What years did Joe Horlen play?

Joe Horlen played in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1972.

Was Joe Horlen a pitcher?

Yes. Joe Horlen pitched in the major leagues, recording 116 wins and 1065 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Joe Horlen hit?

Joe Horlen hit 0 career home runs with 83 hits.

What teams did Joe Horlen play for?

Joe Horlen played for 2 teams: the Chicago White Sox (1961–1971) and the Oakland Athletics (1972).

Did Joe Horlen win a Cy Young Award?

No. Joe Horlen did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Joe Horlen win?

Joe Horlen was selected to 1 All-Star Game.

What were Joe Horlen's career stats?

In 361 games, Joe Horlen went 116-117 with a 3.11 ERA, 1,065 strikeouts, 2,002.0 innings pitched, and 4 saves. At the plate he had 83 hits and 0 home runs.

What position did Joe Horlen play?

Joe Horlen played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Joe Horlen and how much did he weigh?

Joe Horlen was listed at 6 feet and 170 pounds.

What was Joe Horlen's career ERA?

Joe Horlen finished with a 3.11 career ERA, going 116-117 with 1,065 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Joe Horlen have?

Joe Horlen recorded 1,065 career strikeouts.

Is Joe Horlen in the Hall of Fame?

No. Joe Horlen has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

How many All-Star Games did Joe Horlen make?

Joe Horlen was selected to 1 All-Star Game.

Joe Horlen

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1961-1972)

Joe Horlen was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1972 for the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics, a span of 12 seasons. Across 361 career appearances, he went 116-117 with a 3.11 ERA and 1,065 strikeouts. He also batted .134 with 0 home runs. Joe Horlen was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 9535.9.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 116–117

ERA 3.11

WHIP 1.19

SO 1,065

Pitcher PIV 9535.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 170 lb
Born: 8/14/1937 in San Antonio, TX, USA
Died: 4/10/2022 in San Antonio, TX, USA
MLB Debut: 1961-09-04
Last Game: 1972-10-04
Awards: All-Star

Full name: Joel Edward Horlen

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Career Pitching Statistics

Joe Horlen — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
116	117	361	290	59	18	4	2002.0	1,829	691	145	554	1,065	3.11	9535.9

Career ERA 3.11 vs. league average 3.54 across their career seasons — 12.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Horlen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1961	CHA	AL	1	3	5	4	0	0	0	17.2	25	13	13	11	6.62	4.03 (-64%)	-433.5
1962	CHA	AL	7	6	20	19	5	1	0	108.2	108	59	43	63	4.89	3.96 (-24%)	163.7
1963	CHA	AL	11	7	33	21	3	0	0	124.0	122	45	55	61	3.27	3.46 (+6%)	-1437.2
1964	CHA	AL	13	9	32	28	9	2	0	210.2	142	44	55	138	1.88	3.58 (+47%)	4213.1
1965	CHA	AL	13	13	34	34	7	4	0	219.0	203	70	39	125	2.88	3.50 (+18%)	3421.9
1966	CHA	AL	10	13	37	29	4	2	1	211.0	185	57	53	124	2.43	3.52 (+31%)	2421.3
1967	CHA	AL	19	7	35	35	13	6	0	258.0	188	59	58	103	2.06	3.30 (+38%)	1269.5
1968	CHA	AL	12	14	35	35	4	1	0	223.2	197	59	70	102	2.37	2.98 (+20%)	-3062.1
1969	CHA	AL	13	16	36	35	7	2	0	235.2	237	99	77	121	3.78	3.61 (-5%)	-94.1
1970	CHA	AL	6	16	28	26	4	0	0	172.1	198	93	41	77	4.86	3.89 (-25%)	-0.5
1971	CHA	AL	8	9	34	18	3	0	2	137.1	150	65	30	82	4.26	3.47 (-23%)	1098.9
1972	OAK	AL	3	4	32	6	0	0	1	84.0	74	28	20	58	3.00	3.26 (+8%)	1975.0
Career · 12 seasons			116	117	361	290	59	18	4	2,002.0	1,829	691	554	1,065	3.11	—	9,536

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Joe Horlen — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
412	618	29	83	4	1	0	26	1	18	127	.134	.159	.144	.303	-3,871

Career AVG .134 vs. league average .248 across their career seasons — 45.9% below league average.

