All-Time Indians: Joe Shaute

While we usually highlight players who played at an extremely high level for the Indians, whether for a few years or more than a decade, there is also room for recognition of those who put in the time without distinction. Joe Shaute is probably the pitcher who most fits this category as only two others, Charles Nagy and Willis Hudlin pitched more innings with a worse ERA.

Shaute was born and raised in Pennsylvania and went to college at Juniata in Huntingdon before beginning his professional career with the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1922. He pitched just 74 innings there with a 2.43 ERA before being purchased by the Cleveland Indians mid-season. He pitched just two games in July in relief that year, allowing 8 runs in 4 innings, but would soon see a more extended stay in Cleveland.

At just 23 years old, Shaute had an excellent rookie campaign in 1923. Babe Ruth had killed the dead ball era (Shaute actually struck out Ruth in his first MLB appearance) and long gone were the days when multiple Indians pitchers held an ERA below 2.50. In this year, Shaute posted a very respectable 3.51 ERA, third best of the Indians six regularly used starters. He was on the opening day roster and made his first start on May 18th that year. Although he had a decent start, he was moved into the bullpen for most of the next three months with James Edwards, Guy Morton and Sherri Smith all moving in and out of the rotation. It wasn’t until September that Shaute would get another sustained chance to start and here he shined. He completed seven of nine starts in the month and allowed more than three runs just a single time.

That tremendous finish would win him a starting job in 1924 and in this season he would be the best he ever would be. While he did lead the league in losses with 17, he also won 20 games and he was able to earn so many decisions by completing 21 of his 34 starts. In addition to his starting duties, Shaute was the second most used reliever by the Indians, getting into 12 games and finishing 11 of those. These were all between his regular starts and he often pitched with two or fewer days off between appearances. His 3.75 ERA that year may not be historically impressive, but it was the second best of the regular starters and given that he was forced to work 283 innings in just his second full season, it is incredible.

It was possibly this early career work load that lead to the legend of mediocrity that was the rest of his career. He missed most of July and September and all of August with injury, finishing the year with a career worst 5.43 ERA. He did return to the rotation in 1926, posting a solid 3.53 ERA with 14 wins, completing 15 of his 25 starts, but this was just the beginning. From 1925 through 1929, Shaute went 48-63 with an ERA of 4.20 and more walks (304) than strike outs (268) in almost 1,000 innings.

In most eras of the Cleveland Indians, he would never have reached half that innings total with the level of production he was putting out, but this was during a low point in Tribe history and only Jake Miller and Willis Hudlin surpassed Shaute’s consistent play during this stretch. The late 1910’s and early 1920’s featured some of the best pitchers in team history including Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski and starting with Bob Feller‘s debut in 1936, the Indians had a stretch of Hall of Famers pitch for the team through the 1950’s including Bob Lemon and Early Wynn. The late 20’s and early 30’s, however, were a much more prominent offensive time around the league and this was the case in Cleveland to the extreme.

Shaute’s worst full season came in 1929 when he pitched just 162 innings with a 4.28 ERA. Every year from 1924 until then (excluding the injury shortened 1925) Shaute pitched at least 200 innings, but his year ended in August in ’29. Completely the opposite to his first chance as a starter, he finished this year pitching less than five innings in four of his final six starts. In 1930, he was never able to get back on the mound regularly as he pitched just 4.2 innings, allowing 10 runs (8 earned) before being released. He pitched during a small stretch for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the International League, but for the most part 1930 was a lost year and it was his final year with the Indians.

Regaining his health in 1931, Shaute pitched three seasons at a similar level to his prime for the Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers and another, shorter campaign with the Reds in 1934. In the end, Shaute was the perfect innings eater during a period when the Indians needed more innings eaten than ever before. Only 16 pitchers in Cleveland history threw more career innings and none did so with less ability. While he completed 96 of his 175 starts, he threw just five shut outs, the least among all pitchers with at least 1,200 innings pitched. No one would consider Shaute for even a team Hall of Fame, but he does deserve to be remembered for doing a job that few were capable of for such a long time.

After leaving the Reds, Shaute moved back to Pennsylvania and played for two teams, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in the minor leagues in his home state. He would never play in the Major Leagues again, but he still put up some quality numbers through his age 38 season in these lower levels. He would end up dying in Scranton at the age of 70 in 1970.