Ricardo Joseph

In a pro career that lasted from the winter of 1958-59 through summer 1973, righty-hitting corner infielder Rick Joseph played parts of five major league seasons with the Kansas City Athletics (1964) and Philadelphia Phillies (1967-1970). The Dominican Republic native was the Triple-A Pacific Coast League’s 1967 Most Valuable Player.

Ricardo Emelindo Joseph Harrigan was born on August 24, 1939, in Santa Fé, a mill town in the city of San Pedro de Macorís, 40 miles east of Santo Domingo – then known as Ciudad Trujillo – on the country’s southeastern coast. While little is known about Ricardo’s parents or siblings, his father was employed in the sugar industry. As Ricardo’s paternal and maternal surnames indicate, he was a “Cocolo” – descended from migrants of African descent from the British West Indies who came to the Dominican Republic in the early 20th century to cut sugar cane.1

Although he was known as Ricardo Joseph during his baseball career throughout Latin America, he explained, “When I played there in the United States, they called me ‘Rico’ as the Americans find it a bit difficult to pronounce the word Ricardo.”2 Rico became “Rickey” and, finally, “Rick”, the name used on most of his Topps baseball cards.

Although professional baseball in the Dominican Republic was on hiatus until the year Ricardo turned 12, the sport was still very popular, and the Brooklyn Dodgers held spring training in Ciudad Trujillo in 1948. “I remember Roy [Campanella when the Dodgers came over to play three exhibition games,” Joseph said. “I was just a kid hanging around the ballpark. I always wanted to be a ball player.”3 Later, Milwaukee Braves slugger Hank Aaron became one of his favorites.

Joseph often stayed with relatives in the Batey Central section of Barahona – 100 miles west of Ciudad Trujillo – where his father worked in a sugar mill. There, he attended Escuela Benefactor (the self-proclaimed “benefactor” was Dominican dictator Rafael L. Trujillo) for nine years and played baseball and volleyball.4 Locals recall Joseph as the first baseman for Barahona’s strong 1957 amateur team.5 His play caught the attention of Trujillo’s son Ramfis, who drafted Joseph to play for Aviación Militar, the San Isidro-based Dominican Air Force team for which future big-leaguers like Juan Marichal and Manny Mota had starred.

Homesick, Joseph left after one week. “I did not know the rules. I just left and went home. I had no permission. They started looking for me,” he recalled. “When I got home, my parents saw me, and they said, ‘What are you doing here?’ The military police called. They said I must be back before 24 hours was up. They could have put me in jail for six months, but because I had no experience, they gave me another chance.”6

After Joseph returned, he played baseball for the Aviación squad. “That’s when I got interested,” he explained. “Scouts came to the games. A man named Horacio Martínez, who had played pro ball and was scouting for the Giants, he talked to me. When I had a chance to sign, the Air Force was good to me. Instead of serving two years, they let me out after one year.”7 Prior to the 1959 season, Joseph signed with San Francisco. “I think I got $500,” he recalled.8

Before playing his first professional game in the United States, Joseph suited up for the Leones del Escogido, reigning three-time champions of the Dominican League. He went 1-for-3 in three regular-season appearances and had one hitless at-bat in the playoffs, as Escogido was dethroned by the Tigres del Licey.9

Joseph made his minor league debut with the Michigan City (Indiana) White Caps in 1959. In 121 games, he stroked 30 doubles to pace the Class D Midwest League while batting .320 with 13 home runs. On June 28, he enjoyed a 5-for-5 day against Joel McDaniel, the circuit’s leading winner with a 22-9 record that season. “Big Ricardo Joseph, Caps’ third baseman, hit two over the center field wall and cracked three singles,” reported the Decatur Daily News.10 That season, Joseph played more games at first base (55) than third (49); he also made 18 appearances at shortstop.

“When I went home, I went to English school, and then I studied for two years by correspondence from a school in California,” Joseph said, recalling his efforts to improve his proficiency with his second language.11 He also became a fixture in the Escogido lineup. Early in the Dominican League season, The Sporting News described him as “a native youngster of tremendous promise” but cautioned that he might be displaced when veteran third baseman Ozzie Virgil joined the club in mid-November.12 Things developed otherwise.

