Joseph Casey Cox (July 3, 1941 – October 2, 2023) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

who pitched in the Major Leagues between 1966 and 1973 for the Washington Senators/ Texas Rangers and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. A

right-hander In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, he was listed as tall and . He was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, and attended

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village and the Pacific Coast Campus in central Long Beach ...

and

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

. Cox entered baseball in 1962 as a member of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

' organization, then was drafted in successive years by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

(1963) and Senators (1964). In the majors, he was essentially a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

, coming out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

in all but 59 of his 308 career MLB games pitched. In 1966, as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, he appeared in a career-high 66 games and was credited with seven saves, also a personal best. His finest season was 1969 — the 1961–1971 Senators' only winning campaign in 11 seasons in Washington. Working in 52 games, with 13 starts, he set career marks in games won (12) and

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(2.78, in 171

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

). He handled 32 chances in the field without an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

, leading all

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pitchers in fielding percentage. He also threw a career-high four complete games. The following season, 1970, Cox was almost exclusively a starting pitcher. But he won only eight of 20 decisions and his ERA climbed to 4.45, as Washington faltered and finished last in the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

. In 1971 he returned to the Senator bullpen and tied his career-best with seven saves, but Washington struggled again on the field and at the turnstiles, and the franchise was moved to Dallas–Fort Worth as the Texas Rangers during the offseason. In 1972, Cox appeared in 45 games for the first edition of the Rangers before his trade on August 31 to the Yankees. Cox would pitch in only six total games for the Yankees, five at the tail end of 1972, and then on Opening Day 1973 at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

, when he worked three innings of mop-up relief in a 15–5

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victory that marked the first game in which a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

was used in the American League. He retired from baseball after the 1973 campaign. Over the course of Cox' MLB career, he posted a 39–42 won–lost record, 20 saves, five complete games, and an earned run average of 3.70. In 762 innings pitched, he permitted 772 hits and 234

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, with 297

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s. Casey Cox died in Clearwater, Florida, on October 2, 2023, at the age of 82.

References

External links

1941 births 2023 deaths Baseball players from Long Beach, California Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burlington Indians players (1958–1964) Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles baseball players California State University, Los Angeles alumni Charleston Indians players Florida Instructional League Senators players Hawaii Islanders players Long Beach City Vikings baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players Peninsula Senators players Rocky Mount Leafs players Rocky Mount Senators players Texas Rangers players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Wichita Aeros players York White Roses players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub