoerner's streak.

Accuracy Index:  Hoerner's card scores a +5 for featuring the pitcher in a Cardinals uniform in a photo collectors hadn't seen before.

1969 Season
Hoerner was again the Cardinals' closer, saving 15 games and going 2-3 with a 2.87 ERA in 45 relief appearances.  His longest outing resulting in a save came on May 14th against the Dodgers when he pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.  On October 7th, Hoerner, Byron Browne, Curt Flood (#540) and Tim McCarver (#475) were traded to the Phillies for Dick Allen (#350), Jerry Johnson (#253) and Cookie Rojas (#507).  Flood refused to report to the Phillies and was replaced in the deal with Willie Montanez and Jim Browning.

Phillies Career
Hoerner was shocked to have been traded away from the Cardinals, and he'd serve as a left-handed set-up man to closer Dick Selma (#197) for most of the 1970 season.  Still, he was the team's sole selection to the 1970 All-Star Game, although he didn't appear in the game.  Wearing #43, Hoerner appeared in 44 games in 1970 for the Phillies, second only in relief appearances to Selma's 73.  He had an even more successful year in 1971, taking over the closing duties and leading the Phillies with nine saves.  He earned a 1.97 ERA in 49 relief appearances for a Phillies team that would lose 95 games.  In 1972, Hoerner was briefly reunited with his former Cardinals teammate Steve Carlton (#255), who would go 27-10 on the way to winning his first Cy Young Award.  On June 15, 1972, Hoerner and Andre Thornton were traded to the Braves for right-handed pitchers Jim Nash (#546) and Gary Neibauer (#611).

He'd be briefly reunited with the Phillies when they signed him as a free agent before the 1975 season.  Now a veteran of 38 years old, Hoerner would make 25 appearances, pitching only 21 innings, missing all of August presumably due to injury.  He was released on October 24, 1975, ending his second stint with the Phillies.  In total, he was 13-12 with a 2.28 ERA for the Phillies, recording 21 saves.

1964 Topps #544

1968 Topps #227

1971 Topps #166

1974 Topps #493

1977 Topps #256

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1964 Topps #544
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12):  1964, 1966-1975, 1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1977 Topps #256
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  37 in the Beckett online database as of 2/19/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
The Phillies Room

#521 George Thomas - Boston Red Sox / #523 Bob Chance - California Angels