As Joseph explained, “Charley Smith was our shortstop. He got sick and [manager Pete] Reiser moved Ozzie Virgil to shortstop and put me at third base. I went on to become rookie of the year.”13 He later observed, “I began to think I could be a major league player.”14 Joseph’s .277 batting average in 52 games ranked ninth in the league, but fifth on his own team behind brothers Felipe and Mateo Alou, Frank Howard, and Curt Roberts.15 In a 4-for-4 performance against rival Licey, Joseph delivered the winning hit with two outs in the ninth for a 1-0 victory.16 He batted .370 in the postseason as Escogido claimed a fourth championship in five years. Joseph doubled and went deep twice in the clincher –the first multi-homer game in Dominican playoff history.17

Joseph’s production for the Fresno Giants in 1960 placed his name near the top of multiple leaderboard categories in the Class C California League. In 139 games, he batted .319 with 35 doubles, 13 triples, and 13 homers. He both drove in and scored 106 runs. In Reno on July 12, he ripped a pair of two-baggers for the All-Star team.18 When Bakersfield’s Gary Kroll tied a league record by striking out 19 Fresno batters on August 5, Joseph homered twice to help the Giants prevail, 4-3.19

That summer, San Rafael’s Daily Independent Journal published a “scouting report” comparing the 6-foot-1, 192-pound Joseph to a San Francisco All-Star. “At first base is a junior Orlando Cepeda by the name of Ricardo Joseph. Right down to the big number 30 on his uniform, Joseph resembles Orlando. He moves with the same grace, strikes out on the same bad balls and still manages to maintain a good .340 batting average.”20

With Escogido that winter season, Joseph demonstrated improved plate discipline by walking 32 times with 24 strikeouts, but he batted just .230 with a single homer in 47 games. In seven playoff contests, however, he tied Felipe Alou with a team-best six RBIs and hit .280 as Escogido defended its Dominican League crown.

In 1961, Joseph led the Springfield (Massachusetts) Giants to the championship of the Class A Eastern League with team-best marks in batting (.326), RBIs (86), and runs scored (98). He reached double figures in doubles (23), triples (11), and homers (11) for the second straight year. Joseph didn’t limit his hitting to the batters’ box. After he exchanged punches with Lancaster third baseman Johnny Mason following a basepath collision in May, The Sporting News reported, “It was the first fist fight at Stumpf Field, the home grounds of the Red Roses, since Organized Ball made its debut here back in 1940.”21

At the conclusion of Joseph’s first season in the U.S. playing primarily at the hot corner, he was named the third baseman on Topps’s Class A All-Star team.22 Back home, he enjoyed a four-hit game for Escogido on October 27, but the Dominican League campaign ended early amid ongoing turmoil following the May 30 assassination of Rafael L. Trujillo.23

Joseph advanced to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1962. On April 20 in Honolulu, he helped the Tacoma Giants rally from an 8-0 deficit to victory. He reached on an infield error in his first ninth-inning at bat, then singled home the tying and go-ahead runs with two outs and two strikes before the 11-run uprising was over.24 Joseph appeared in just 110 games, however, and finished at .273 with 10 home runs.

Dominican League play remained suspended altogether in 1962-63. Evidence of whether Joseph played in another winter league is not available. When he returned to Tacoma in 1963, he didn’t have a steady position – splitting time between first base (58 games) and the outfield (36). His average slipped to .247, including a four-week stretch without a single extra-base hit.25 Looking back after reaching the majors, Joseph said, “At Tacoma I only hit against lefthanders, and there were not many lefthanders in the league. That’s what hurts. You could look it up and see that I have good years when I play all the time.”26

On August 13, 1963, Joseph was demoted to Springfield, by then a Double-A affiliate in the reclassified Eastern League and moved back to third base. In December, he left the Giants organization altogether when he was selected by the Kansas City Athletics in the minor league draft. Joseph also had a new Dominican League uniform when the circuit resumed play that offseason. Along with Virgil, he had been traded to the Águilas Cibaeñas for infielder Félix Santana and Miguel Cartagena. Joseph played all 58 games for the Águilas and batted .279 with four home runs. In the playoffs, he homered once in a 3-1 Game One victory, and twice in the Águilas’ Game Three 8-1 triumph, but Licey prevailed despite Joseph’s .346 postseason average.27

