Joe Nolan

Joe Nolan
Catcher
Born: (1951-05-12) May 12, 1951 St. Louis, Missouri
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 21, 1972 for the New York Mets
Last MLB appearance
June 25, 1985 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics
Batting average	.263
Home runs	27
Runs batted in	178
Teams
New York Mets (1972) Atlanta Braves (1975; 1977–1980) Cincinnati Reds (1980–1981) Baltimore Orioles (1982–1985)

Joseph William Nolan (born May 12, 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a retired American professional baseball player whose career extended from 1969 through 1985. A catcher, Nolan spent all or parts of 11 seasons in the Major Leagues (MLB), appearing in 621 games played with the New York Mets (1972), Atlanta Braves (1975, 1977–1980), Cincinnati Reds (1980–1981) and Baltimore Orioles (1982–1985). Nolan batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).

Selected in the second round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft, he turned down a football scholarship at the University of Missouri to sign with the Mets. He is one of only a few Major League catchers to have worn glasses.^[1]

During the strike-shortened 1981 season, Nolan supplanted Hall of Famer Johnny Bench as the Reds' regular catcher. Bench, then 33, had played 13 consecutive years as Cincinnati's starting backstop, but he shifted to first base in 1981 and only caught in seven games that season. (Bench would catch in only six more games in 1982–1983 as his career wound down.) Nolan started 62 games behind the plate in 1981 (the Reds played in 108 games total), and appeared in 81 games as a receiver. He batted a career-high .309 with 73 hits. The following spring, he was traded to the Orioles, where he played 3½ seasons and finished his pro career.

He was the backup catcher to Rick Dempsey when the Orioles won the 1983 World Series. He appeared in two games against the Philadelphia Phillies and drew a base on balls in three plate appearances.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

v t e Baltimore Orioles 1983 World Series Champions 1 Al Bumbry 8 Cal Ripken, Jr. 10 Todd Cruz 12 Lenn Sakata 15 Dan Ford 16 Scott McGregor 17 Joe Nolan 22 Jim Palmer 23 Tippy Martinez 24 Rick Dempsey (World Series MVP) 25 Rich Dauer 27 Benny Ayala 28 Jim Dwyer 29 Ken Singleton 33 Eddie Murray 34 Storm Davis 35 Gary Roenicke 37 John Shelby 38 John Lowenstein 39 Tito Landrum 46 Mike Flanagan 52 Mike Boddicker 53 Sammy Stewart Manager 26 Joe Altobelli Coaches 31 Ray Miller 40 Jimmy Williams 44 Elrod Hendricks 47 Cal Ripken, Sr. 54 Ralph Rowe Regular season American League Championship Series

Persondata
Name	Nolan, Joe
Alternative names
Short description	American baseball player
Date of birth	May 12, 1951
Place of birth	St. Louis, Missouri
Date of death
Place of death