Joseph Paul Visner (born ''Joseph Paul Vezina'': September 27, 1859 – June 17, 1945) was a 19th-century

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and

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 catc ...

born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He played from 1885 to 1891, mostly in the American Association. Visner also has the distinction of being one of the few

Native Americans Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

to play professionally in the years prior to the arrival of the much more famous

Louis Sockalexis Louis Francis Sockalexis (October 24, 1871 – December 24, 1913), nicknamed the Deerfoot of the Diamond, was an American baseball player. Sockalexis played professional baseball in the National League for three seasons, spending his entir ...

. Visner had a brother named Lawrence Visner, and a sister-in-law by the name of Mary Visner.

Career

Visner began his Major League career with a brief appearance with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

in , playing in four

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

and getting three

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 ...

in thirteen

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. He didn't appear again until , when he played in 80 games, 53 at catcher for the first place

Brooklyn Bridegrooms The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

. The team lost the "World Series" after the season to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, six games to three. After a successful season in Brooklyn, Visner then jumped over to the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded American professional baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Pr ...

and played all of his games as the starting

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

for the

Pittsburgh Burghers The Pittsburgh Burghers were a baseball team in the Players' League, a short-lived Major League that existed only for the 1890 season. The team included a number of players who had jumped from the National League's Pittsburgh Alleghenys (now th ...

. He batted .267, and led the team in

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

with 110, and hit 22

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

. When the Players' League folded after just one season, Visner moved back to the American Association and played sparsely for the Washington Statesmen and the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

in .

Post-career

After his major league career, he played some

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, specifically for the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

of the Western League in 1894. Visner died in

Fosston, Minnesota Fosston is a city in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Greater Grand Forks region. The population was 1,434 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total a ...

, at the age of 85, and was interred at the Hansville Cemetery, buried under his birth name of Vezina.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visner, Joe 1859 births 1945 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Minneapolis Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball outfielders Washington Statesmen players Baltimore Orioles (AA) players St. Louis Browns (AA) players Brooklyn Bridegrooms players Pittsburgh Burghers players Rochester Flour Cities players Kansas City Cowboys (minor league) players Rochester Maroons players Hamilton Hams players Rochester Hop Bitters players Albany Senators players Omaha Omahogs players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Rockford Forest City players Des Moines Prohibitionists players Rockford Forest Citys players Rockford Reds players Burlington Hawkeyes players

Career

Post-career

See also

References

External links