Joseph returned to the PCL in 1964 to play for the Athletics’ Dallas Rangers affiliate. The Athletics had an agreement with Dallas to pay $2,500 if he was called up to the majors after June 15. When they called him up on that date, it sparked a controversy as the Triple-A Rangers sought to collect the money. “If we had brought Joseph up June 16, we would have been obligated for $2,500. Since we brought him up on June 15, we are not obligated,” explained Kansas City GM Pat Friday.28

On June 18, 1964, Joseph made his major league debut at Tiger Stadium. With the score tied, 2-2, he pinch hit for pitcher Wes Stock leading off the top of the eighth inning and grounded out to second against Detroit’s Ed Rakow. Joseph went 0-for-3 off the bench before Kansas City first baseman Jim Gentile pulled a muscle in his left side.29 Beginning with the second game of a June 21 doubleheader against the Senators at Municipal Stadium, Joseph started 13 of the next 16 games. On June 23, he doubled against Detroit’s Mickey Lolich for his first big-league hit, and enjoyed a three-hit game at Yankee Stadium on July 2, including a double off New York’s Rollie Sheldon for his first RBI. Overall, Joseph batted .222 in 17 contests before he was returned to Dallas on July 6, replaced on the Athletics’ roster by Ken Harrelson with Gentile healthy again. Dallas finished with the PCL’s worst record at 53-104, but Joseph led his teammates with a modest .278 batting average and 59 RBIs despite missing time with a fractured finger on his throwing hand at the end of April.30

In winter ball, Joseph rejoined Escogido and batted just .254 with one homer in 52 games. The club reached the Dominican League finals but were swept by the Águilas Cibaeñas.

For Kansas City’s new Triple-A affiliate, the Vancouver Mounties, Joseph batted .298 with three homers and 20 RBIs in his first 39 games of 1965.31 On May 28 in Tacoma, however, he was rushed to the hospital after being beaned by Joe Overton, a right-hander from Mississippi.32 After returning to action, Joseph hit only .204 with a single homer in his next 39 contests. On July 20, he was shipped to the Detroit Tigers’ Syracuse Chiefs farm club in the Triple-A International League and batted just .223 in 44 games to finish 1965 with an overall .241 mark and just seven homers in 431 at-bats.

That winter, Dominican League play was postponed for the third time in five years following the springtime intervention of 30,000 U.S. Marines to quell a civil war.33 As a result, Joseph and his countrymen José Vidal and Federico Velázquez joined the Venezuelan League’s Cardenales de Lara. Joseph’s comeback included a club-best .301 batting average and 28 runs scored in 40 games, with six homers and 27 RBIs.

Joseph returned to Vancouver to begin 1966. When he was drilled by an up-and-in pitch from the Seattle Angels’ Jim Coates in the fourth inning on May 11, he charged the mound but was stopped from behind by Seattle catcher Merritt Ranew, his Dominican League teammate two winters before. Eyewitness accounts disagree regarding whether Ranew used his fist or his catcher’s mask, but Joseph was knocked to the ground and needed four stitches to close cuts on his face and head.34

Although a PCL investigation was unable to substantiate the reports, Joseph’s teammate Tommie Reynolds – an African American – said that another Seattle player had warned beforehand that Coates, a Virginian, planned to throw at Vancouver’s players of color during the game. In Reynolds’s next plate appearance after Joseph was hit, he bunted but ran towards the mound instead of first base. Ranew sprang into action again, only to be halted by the Mounties’ on-deck hitter, Santiago Rosario, who fractured the catcher’s skull by clobbering him over the head with his bat. “There was a shocked silence in the grandstands,” recalled CKWX radio broadcaster Jim Robson. “When the players realized what had happened, the scuffles broke up.”35 Coates finished the game – coming within one strike of pitching a no-hitter before allowing Ted Kubiak’s ninth-inning single.36 The next day, however, Joseph found Coates reading a newspaper in the lobby of the Sylvia Hotel and punched him in the mouth. “He broke four of my teeth and loosened two others,” Coates remarked, denying that the hit-by-pitch had been intentional.37 PCL president Dewey Soriano fined Joseph $100 and suspended him for four days.38 “The thing I did was wrong, going to the hotel, but lots of clubs knew about that guy,” Joseph said.39 “I was crazy to do it. I pray that’ll never happen to me again. I don’t know what got into me.”40 Ranew returned to the field a year later and made it back to the majors with the 1969 Seattle Pilots. Rosario was banned for the balance of the season and never returned to the big leagues.

Joseph finished the 1966 season batting .287 with 13 homers and 78 RBIs in 134 games – 108 of them in the outfield, his only season playing primarily that position. “The trouble is my arm,” he said. “It isn’t strong enough.”41 On November 29, the Philadelphia Phillies’ San Diego Padres affiliate in the PCL acquired him in the minor league draft for $12,000.42 He helped Escogido reach another Dominican League finals by batting .270 with 32 RBIs in 50 games. His five homers were half of the team’s total.

The Phillies invited Joseph to spring training in 1967 amid concerns about first baseman Bill White’s recovery from an Achilles tendon injury.43 Philadelphia opted to platoon 30-somethings Tony Taylor and Tito Francona until White was ready, however. “[Manager] Gene Mauch, he told me to go to [Triple-A] San Diego and have a good year and he’d give me a shot,” Joseph recalled.44 Veteran Jim Gentile played first base for the Padres, so third base became Joseph’s primary position again after three years. “Ricardo has played a super third base for us,” remarked Bob Skinner, who managed San Diego to a league-best 85-63 record.45 Joseph said, “[Phillies coach] Don Hoak help[ed] me this spring, and I work[ed] out every day all season there.”46

Joseph batted .300 with a career-high 24 home runs in 1967, thanks in part to a tip from Skinner. “He picked up my bat one day and he thought it was too light,” Joseph explained. “I had been using a 32-ounce bat, so I switched to a 34. I think it made me wait more on a pitch, and I don’t swing at so many bad balls. When I do make contact good, the ball seems to go farther, too… I don’t pull the ball as much. Now I hit the ball more to all fields.”47 With 96 RBIs, Joseph finished one behind Hawaii’s Willie Kirkland for the PCL lead, but he was named the circuit’s Topps Player of the Month for August and, later, the MVP.48

Joseph missed San Diego’s last eight games and the PCL playoffs because he was recalled by the Phillies on August 29, shortly after All-Star third baseman Dick Allen suffered a season-ending hand injury.49 Taylor replaced Allen at the hot corner, while Joseph appeared in 17 of the Phillies’ last 33 games – including nine starts at first base. He hit .220 in 41 at bats with one homer – an 11th-inning, pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam into the left-field seats at Connie Mack Stadium against the Dodgers’ Ron Perranoski on September 16.50

After a subpar winter ball season with Escogido (.233 with three homers in 47 games), Joseph began the first of three full seasons with Philadelphia, but he had only 29 at bats before Mauch was fired after 54 games in 1968. According to beat writer Bill Conlin, Mauch remarked, “Rick Joseph is too happy about being here to worry about not playing.”51 Skinner became the new skipper, and Joseph batted .219 with three homers in 66 overall appearances (35 starts at first or third) for the sub-.500 Phillies. One of his round-trippers was a pinch-hit blast off Juan Marichal on August 17. That winter, Joseph led the Dominican League with a .540 slugging percentage to help Escogido win its first championship in eight years.

Joseph was initially a reserve again in 1969, but he received his best big league opportunity: 42 consecutive starts beginning on June 20. On June 25, the Phillies began a season-best nine-game winning streak and Joseph commenced a string of hitting safely in 16 straight games – the longest streak by a Philadelphia player all season.52 On July 17, he hit his sixth homer in three weeks and raised his average to .342. On July 31, however, a ground ball split the skin between Joseph’s thumb and forefinger on his throwing hand.53 He had only 77 at bats the rest of the season and batted .207 without a home run as the Phillies changed managers again and lost 99 games. With Escogido that winter, Joseph went deep a team-best six times but batted just .248 in 43 contests.

