Joe Wallis

{{short description|American baseball player (born 1952)}}

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

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Joe Wallis

|position=Center fielder

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1952|1|9}}

|birth_place=East St. Louis, Illinois, U.S.

|bats=Switch

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 2

|debutyear=1975

|debutteam=Chicago Cubs

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 30

|finalyear=1979

|finalteam=Oakland Athletics

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.244

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=16

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=68

|teams=

• Chicago Cubs ({{mlby|1975}}–{{mlby|1978}})
• Oakland Athletics ({{mlby|1978}}–{{mlby|1979}})

}}

Harold Joseph Wallis (born January 9, 1952) is an American former center fielder who spent five seasons in Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics. He was nicknamed "Tarzan" because of his penchant for cliff diving.[http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/cooperstown-confidential-tarzan-joe-wallis1/ Markusen, Bruce. "Cooperstown Confidential: Tarzan Joe Wallis," The Hardball Times, Friday, August 14, 2009.] Retrieved October 6, 2012.

A native of East St. Louis, Illinois, Wallis attended McCluer High School and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In 1971 and 1972, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League.{{cite web|author= |url=http://capecodbaseball.org.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/2012website/archives/Current%20Year/All_Time_MLB_CCBL_Alumni.pdf |title=Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League |publisher=capecodbaseball.org |date= |accessdate=January 9, 2020}} He was selected by the Cubs in the sixth round of the 1973 MLB Draft.

Wallis broke up Tom Seaver's fifth attempt at his first-ever no-hitter with a two-out single to right field in the ninth inning of the Cubs' eleven-inning 1–0 win over the New York Mets at Wrigley Field on September 24, 1975.[https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/25/archives/seaver-foiled-in-nohitter-bid-wallis-gets-2out-single-in-9th-cubs.html "Seaver Foiled In No‐Hitter Bid," The New York Times, Thursday, September 25, 1975.]

Wallis was dealt twice at the trade deadline on June 15, {{By|1978}}. The Cubs first traded him to the Cleveland Indians for Mike Vail. The Indians then sent him to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Alexander an hour after the first transaction.[https://thesouthern.newspapers.com/clip/19569931/southern-illinoisan/ "Ex-Salukis Wallis, Dwyer are traded," The Associated Press (AP), Friday, June 16, 1978.] Retrieved January 18, 2023.[https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/10/archives/traders-of-baseball-hit-florida-drought-sports-analysis.html Durso, Joseph. "Traders of Baseball Hit Florida Drought," The New York Times, Sunday, December 10, 1978.] Retrieved January 20, 2023. Wallis finished his major league career with Oakland the following season.