Joe Benz

{{Short description|American baseball pitcher (1886–1957)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Joe Benz

|image=Joe Benz baseball card.jpg

|caption=1916 baseball card of Benz

|position=Pitcher

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{birth date|1886|1|21}}

|birth_place=New Alsace, Indiana, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1957|4|22|1886|1|21}}

|death_place=Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=August 16

|debutyear=1911

|debutteam=Chicago White Sox

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=May 2

|finalyear=1919

|finalteam=Chicago White Sox

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=77–75

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=2.43

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=539

|teams=

• Chicago White Sox ({{mlby|1911}}–{{mlby|1919}})

|highlights=

• Pitched a no-hitter on May 31, 1914
• World Series champion ({{wsy|1917}})

}}

Joseph Louis Benz (January 21, 1886 – April 22, 1957) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in the major leagues from 1911 to 1919, for the Chicago White Sox.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/benzjo01.shtml "Joe Benz Statistics and History"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2011-02-03. Benz's two main pitches were the spitball and the knuckleball.Neyer, Rob and James, Bill. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7FfRLE6I5EEC The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers] (Simon & Schuster, 2004), p. 132.

Benz pitched a no-hitter for the White Sox on May 13, 1914, against the Cleveland Naps.{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1914/B05310CHA1914.htm |title=Chicago White Sox 6, Cleveland Naps 1 |website=Retrosheet |date=May 31, 1914 |accessdate=April 13, 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/may-31-1914-benz-was-humming-on-all-cylinders/ |title=May 31, 1914: Joe Benz humming on all cylinders with no-hitter |first=Gregory H. |last=Wolf |website=Society for American Baseball Research |accessdate=April 13, 2025}} He was a member of the Sox teams that reached the World Series in both 1917 and 1919, but appeared in neither. Benz had a 7–3 record during the 1917 season and was 8–8 a year later, throwing 10 complete games. But he pitched in just one game during the 1919 season, and was not on the roster for the 1919 World Series, which was tainted by the Black Sox Scandal.

The Benz family was of German Catholic descent, Joe's grandfather having emigrated from the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1849.[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8dc7bc65] "The Benz family was of German Catholic stock, Joe's grandfather, also named Michael, having emigrated from the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1849."

After baseball, Benz was the custodian of a church and also worked for O'Hare Field.{{cite news |title=Joe Benz, ex-White Sox pitching star, dies at 71 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/370792374/?terms=Joe%2BBenz&match=1 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=April 23, 1957 |language=en}} He died of a heart-related illness in 1957.{{cite news |title=Joe Benz dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/595957700/?terms=Joe%2BBenz&match=1 |work=Knoxville News Sentinel |agency=Associated Press |date=April 23, 1957 |page=17}}