In 1970, Joseph pinch hit in 43 of his 71 appearances. “It is one of the toughest things in baseball, to sit on the bench and be a pinch hitter,” he said.54 “I always say, there can only be nine on the field at once, and if you’re not one of the nine, you just bear down and wait for your chance.”55 Although his career batting average was just .253 in that role, Joseph slammed six homers in 95 at bats for a .505 slugging percentage. One of them – on April 28, 1970 – was a game-winner at Dodger Stadium after he ripped Alan Foster’s first pitch of the 10th inning over the fence.56 New Phillies manager Frank Lucchesi said it gave him “peace of mind” to have a hitter like Joseph on his bench.57

While the Philadelphia Daily News’s Stan Hochman noted Joseph’s propensity for whistling on the field, he described him as “a guy who does not speak above a whisper. And then, only when he’s spoken to first.”58 Joseph said, “I’ve never had the kind of attitude where you complain. That’s the way I am. It doesn’t help. You’ll stay longer in baseball if you have a nice attitude.”59 Still, he acknowledged his desire to see more action. “What you need in baseball is luck, someone who cares for you,” he observed. “The name of the game is playing. It would be nice if a guy was given a chance to play one full season, just to see what he can do. If he can’t do it, then he can’t do it.”60

In May, Joseph strained his left hand twice on swings.61 His average sank to .167 by June 19. Though he rebounded to finish at .227 in 71 games, he managed only two extra-base hits after May 21. His major league career ended with a .243 average and 13 homers in 270 games. That winter, he joined the San Pedro de Macorís-based Estrellas Orientales and batted .333 in 47 contests – then the highest average by a Dominican League third baseman.62

In January 1971 the Phillies dropped Joseph from their 40-man roster and traded him to the PCL’s Tucson Toros for pitcher Bucky Brandon.63 Joseph spent the season with a different PCL team, however – the Hawaii Islanders, an affiliate of the San Diego Padres, by then a big league franchise. He batted .247 with 11 homers in 85 games and missed time with a pulled hamstring.64 That offseason, he played for his fourth Dominican League championship team, returning to the Águilas Cibaeñas and leading the club with 10 doubles in 55 regular-season contests. He hit just .237 with two homers, though, and made just seven plate appearances in 11 playoff games.

Joseph’s United States career ended in the Triple-A International League in 1972. He started the year with the Richmond (Virginia) Braves but was released after appearing in 27 games. He caught on with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Charleston (West Virginia) Charlies club. “I like to have a guy like Joseph around,” said Charleston manager Red Davis. “He’s always ready to play. He’s no problem for the manager because he knows what he has to do. Also, he’s a steadying influence on our shortstop, [fellow Dominican] Frank Taveras.”65 Between two teams, Joseph saw action in 117 games and batted .262 with 14 homers.

That winter, he played his final 30 games in the Dominican League and hit .282 for the Águilas Cibaeñas. In 519 career contests in his native country’s circuit, Joseph batted .267 with 37 homers and 251 RBIs. He added .254 with eight homers in 58 playoff games.

In 1973, Joseph went deep on Opening Day for the Mexican League’s Diablos Rojos del México.66 He batted .276 with 10 homers in 113 games in the Triple-A circuit, the last 10 of which were spent with the Leones de Yucatán. After 15 seasons of professional baseball, his career was over.

Joseph’s post-baseball years were short and full of suffering. Ravaged by diabetes, his weight dwindled to 60 pounds before his death on September 8, 1979, in Santo Domingo – just two weeks after his 40th birthday.67 He had a wife, Milagra, and a son, Ricardo Jr., according to a 1970 Philadelphia Daily News article.68 In 2014, Dominican baseball historian Cuqui Córdova wrote that Joseph had a daughter, Tanya, living in Holland.69 Two 1950s Dominican Leaguers, Enrique Lantigua and Rafael Váldez, arranged Joseph’s burial at Cementerio Máximo Gómez, but none of Ricardo’s family members attended the service, which took place shortly after the Dominican Republic had been devastated by Hurricane David.70 “His departure from this world was untimely, decimated by that terrible disease, which is diabetes, mired in misery and forgotten by all,” Córdova described.71

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Norman Macht and fact checked by members of the SABR BioProject fact checking committee.

