Joe Sewell
Joe Sewell | ||
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Runs batted in | 1,054 | |
Teams | ||
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Career highlights and awards | ||
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Member of the National | ||
Baseball Hall of Fame | ||
Induction | 1977 | |
Election method | Veterans Committee |
Joseph Wheeler Sewell (October 9, 1898 – March 6, 1990) was an American
Sewell was a member of two World Series-winning teams. He holds the record for the lowest strikeout rate in major league history, striking out on average only once every 73 plate appearances,[2] and the most consecutive games without a strikeout, at 115.
Career
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Born in Titus, Alabama, Sewell lettered in college football at the University of Alabama in 1917, 1918, and 1919.[3] He led the school baseball team to four conference titles before joining the minor league New Orleans Pelicans in 1920, where he played a partial season before being called up to the "big league".[4]
Sewell made his major league debut mid-season in 1920 with the
Sewell's patience and daily work ethic became his hallmarks over the following decade and a half. Playing with Cleveland until 1930 and the New York Yankees from 1931 to 1933, Sewell batted .312 with 1,141 runs, 1,054 RBI, 436
Sewell struck out 114 times in 7,132 career at-bats for an average of one strikeout every 62.5 at-bats, second only to Willie Keeler (63.1). He also holds the modern single-season record for fewest strikeouts over a full season, with 3, set in 1932. Sewell also had 3 strikeouts in 1930, albeit in just 353 at-bats (as opposed to 503 in his record-setting year), as well as three other full seasons (1925, 1929, 1933) with 4 strikeouts. He struck out ten or more times in only four seasons, and his highest strikeout total was 20, during the 1922 season. For his 1925–1933 seasons, Sewell struck out 4, 6, 7, 9, 4, 3, 8, 3, and 4 times. He also holds the record for consecutive games without recording a strikeout, at 115.
Sewell also played in 1,103 consecutive games, which to that point was second only to Everett Scott.
His 167.7 at-bats per strikeout in 1932 is still a single-season record.
According to his obituary published in The New York Times, he played his entire Major League career using only one bat (a 40-ouncer he dubbed "Black Betsy."),[1] which he kept in shape by rubbing with a Coke bottle and seasoning with chewing tobacco.[4]
Sewell played in two World Series, in
Personal
Two of his brothers, Luke and Tommy, also played major league baseball. Tommy played in one game with the Chicago Cubs in 1927, and Luke played for four teams over 20 years and, as manager of the St. Louis Browns, led the team to its only pennant in 1944.[4] His cousin Rip Sewell was a major league pitcher credited with inventing the eephus pitch.
Joe Sewell was a member of
In 1964, at the age of 66, he became the Alabama baseball coach, achieving a 114–99 record in seven seasons.[4]
One of his pitchers was future NFL standout, Alabama quarterback and 1966 MLB 10th round draftee (Yankees) Ken "The Snake" Stabler.[7]
Death
Sewell died on March 6, 1990, aged 91, in Mobile, Alabama. He was the last surviving member of the 1920 World Champion Cleveland Indians.[8]
Posthumously, Sewell's community (Elmore County) has established a scholarship award recognizing local high school seniors who exhibit Christian character, leadership in their community, strong academic standing, and athletic achievements. Sewell graduated from Wetumpka High School in 1916.[6]
See also
- List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
- Major League Baseball consecutive games played streaks
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
References
- ^ a b c "Joe Sewell". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ISBN 9781416532453.
- ^ Entry at Paul W. Bryant Museum Archived January 16, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (March 8, 1990). "Joe Sewell, 91, Hall of Fame Star Who Set Fewest-Strikeouts Mark". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ a b "Joe Sewell". Baseball Reference. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ a b Johnson, Bill. "Joe Sewell – Bio". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ Rosenthal, Gregg. "Former Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler dies". NFL -official site. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ Berkow, Ira (October 13, 1989). "SPORTS OF THE TIMES; When Sewell Replaced Ray Chapman". The New York Times. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
External links
- Joe Sewell at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Joe Sewell at the SABR Baseball Biography Project
- Interview with Joe Sewell conducted by Eugene Murdock, August 8, 1977, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 3 parts (2 hours 10 minutes): Part 1 of 3, Part 2 of 3, Part 3 of 3
- Joe Sewell at Find a Grave