Harold Joseph Wallis (born January 9, 1952) is an American former 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, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| 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.
Wallis broke up Tom Seaver's fifth attempt at his first-ever no-hitter with a two-out single to right field in the ninth inning of the Cubs' eleven-inning 1–0 win over the New York Mets at Wrigley Field on September 24, 1975.[3]
Wallis was dealt twice at the trade deadline on June 15, 1978. The Cubs first traded him to the Cleveland Indians for Mike Vail. The Indians then sent him to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Alexander an hour after the first transaction.[4][5] Wallis finished his major league career with Oakland the following season.
References
edit- ^ Markusen, Bruce. "Cooperstown Confidential: Tarzan Joe Wallis," The Hardball Times, Friday, August 14, 2009. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ^ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ "Seaver Foiled In No‐Hitter Bid," The New York Times, Thursday, September 25, 1975.
- ^ "Ex-Salukis Wallis, Dwyer are traded," The Associated Press (AP), Friday, June 16, 1978. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ Durso, Joseph. "Traders of Baseball Hit Florida Drought," The New York Times, Sunday, December 10, 1978. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
External links
edit- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)