Sources

All Dominican League statistics are from https://stats.winterballdata.com/players?key=2130 (subscription service).

Venezuelan statistics are from https://pelotabinaria.com.ve/beisbol/.

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.ancestry.com and www.baseball-reference.com.

Notes

1 “Cocolo” was a mispronunciation of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, where many of the migrants originally came from. Rob Ruck, The Tropic of Baseball, (Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York, 1991): 117.

2 Cuqui Córdova, “Ricardo Joseph – la Diabetes le Provocó la Muerte a los 40 Años,” Listin Diario (Dominican Republic), June 6, 2014, https://listindiario.com/el-deporte/2014/06/06/324827/ricardo-joseph-la-diabetes-le-provoco-la-muerte-a-los-40-anos (last accessed August 13, 2021).

3 Allen Lewis, “Ricardo Rings Bell, Wins Spot on ’68 Phil Blueprint,” The Sporting News, October 14, 1967: 20.

4 Ricardo Joseph, Publicity Questionnaire for William J. Weiss, February 15, 1962.

5 Rafael Matos Féliz , “Nuestras Glorias: Ricardo Joseph,” La Caracola (Barahona, Dominican Republic), July 2, 2021, https://lacaracola18.blogspot.com/2021/07/nuestras-glorias-ricardo-joseph.html (last accessed August 13, 2021).

6 Stan Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting,” Philadelphia Daily News, May 6, 1970: 60.

7 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

8 Lewis, “Ricardo Rings Bell, Wins Spot on ’68 Phil Blueprint.”

9 Ricardo Joseph’s Dominican League statistics from https://stats.winterballdata.com/players?key=2130 (Subscription service. Last accessed August 14, 2021).

10 Forrest R. Kyle, “New Commodore Knocks in Five Runs,” Decatur (Illinois) Daily Review, June 29, 1959: 10.

11 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

12 Fernando A. Vicioso, “Stuart and Howard Size Up Fences for Sizzling Sock Derby,” The Sporting News, October 28, 1959: 26.

13 Paul Cour, “Slugger Joseph Swings Hot Bat Instead of Fists,” The Sporting News, June 10, 1967: 43.

14 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

15 “Dominican Dandies,” The Sporting News, February 3, 1960: 29.

16 Fernando A. Vicioso, “Lady Luck Frowns on Lefty Bill Smith,” The Sporting News, January 13, 1960: 29.

17 Fernando A. Vicioso, “Dodgers’ Duo Serves Lions Playoff Feast,” The Sporting News, February 10, 1960: 29.

18 Ty Cobb, “Reno Nips California Loop Stars, 5-4, Before 1,631,” The Sporting News, July 20, 1960: 38.

19 “Record-Tying 19 Strikeouts Unlucky Total in California,” The Sporting News, August 17, 1960: 38.

20 John J. Connolly, “The Bullpen,” Daily Independent Journal (San Rafael, California), August 17, 1960: 18.

21 George Kirchner, “Fist Fight Ends Long Reign of Peace at Red Roses’ Park,” The Sporting News, May 31, 1961: 35.

22 “Glitter Guys of ’61,” The Sporting News, October 25, 1961: 21.

23 Fernando A. Vicioso, “Giant Prospect Rivas Racks Up Dazzling Hill Job,” The Sporting News, November 8, 1961: 26.

24 “Down 8 to 0, Tacoma Tabs 11 in Ninth to Nip Hawaii,” The Sporting News, May 2, 1962: 37.

25 “Coast Clippings,” The Sporting News, July 6, 1963: 37.

26 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

27 Fernando A. Vicioso, “Tigers Rebound Behind Vet Olivo and Grab Playoff,” The Sporting News, February 15, 1964: 29.

28 Joe McGuff, “Athletics Addenda,” The Sporting News, July 11, 1964: 32.

29 Joe McGuff, “A’s Addenda,” The Sporting News, July 4, 1964: 21.

30 “Coast Clippings,” The Sporting News, May 16, 1964: 36.

