Joe Sargent

Joseph Alexander Sargent (September 24, 1893 – July 5, 1950), nicknamed "Horse Belly," was an American baseball player. He played professional baseball for nine years from 1916 to 1924, including one season in Major League Baseball as a utility infielder for the Detroit Tigers in 1921. He appeared in 66 games, including 24 as a second baseman, 23 as a third baseman, and 19 as a shortstop. He compiled a .253 batting average, a .388 on-base percentage, scored 21 runs and had 22 RBIs for the 1921 Tigers.

Professional baseball Sargent began playing professional baseball in the Central Association with the Marshalltown Ansons and Burlington Pathfinders/Ottumwa Packers in 1916 and with the La Crosse Infants in 1917. In 1918, he advanced to the International League in 1918 playing for the Newark Bears and Jersey City Skeeters. He appeared in his final minor league game before being inducted into the Army on July 21, 1918.

Sargent served in the Army in France in the later stages of World War I. He was injured in a gas attack on Armistice Day.

He returned to baseball in 1919 with the Newark Bears, appearing in 124 games as a shortstop.

In March 1920, Sargent signed with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League. He appeared in 117 games for Buffalo, 83 of them as a third baseman and compiled a .307 batting average. He made his major league debut with the Tigers on April 27, 1921, and appeared in 66 games, 19 as the Tigers' starting second baseman, 14 as the starting third baseman, and 11 as the starting shortstop. He compiled a .253 batting average and a .342 on-base percentage with the Tigers. He appeared in his final major league game on September 25, 1921. He won the New York state bowling championship and once rolled three perfect games in a row. Sargent died in Rochester, New York, in 1950.