Joseph Francis Yeager (August 28, 1875 – June 29, 1937), nicknamed "Little Joe", 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 ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played 10 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Superbas,

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

Early years

Yeager was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1875.

Professional baseball

Yeager began playing professional baseball in the minor leagues, including two years with the Lancaster Maroons from 1896 to 1897. In 1897, he compiled a 26–11

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

as a pitcher and had a .345

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. In 1898, Yeager made his major league debut with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. He had 32

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s and a respectable

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 ...

but lost 22 games for a team that finished in 10th place."Joe Yeager Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2017. Yeager played for the Detroit Tigers as a starting pitcher during their first major league season in 1901. He pitched 199.2 innings in 1901 with a 12–11 record, 22 complete games, and two shutouts. His 2.61 earned run average was third-best in the

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 ...

, and his

adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

of 146 was second-best in the league behind

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...

. Yeager also played 12 games at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

for the 1901 Tigers and had a .296 batting average, a .343

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

, and a .416

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. After a 6–12 season as a pitcher in 1902, Yeager made the switch from pitcher to third baseman. He was the Tigers' starting third baseman in 1903 and went on to play third base for the New York Highlanders and St. Louis Browns. His major league career ended in 1908, and afterwards, he continued to play in the minor leagues until 1915. Yeager has been credited with originating the squeeze play.Joe Yeager
- Baseballbiography.com

Family and later years

Yeager was married in approximately 1900 to Addie Ruby. He was employed by the City of Detroit for the last 18 years of his life. They lived in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. Yeager became ill in June 1937 and died three weeks later at his home located at 8729 W. Vernor Highway in Detroit. He was 61 years old.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeager, Joe 1875 births 1937 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Bridegrooms players Brooklyn Superbas players Detroit Tigers players New York Highlanders players St. Louis Browns players Scranton Indians players Shenandoah Huns players Lancaster Chicks players Lancaster Maroons players Detroit Tigers (Western League) players Montreal Royals players Jersey City Skeeters players Minor league baseball managers Baseball players from Philadelphia