31 “Coast Averages,” The Sporting News, June 12, 1965: 31.

32 “Coast Clippings,” The Sporting News, June 12, 1965: 38.

33 Instead of the winter league proper, there was a three-team circuit formed by the Federation of Dominican Players. The teams represented colors rather than cities: the Blues, Yellows, and Reds.

34 Clancy Loranger, “Rosario Banned for Season After Bat-Swinging Ruckus,” The Sporting News, May 28, 1966: 31.

35 Don McLellan, “May 11, 1966: The Day of the Baseball Brawl,” Vancouver Sun, 5/30/92: D10.

36 Loranger, “Rosario Banned for Season After Bat-Swinging Ruckus.”

37 “Coates Battles Way Back in First Start Since ’63,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1966: B4.

38 “Bat-Wielders Case Open to Developments,” Chicago Tribune, May 14, 1966: B6

39 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

40 Cour, “Slugger Joseph Swings Hot Bat Instead of Fists.”

41 Sandy Padwe, “He Hopes a Lot, Plays a Little,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 5, 1970: 28.

42 Clifford Kachline, “Farm Systems Nab 53 Players in Minors’ Draft,” The Sporting News, December 10, 1966: 27.

43 Lewis, “Ricardo Rings Bell, Wins Spot on ’68 Phil Blueprint.”

44 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

45 Cour, “Slugger Joseph Swings Hot Bat Instead of Fists.”

46 Lewis, “Ricardo Rings Bell, Wins Spot on ’68 Phil Blueprint.”

47 Lewis, “Ricardo Rings Bell, Wins Spot on ’68 Phil Blueprint.”

48 “Minor League Players of the Month,” The Sporting News, September 30, 1967: 11.

49 “Buy Infielder,” Daily News (New York, New York), August 30, 1967: 95.

50 Lewis, “Ricardo Rings Bell, Wins Spot on ’68 Phil Blueprint.”

51 Bill Conlin, “Ryan Miffed at Benching,” Philadelphia Daily News, July 15, 1969: 49.

52 “Phillies Fact File,” Philadelphia Daily News, April 7, 1970: 90.

53 Allen Lewis, “Clutch Clouts Mark Joseph as Phil Jewel,” The Sporting News, May 23, 1970: 32.

54 Padwe, “He Hopes a Lot, Plays a Little.”

55 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

56 Lewis, “Clutch Clouts Mark Joseph as Phil Jewel.”

57 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

58 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

59 Padwe, “He Hopes a Lot, Plays a Little.”

60 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

61 Bill Conlin, “SOS to Eugene Likely for Phils,” Philadelphia Daily News, May 25, 1970: 60.

62 Cuqui Córdova, “Béisbol de Ayer: Ricardo Joseph,” Listin Diario (Dominican Republic), April 25, 2014, https://listindiario.com/el-deporte/2014/04/25/319496/ricardo-joseph (last accessed August 13, 2021).

63 “Phils Swap for Hurler,” Lima (Ohio) News, January 16, 1971: 15.

64 Milton Richman, “Clete Boyer Hits Sweepstakes Pay,” Bonham (Texas) Daily Favorite, June 25, 1971: 4.

65 Bill Smith, “Charlies’ Joseph Realizes His Role; Braves Do, Too!” Charleston (West Virginia) Daily Mail, July 8, 1972: 7.

66 Roberto Hernandez, “Mexican Loop Openers Draw 93,000 to Parks,” The Sporting News, April 7, 1973: 53.

67 Córdova, “Ricardo Joseph – la Diabetes le Provocó la Muerte a los 40 Años.”

68 Hochman, “Whispering and Waiting.”

69 Cuqui Córdova, “Béisbol de Ayer: Ricardo Joseph,” Listin Diario, April 4, 2014, https://listindiario.com/el-deporte/2014/04/04/317064/ricardo-joseph (last accessed August 13, 2021).

70 Córdova, “Ricardo Joseph – la Diabetes le Provocó la Muerte a los 40 Años.”

71 Córdova, “Béisbol de Ayer: Ricardo Joseph,” April 25, 2014.