Joseph Wayne Pittman (January 1, 1953 – June 13, 2014) was a backup

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. ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

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), ...

who played for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in parts of three seasons spanning 1981–1984. Listed at , , Pittman batted and threw right handed. He was dubbed 'Shoes'. Born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Pittman was selected by the Astros in the 5th round of the

1975 MLB Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1975 Major League Baseball draft. Many baseball draft experts consider the 1975 draft to be the weakest in MLB history. Other notable selections ''*'' Did not sign N ...

out of

Southern University and A&M College Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. He debuted professionally for their Double-A

Columbus Astros Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

club late in the year. In between, he played winter baseball with the

Cardenales de Lara The Cardenales de Lara ( en, Lara Cardinals) is a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Founded in 1942 and based in Barquisimeto, the ''Cardenales'' have won six domestic titles, including back-to-back in 1998 and 1999, an ...

and

Navegantes de Magallanes The Navegantes del Magallanes (Strait of Magellan, Magellan Navigators), commonly known as Magallanes, are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in Valencia, Carabobo, Valencia, Magallanes has won 13 LVBP champions ...

clubs of the

Venezuelan League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

. He then won the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

championship with the St. Petersburg Pelicans in its 1989 inaugural season. Following his playing retirement, Pittman coached in the minors and also served as an scout for the Astros organization. In June 2014, Pittman was working a construction job in

Freeport, Texas Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico. According to the 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010. History Freeport was founded as a European-American settlement ...

, when he suddenly collapsed. Immediate attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. He died in

Lake Jackson, Texas Lake Jackson is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,177. In 1942 a portion of Lake Jackson was first developed as a company town for wor ...

, at the age of 61.Joe Pittman statistics and history
''Baseball Reference website''.

References

External links

Baseball Gauge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittman, Joe 1953 births 2014 deaths African-American baseball players Baseball players from Houston Cardenales de Lara players Charleston Charlies players Cocoa Astros players Columbus Astros players Houston Astros players Houston Astros scouts Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball coaches Nashville Sounds players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Phoenix Giants players San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants players Southern Jaguars baseball players Southern University alumni St. Petersburg Pelicans players Tucson Toros players Winter Haven Super Sox players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people