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 Joe Vosmik Photo Gallery
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We’re Contacted by Nephew of 1930s Indians Star, Joe Vosmik!

“We offered no fewer than five players for Joe Vosmik, who is my idea of the type of left fielder we could use at Yankee Stadium.” –Yankee GM Ed Barrow

We’ve said many times we always love it when we’re contacted by relatives of former ballplayers. It doesn’t matter to us if the player was a star or a sub. Anyone who made it to the “Big Show” is special in our eyes, and we’re always glad to shine the baseball spotlight on them for a brief moment or two. In this case, when the player is a former All-Star and a career .300 hitter, that makes it even more exciting.

Joe Vosmik may well be one of the best ballplayers most fans today have never heard of, although I’d bet Joe’s name is familiar to many baseball historians. He falls into the class of “very good player, but not quite Hall-of-Fame worthy.” As has been the fate of many fine players from baseball’s Golden Era of the 1930s, his baseball accomplishments have been largely overshadowed by the likes of Ruth, Greenberg, Gehrig, Williams, and DiMaggio. But make no mistake: Joe Vosmik was a fine ballplayer as you’ll soon see. 

I was recently contacted by Dale Piotrowski whose grandmother on his mother’s side was the sister of Joe Vosmik. Although Vosmik died when Dale was just ten years old, he has fond memories of his “favorite uncle,” who he also described as a real “good guy.”

This paragraph from his SABR biography by Bill Nowlin nicely sums up the life and career of Joe Vosmik:

“The Joe Vosmik story is the classic American tale in which the scion of an immigrant family falls in love with the national game of the family’s adopted country. Vosmik’s tale has all the required elements: precocious skills, early passion, an indulgent father, a disapproving mother who later relents and shares her son’s ardor, obsession, truancy, and even an officious school administrator who proclaims: “the boy will never amount to anything”. Not only did Joe Vosmik amount to something; he became a baseball star for his hometown team, and at his peak, one of the better players in the American League.”

The Cleveland native fulfilled his dream of playing in the major leagues as a September call-up for the Indians on September 13, 1930, going 0-1 against the great Lefty Grove. Joe played 13 seasons in the majors (1930-1941, 1944), for the Indians (1930-’36), Browns (1937), Red Sox (1938-’39), Dodgers (1940-’41), and Senators (1944). Over his career, he posted a .307 average, with 1682 hits, 874 RBIs, 335 doubles, and 92 triples. At the tail end of his career he helped the Dodgers win the 1941 pennant, appearing in 25 games, but did not play in the 1941 World Series. A self-described “awkward outfielder” with good speed and a strong arm, he was taken under the wings of Tris Speaker and emerged as a fine defensive outfielder with a .979 lifetime fielding average.

His best years were his seven with the Tribe from 1930-1936; while his best individual season was 1935: .348 average, .408 on-base percentage,  .557 slugging average, 93 runs, 10 home runs, and 110 RBIs. Named to the 1935 All-Star team, he led the American League in hits (216), doubles (47), and triples (20), placing third in American League MVP voting behind Hank Greenberg and Wes Ferrell. Joe enjoyed another outstanding year with the Red Sox in 1938 when he hit .324, with 121 runs, 37 doubles, while again leading the league in hits (201).

Dale Piotrowski shared some fond memories of his great-uncle Joe Vosmik:

“I remember going to the family picnic each year and he would play baseball with us kids. The most unique thing I remember about the games was that he would pitch to us kids over his back and throw strikes. My grandmother, who raised me, said that Joe played baseball all the time whenever he could. And that was all he thought about. His brother Ed played football and they were very competitive with each other in everything they did together.”

Dale mentioned that Joe was very humble, in spite of the fame that being a major league star brought to him, saying he always had time for kids and never acted like a “big shot.”  In addition, he gave examples of the generous side of Joe’s nature:

“When my grandmother, his sister, became a widow at 22 years of age, and pregnant with my mom, he bought her a house to help her out. He also had a new home built for his parents.”

The “baseball bug” didn’t pass along to Joe’s descendants, as Dale mentioned that there are no other significant athletics in the family. Dale himself likes baseball but drag racing is more “his thing,” and he also enjoys building hot-rods.

In the featured photo above, beautifully colorized by Don Stokes, we see Joe Vosmik on the right along with his Indians’ Hall-of-Fame teammate, Earl Averill. As Dale mentioned about Joe always having time for kids, the two famous ballplayers are putting on a hitting clinic while interacting with the kids on a personal level.  I’ve always loved this photo. Look at the excitement on those faces. What a thrill it must have been for them to be up-close with two real live baseball stars!

Following his playing days, Joe served as a minor league manager for various teams from 1947-’50. This was followed by three years as a scout in the Indians’ organization. Vosmik’s family consisted of two sons and a daughter. Dale remembers that the older son passed away many years ago, and the younger son currently lives in Florida. Joe spent the later years of his life in Kirkland Hills, a suburb of Cleveland. He passed away in 1962, aged 51, following complications from lung surgery.

Many thanks to Dale Piotrowski for sharing with us this interesting information about his great-uncle, Joe Vosmik:  a fine ballplayer, a fine man, and truly one of baseball’s “Forgotten Stars.”

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Gary Livacari 

Photo Credits: Featured photo colorized by Don Stokes; from the personal collection of Dale Piotrowski; All others from Google search

Information: Mesage exchange with Dale Piotrowski; and from the Joe Vosmik SABR biography by Bill Nowlin

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