Joe Sullivan

Joe Sullivan (September 26, 1910 – April 8, 1985) was a left-handed American baseball pitcher.

Sullivan played professional baseball from 1931 to 1949, including five seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers (1935–36), Boston Bees / Braves (1939–41), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1941). In five major league seasons, he compiled a record of 30–37 with a 4.01 earned run average (ERA). A knuckleball specialist, Sullivan once pitched 12 straight scoreless innings as a relief pitcher.

Early years Sullivan was born in 1910 in Mason City, Illinois. His family moved west, initially to Twin Falls, Idaho, and then to Tracyton, Washington, where his father went to work in the shipyards. Sullivan was a three-sport athlete, playing football, baseball, and basketball, at Silverdale High School where he graduated in 1928. He was then released and played for the Tucson Missions of the Arizona State League. He compiled a 12–3 record in 1931. He remained with Beaumont from the end of the 1931 season through the 1933 season. He followed with two more complete game victories over the Boston Red Sox on May 4 and the Washington Senators on May 10 to extend his record to 3–0.

Sullivan declined after his first three starts, ultimately appearing in 25 games for the 1935 Tigers with a 6–6 record and a 3.51 ERA.

Sullivan died in 1985 at age 74 in Sequim, Washington, after a long battle with lung cancer.