Shared from the 3/3/2017 San Antonio Express eEdition

Horlen had career to remember

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Horlen

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Gerald Brimacombe / Getty Images

San Antonio’s Joe Horlen, now 79, posted a 2.32 ERA from 1964-68, best in the American League in that stretch.

For generations of Americans, baseball spring training is a reminder of happier times.

Hours spent playing sandlot or street games after school or listening to West Coast games late into the night. Breaking in a glove. Going to a major league game with dad.

Football’s more popular today, while basketball resonates with younger fans, but no sport can evoke emotion and nostalgia like the national pastime.

As good as it is for fans, it’s got to be exponentially better for the men who played in the majors. Most of these guys can remember every pitch, every at-bat and every dog-day doubleheader of their lives.

And that’s how it should be for former Chicago White Sox pitcher Joe Horlen, a San Antonio native who was was a perennial candidate for All-Star, MVP and Cy Young recognition.

Most days, however, Horlen can’t remember much of anything.

Sitting in the family room of an assisted living facility in the Medical Center area on Thursday, the 79-year-old smiled at the mention of spring training and that’s about it.

From dealing with my father and others, I’ve learned many dementia patients show the emotions associated with familiar faces or subjects, but can’t recall the reason for their reaction.

Horlen still goes out on supervised golf outings, sometimes accompanied by his wife Lois, who also suffers from Alzheimer’s.

And while his physical health is good, his mental condition is heartbreaking.

His favorite teammate? His most feared batter? His best season?

“I don’t remember a lot of it,” he says, his dog nuzzling him as he spoke.

What’s the dog’s name?

He smiled nervously, aware that he couldn’t remember.

“Dog,” he said, trying to joke it off.

The dog’s name, by the way, is Bugsy.

Other times, say staffers who work at the center, Horlen can spin yarns all day.

“He’s so sweet and so friendly,” a caregiver said. “He likes to watch baseball on TV and any movies that have baseball in them. He’ll start talking about it then. He’s got great stories.”

Robert McCartha has put together as many Horlen stories as possibly in his book “Texas Heat, Chicago Fire,” a biography of Horlen’s career.

McCartha, who grew up in Florida and South Carolina, said Horlen was his favorite player.

Since Burbank High didn’t offer baseball back then, Horlen instead played for Pony and American Legion teams. The right-hander’s Pony team won that league’s first ever national championship.

Oklahoma State recruited Horlen, who rewarded the school with a 9-1 record in his junior year. The school would win the 1959 NCAA championship with Horlen on the mound.

He pitched for the White Sox for 11 years, compiling a deceiving 113-113 record in the Windy City.

Horlen played for the White Sox during a time, much like today, when “run support” was considered a four-letter word.

Baseball scholar Gregory Wolf says Horlen has been “overlooked as one of the best pitchers of the 1960s.”

From 1964-68, Horlen led all American League pitchers with a 2.32 ERA. His career WHIP (walks and hits per inning) of 1.119 would make him a Top 15 pitcher today.

Horlen was cut abruptly by the White Sox in 1971. He showed up a year later as a reliever and occasional starter for the Oakland Athletics, earning a World Series ring when the A’s beat the Cincinnati Reds in the 1972 World Series.

Horlen, listed as Joel Horlen, was inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

“To my knowledge,” McCartha said, “Joe was one of the few players to win a championship on every level he played.”

Horlen’s departure from the White Sox always piqued McCartha’s curiosity. Years later, McCartha would learn Horlen had been the players’ union rep in the Chicago clubhouse and that he was cut by the White Sox as a move to destabilize the union’s hold.

“He stood on principle,” McCartha said. “He backed his peers. He was courageous during a time of unfavorable consequences, which could hurt his career, which it did.”

And no, Horlen doesn’t remember much of that either.

This man, who mastered his game and the art of integrity and loyalty, doesn’t have those memories to remind him of a life well lived.

The next best thing is for us to know what he did and remember it. And thanks to guys like McCartha and Wolf, we do. rbragg@express-news.net Twitter:@roybragg

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