Joe Wallis
Harold Joseph Wallis is a retired American center fielder who spent five seasons in Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics. He was nicknamed Tarzan because of his penchant for cliff diving.[1]
| Joe Wallis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Center fielder | |||
| Born: January 9, 1952 East St. Louis, Illinois | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 2, 1975, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 30, 1979, for the Oakland Athletics | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .244 | ||
| Home runs | 16 | ||
| Runs batted in | 68 | ||
| Teams | |||
A native of East St. Louis, Illinois, Wallis attended McCluer High School and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In 1971 and 1972, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[2] He was selected by the Cubs in the sixth round of the 1973 MLB Draft.
On September 24, 1975, while playing for the Cubs, Wallis broke up Tom Seaver's bid for a no-hitter with two outs in the 9th inning of a game against the New York Mets. The Cubs went on to win the game in 11 innings.[3]
On June 15, 1978, Wallis was traded twice on the same day. First, the Cubs traded him to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Mike Vail. Then the Indians sent him on to the Oakland Athletics for catcher/outfielder Gary Alexander.[4] Wallis finished his major league career with Oakland the following season.
References
- Markusen, Bruce. "Cooperstown Confidential: Tarzan Joe Wallis," The Hardball Times, Friday, August 14, 2009.
- "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- Mets vs. Cubs Box Score 9/24/75 from Baseball Reference
- Joe Wallis transactions at Baseball Reference
Sources
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)