Joseph William Nolan (born May 12, 1951) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

, who played for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB).

Minor Leagues

Selected in the second round of the

1969 Major League Baseball draft The 1969 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882). First round selections The following are the first round picks ...

by the

, he turned down a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

scholarship at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

to sign with the Mets. He is one of only a few Major League catchers to have worn glasses.

Major League

New York Mets

In 1972, Nolan appeared in 4 games for the

On April 4, 1975, he was traded by the New York Mets to the

for infielder

Leo Foster Leonard Norris Foster (born February 2, 1951, in Covington, Kentucky) is a former Major League Baseball infielder. He played all or part of five major league seasons between and , playing mostly at shortstop, second base, and third base, for th ...

Atlanta Braves

In 1975 and 1977-1980, Nolan appeared in 267 games before his June 12, 1980 granting of Free Agency status.

Cincinnati Reds

On June 13, 1980, he was signed as a Free Agent with the Cincinnati Reds. For the rest of that year and 1981, he appeared in 134 games for the Reds. During the strike-shortened season, Nolan supplanted Hall of Famer

Johnny Bench John Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from through , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of t ...

as the Reds' regular catcher. Bench, then 33, had played 13 consecutive years as Cincinnati's starting backstop, but he shifted to

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in 1981 and only caught in seven games that season. (Bench would catch in only six more games in 1982–1983 as his career wound down.) Nolan started 62 games behind the plate in 1981 (the Reds played in 108 games total), and appeared in 81 games as a receiver. He batted a career-high .309 with 73

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

Baltimore Orioles

On March 26, 1982, he was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Baltimore Orioles for minor league player Brooks Carey and

Dallas Williams Dallas McKinley Williams (born February 28, 1958), is a former professional baseball outfielder and coach. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds, and one season in Nippon Profession ...

. Nolan said he was disappointed but not surprised by the trade. (The Reds traded 4 of their starters from the 1981 team in addition to Nolan, they traded

Ray Knight Charles Ray Knight (born December 28, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder best remembered for his time with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets. Originally drafted by the Reds in the tenth round of the 1970 Major League ...

, George Foster, and Ken Griffey Sr) and He played 3½ seasons and finished his pro career. and was the backup catcher to

Rick Dempsey John Rikard Dempsey (born September 13, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player.1983 World Series The 1983 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1983 season. The 80th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League champion Baltimore Orioles and the National ...

. He appeared in two games against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and drew a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Sec ...

in three

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runn ...

Career

Nolan played in 621 Major League games over 11 seasons, finishing with a career batting average of .263 with 27 home runs and 178 RBI. He was part of the 1983 Baltimore Orioles World Series Championship Team.

Post career

Nolan worked for several years as a manufacturers representative. He had several surgeries, lives with his wife of over 50 years and has three grown daughters. He is an avid outdoorsman.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Joe 1951 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from St. Louis Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball catchers Marion Mets players Memphis Blues players New York Mets players Pompano Beach Mets players Richmond Braves players Tidewater Tides players