Bullet Joe Bush

For other uses, see Joe Bush (disambiguation).

Bullet Joe Bush
Pitcher
Born: (1892-11-27)November 27, 1892 Brainerd, Minnesota
Died: November 1, 1974(1974-11-01) (aged 81) Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 30, 1912, for the Philadelphia Athletics
Last MLB appearance
August 22, 1928, for the Philadelphia Athletics
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	195-183
Earned run average	3.51
Strikeouts	1,319
Teams
Philadelphia Athletics (1912–1917) Boston Red Sox (1918–1921) New York Yankees (1922–1924) St. Louis Browns (1925) Washington Senators (1926) Pittsburgh Pirates (1926–1927) New York Giants (1927) Philadelphia Athletics (1928)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1913, 1918, 1923)

Leslie Ambrose "Bullet Joe" Bush (November 27, 1892 – November 1, 1974) was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Pittsburgh Pirates, and New York Giants. He is credited with having developed the forkball pitch.

Career

Bush helped the Athletics win the 1913 World Series and the 1914 American League pennant, the Red Sox win the 1918 World Series, the Yankees win the 1922 AL pennant and 1923 World Series and the Pirates win the 1927 National League pennant.

He led the American League in walks allowed (109) in 1924, losses (24) in 1916 and wild pitches in 1916 (15), 1923 (12) and 1924 (7). While with the Athletics in 1916, when he led the league in losses, he won 15 games; the entire team won only 36 during what was then a Major League-worst 36-117 (.235 won-loss percentage) season. This was 41.7% of the team's total wins. On August 26 of that season, Bush no-hit the Cleveland Indians 5-0 at Shibe Park; a first inning, leadoff walk to Jack Graney was the only thing that kept him from a perfect game.

Bush finished fourth in voting for the 1922 American League MVP, as he led the league in winning percentage (.788). He also had a 26–7 win-loss record, 255 ⅓ innings pitched, 85 walks allowed, 92 strikeouts, and a 3.31 earned run average.

In 17 years he had a 195–183 win-loss record, 489 games, 366 games started, 225 complete games, 35 shutouts, 93 games finished, 20 saves, 3,087 ⅓ innings pitched, 2,992 hits allowed, 1,443 runs allowed, 1,205 earned runs allowed, 96 home runs allowed, 1,263 walks allowed, 1,319 strikeouts, 62 hit batsmen, 90 wild pitches, 13,185 batters faced, 1 balk and a 3.51 ERA.

Bush died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the age of 81.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Baseball Library
• The Deadball Era
• Retrosheet