Joe Ardner
From BR Bullpen
Joseph A. Ardner (Old Hoss)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Weight 160 lb.
- Debut May 1, 1884
- Final Game August 18, 1890
- Born February 27, 1858 in Mount Vernon, OH USA
- Died September 15, 1935 in Cleveland, OH USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Joe "Old Hoss" Ardner was an Ohio boy who played twice for the Cleveland team. He came up first in 1884, a year of three leagues, and then a second time in 1890, another year when there were three leagues. A second baseman, he was the regular in 1890.
It was reported that he played indoor baseball in the winter of 1893, when it was very popular in Cleveland. A number of other major leaguers were on a team that may have been put together for one contest. Another of his off-season activities was working as a scene shifter at the Cleveland Opera House.
He had typhoid fever in 1904. He died in Ohio in 1935.
"They call me 'Old Joe' Ardner, when the fact is I am the youngest man in the business, as I have only had nine birthdays. I was born February 29, 1860, and did not come out of the ark, as some envious rivals say." - Joe Ardner, quoted in Sporting Life, May 2, 1896, and just possibly lying about the date of his birth in an effort to seem less old