Career OBP .159 vs. league average .315 across their career seasons — 49.4% below league average.

Career SLG .144 vs. league average .372 across their career seasons — 61.2% below league average.

Career OPS .303 vs. league average .686 across their career seasons — 55.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Horlen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1961	CHA	AL	5	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1962	CHA	AL	20	38	1	2	0	0	0	0	2	11	.053	—	—	—	—	0.0
1963	CHA	AL	33	40	2	9	0	0	3	0	1	9	.225	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	CHA	AL	32	69	2	11	0	0	5	0	2	11	.159	.250 (-36%)	.312 (-41%)	.377 (-58%)	.690 (-50%)	-523.7
1965	CHA	AL	34	68	0	9	1	0	2	0	5	12	.132	.245 (-46%)	.310 (-38%)	.371 (-60%)	.682 (-50%)	-510.2
1966	CHA	AL	64	60	6	4	0	0	1	1	2	12	.067	.248 (-73%)	.309 (-69%)	.376 (-82%)	.685 (-76%)	-703.6
1967	CHA	AL	51	83	8	14	1	0	5	0	1	14	.169	.242 (-30%)	.306 (-39%)	.357 (-49%)	.663 (-45%)	-555.4
1968	CHA	AL	41	67	2	7	0	1	3	0	3	13	.104	.236 (-56%)	.298 (-52%)	.340 (-61%)	.638 (-57%)	-545.0
1969	CHA	AL	36	77	4	14	1	0	5	0	0	22	.182	.248 (-27%)	.320 (-43%)	.369 (-47%)	.689 (-45%)	-538.9
1970	CHA	AL	28	52	2	6	1	0	1	0	2	14	.115	.253 (-55%)	.325 (-55%)	.385 (-65%)	.711 (-60%)	-494.1
1971	CHA	AL	36	40	1	4	0	0	1	0	0	3	.100	—	—	—	—	0.0
1972	OAK	AL	32	17	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	.176	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 12 seasons			412	618	29	83	4	1	26	1	18	127	.134	—	—	—	—	-3,871

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Joe Horlen — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Joe Horlen — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1972	ALCS	OAK	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1972	WS	OAK	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Joe Horlen — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	2	0	0	1.1	2	2	3	1	13.50

Playoff Pitching by Year

Joe Horlen — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1972	ALCS	OAK	0	1	1	0	0	0.0	0	1	1	0	0.00
1972	WS	OAK	0	0	1	0	0	1.1	2	1	2	1	6.75

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (772 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Joe Horlen — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	198	294	13	38	0	11	.129
Away	213	324	16	45	0	15	.139

Pitching — Home / Away

Joe Horlen — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	175	1016.2	923	345	266	553	3.05
Away	186	984.1	906	347	288	513	3.17

Last 10 Games — Batting

Joe Horlen — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	SO
1972-10-04	OAK	LAA	W	0	0	0	0
1972-09-30	OAK	KCR	W	2	1	1	0
1972-09-24	OAK	KCR	L	0	0	0	0
1972-09-19	OAK	CHW	L	1	0	0	0
1972-09-11	OAK	MIN	L	1	0	0	1
1972-09-04	OAK	LAA	L	2	0	0	1
1972-08-23	OAK	DET	L	0	0	0	0
1972-08-20	OAK	CLE	L	0	0	0	0
1972-08-19	OAK	CLE	L	0	0	0	0
1972-08-16	OAK	BAL	W	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Joe Horlen — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1972-10-04	OAK	LAA	—	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	0
1972-09-30	OAK	KCR	W	5.1	8	5	5	1	5	0
1972-09-24	OAK	KCR	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1972-09-19	OAK	CHW	—	2.2	2	2	2	1	0	0
1972-09-11	OAK	MIN	—	4.0	2	1	1	0	2	0
1972-09-04	OAK	LAA	L	6.0	5	2	1	2	5	0
1972-08-23	OAK	DET	—	0.2	2	2	2	0	0	1
1972-08-20	OAK	CLE	—	2.0	2	0	0	0	2	0
1972-08-19	OAK	CLE	—	2.0	2	0	0	0	3	0
1972-08-16	OAK	BAL	SV	1.2	0	0	0	0	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Joe Horlen — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	361	290	159	421	16	17

