{{Short description|American baseball player (1899–1991)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Joe Munson |birth_name=Joseph Martin Napoleon Carlson |image=Joe_Munson.jpg |caption=Munson, circa 1930 |position=Outfielder |birth_date={{Birth date|1899|11|6}} |birth_place=Renovo, Pennsylvania, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1991|2|24|1899|11|6}} |death_place=Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, U.S. |bats=Left |throws=Right |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=September 18 |debutyear=1925 |debutteam=Chicago Cubs |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=June 4 |finalyear=1926 |finalteam=Chicago Cubs |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.287 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=3 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=18 |teams= * Chicago Cubs ({{mlby|1925}}–{{mlby|1926}}) }} '''Joseph Martin Napoleon Munson''' (November 6, 1899 – February 24, 1991; born '''Joseph Martin Napoleon Carlson''') was an American professional baseball outfielder who played for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1925 and 1926. Listed at {{convert|5|ft|9|in|m}} and {{convert|184|lb|kg}}, he batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
==Biography== Munson attended Lehigh University, where he played college baseball.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/college/lehigh_university_baseball_players.shtml |title=Lehigh University Baseball Players Who Made It to the Major Leagues |website=Baseball Almanac |access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref> He then played in the minor leagues from 1918 through 1932,<ref name=brm/> initially playing under the name "Joe Martin".{{cn|date=July 2020}} With the Harrisburg Senators in 1925, he won the Eastern League triple crown,{{cn|date=July 2020}} leading the league with a .400 batting average, 33 home runs and 129 RBIs, while also recording 188 hits, 132 runs scored, and 17 triples.<ref name=brm>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=munson001jos |title=Joe Munson Minor Leagues Statistics & History |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref> For the Tulsa Oilers in the Western League, he batted .383 in 1927, won the batting title with .385 in 1928, and then hit .369 in 1929.<ref name=brm/> After the 1932 season, he retired with a .335 minor league lifetime average and 2,050 hits.{{cn|date=July 2020}}
Munson played in a total of 42 major league games, all with the Chicago Cubs.<ref name=retro>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/Pmunsj101.htm |title=Joe Munson |website=Retrosheet |access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref> In 1925, he played in nine games, batting .371 (13-for-35) with three RBIs.<ref name=br/> In 1926, he played in 33 games, batting .257 (26-for-101) with three home runs and 15 RBIs.<ref name=br/> Overall in MLB, Munson was a .287 hitter (39-for-136) with three home runs and 18 RBIs.<ref name=br>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/munsojo01.shtml |title=Joe Munson Stats |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref> Defensively, he played 21 games in right field and 16 games in left field, with a .922 fielding average.<ref name=br/>
Munson was born in Renovo, Pennsylvania.<ref name=retro/> A 1925 newspaper article noted that he was studying art in St. Louis during the baseball offseason.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56354815/an-artists-as-well-as-a-hitter-is/ |title=An Artists As Well As a Hitter Is Joseph Martin Napoleon Carlson |newspaper=Star-Gazette |location=Elmira, New York |page=28 |date=November 20, 1925 |access-date=July 30, 2020 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> On his draft registration card of February 1942, he listed his employer as the Union Tank Car Company in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/image/545829828 |title=WWII Draft Registration Card |publisher=Selective Service System |date=February 1942 |access-date=July 30, 2020 |via=fold3.com |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He died at the age of 91 in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, and was buried under his birth name.<ref name=retro/>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== *{{cite news |url=https://wacotrib.com/sports/brice-cherry-recently-discovered-photo-a-tale-of-waco-s/article_c073f91d-8d57-5942-a4bc-f347e86c0ab5.html |title=Recently discovered photo a tale of Waco's baseball past |first=Brice |last=Cherry |website=Waco Tribune-Herald |date=June 10, 2013 |access-date=July 30, 2020}}
==External links== *{{baseballstats |mlb=119530 |br=m/munsojo01 |brm=munson001jos |retro=M/Pmunsj101}} *{{findagrave|13312012}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munson, Joe}} Category:1899 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Major League Baseball outfielders Category:Baseball players from Clinton County, Pennsylvania Category:Chicago Cubs players Category:Lehigh Mountain Hawks baseball players<!--college--> Category:Martinsburg Mountaineers players Category:Suffolk Nuts players Category:Raleigh Nats players Category:Dallas Submarines players Category:Galveston Sand Crabs players Category:Marlin Bathers players Category:Harrisburg Senators players Category:Terre Haute Tots players Category:Indianapolis Indians players Category:Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Category:Waco Cubs players Category:Des Moines Demons players Category:Topeka Senators players Category:Galveston Buccaneers players Category:Clarksburg Generals players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Burials at Arlington Cemetery (Pennsylvania)