Season-by-Season Fielding

Joe Horlen — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1961	CHA	P	5	4	3	3	0	1
1962	CHA	P	20	19	10	28	1	0
1963	CHA	P	33	21	4	30	0	0
1964	CHA	P	32	28	14	46	0	3
1965	CHA	P	34	34	10	41	3	0
1966	CHA	P	37	29	25	57	3	5
1967	CHA	P	35	35	29	53	0	4
1968	CHA	P	35	35	14	47	3	3
1969	CHA	P	36	35	13	32	3	0
1970	CHA	P	28	26	22	42	1	1
1971	CHA	P	34	18	10	27	2	0
1972	OAK	P	32	6	5	15	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Joe Horlen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	361

College History

Joe Horlen — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Oklahoma State University	Stillwater	OK	1958, 1959

Award Voting History

Joe Horlen — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1967	Cy Young Award	AL	2nd	2.0	20	2
1967	Most Valuable Player	AL	4th	91.0	280	0
1964	Most Valuable Player	AL	21th	7.0	280	0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Joe Horlen (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Joe Horlen: the record in brief

The profile opens with Joe Horlen's first major league game on September 4, 1961; the last one listed came on October 4, 1972. Club by club, the record runs the Chicago White Sox (1961 to 1971) and the Oakland Athletics (1972). Horlen played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on August 14, 1937, in San Antonio, TX, USA and a listed size of 6-foot-0 and 170 pounds. Horlen died on April 10, 2022, in San Antonio, TX, USA. Joe Horlen was the playing name; the full given name is Joel Edward.

Horlen's career pitching line is 116 wins, 117 losses and a 3.11 ERA over 361 appearances. Also on Horlen's record: 1,065 strikeouts, 59 complete games, and 18 shutouts. That 3.11 ERA compares with a 3.54 league average across the same seasons, 12.3% better. 1967 brought Horlen a season-high 19 wins. The strikeout high was 138 in 1964.

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Horlen

What years did Joe Horlen play?: Joe Horlen played in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1972.
Was Joe Horlen a pitcher?: Yes. Joe Horlen pitched in the major leagues, recording 116 wins and 1065 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Joe Horlen hit?: Joe Horlen hit 0 career home runs with 83 hits.
What teams did Joe Horlen play for?: Joe Horlen played for 2 teams: the Chicago White Sox (1961–1971) and the Oakland Athletics (1972).
Did Joe Horlen win a Cy Young Award?: No. Joe Horlen did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Joe Horlen win?: Joe Horlen was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Joe Horlen's career stats?: In 361 games, Joe Horlen went 116-117 with a 3.11 ERA, 1,065 strikeouts, 2,002.0 innings pitched, and 4 saves. At the plate he had 83 hits and 0 home runs.
What position did Joe Horlen play?: Joe Horlen played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Joe Horlen and how much did he weigh?: Joe Horlen was listed at 6 feet and 170 pounds.
What was Joe Horlen's career ERA?: Joe Horlen finished with a 3.11 career ERA, going 116-117 with 1,065 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Joe Horlen have?: Joe Horlen recorded 1,065 career strikeouts.
Is Joe Horlen in the Hall of Fame?: No. Joe Horlen has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Joe Horlen make?: Joe Horlen was selected to 1 All-Star Game.