Shea Stadium looks very
colorful behind Von Joshua. It looks like a good day to play ball, though there
was as good a chance Von would get into a game as that he wouldn’t. ’73 was a
frustrating year for him. Everything was finally going his way: Frank Robinson
was traded to California,
leaving Willie Crawford free to concentrate on right field; Manny Mota was
getting old and was ready to move into a reserve role; and Von’s good spring
got him the starting spot in left field to open the season. And he did great,
starting off the season at a .333 clip through the first eleven games when he
was hit by a pitch, breaking his right wrist. Things moved fast in LA back
then, and by the time Von returned, Mota was back in his old position and being
spelled by Tom Paciorek and Bill Buckner, who was being pushed out of his first
base role by the emerging Steve Garvey. While Von got some starts upon his
return, his injury contributed to a withering of his average and with Manny and
Buckner hitting above .300 he was again the odd man out, finishing out the
season mostly as a defensive replacement and a pinch hitter. It was still his
busiest year up top to date and he would have to get elsewhere to return to a
starting role. It seems in this shot he’s letting the photographer know how he
feels about the whole thing.
Von Joshua grew up in Oakland where he was a
good enough at baseball to warrant being selected in the first round of the
draft by the Giants in January of ’67. By then he was a freshman at Chabot College
– also attended by Dick Tidrow – and opted to stay in school since the offered
bonus wasn’t enough. He played out his college season, was spotted by an LA
scout, had a tryout, and was signed by the Dodgers later that summer. He began
his career quite well, hitting well over .350 in both Rookie and A ball. Primarily
a center fielder he moved up to Double A in ’68 where he continued to hit well
despite beginning his military hitch and missing a bunch of time. By ’69 he was
doing reserve work and saw more action in Triple A, where he would also spend
time the next three seasons. He got his debut up top in late September that
year and then began ’70 pulling his hitch but got some starts in center and
left when he returned in May. Von hit over .300 in his starts but LA was awash
in young outfielders and the bulk of his time came in late innings. Same story
in ’71: a May arrival from camp, but just a few at bats his month in LA and
then back to Triple A for the duration of the season. All of ’72 was spent at
the lower level where Von put up his best numbers and then won a batting title
in winter ball. After his frustrating ’73 he asked for a trade elsewhere but
was back for ’74 when he again played a reserve role, hitting .234 before
getting some post-season at bats. He again asked to be traded and in January
was selected by the Giants off waivers for about $20,000.
In ’74 San Francisco had perhaps the finest outfield
in the NL with Bobby Bonds, Garry Maddox, and Gary Matthews, all of whom were
relatively young. But Bonds was sent to the Yankees for Bobby Murcer prior to
the ’75 season to get more consistency at the plate. Joshua was obtained to
again do back-up work and provide some of the speed lost when Bonds left. But
Von had a great spring and soon into the season when the Giants were looking
for a first baseman, they felt they had room to trade Maddox to the Phillies
for Willie Montanez. Montanez would have his best offensive season for the
Giants that year and Von moved pretty seamlessly into the regular spot in
center and put up by far his best year, hitting .318 while scoring 75 runs and
stealing 20 bases, all career highs. The next year Von resumed his role in
center and was hitting .300 through April. But a slump tapered his average
almost 40 points and in another episode of bad timing it happened as two young center
fielders – Larry Herndon and Jack Clark – were waiting in the wings. Herndon
would win the starting role as Von was sold in early June to Milwaukee. Von assumed the starting role for
the Brewers and while his hitting didn’t improve much - .267 for Milwaukee against .263
for the Giants – there was no pressure from any new guys. In ’77 he hit .261 as
the starting guy in center.
The Brewers in ’78 would be
markedly different – and better – than they were in ’77 and one of the most
notable changes was in center field. Joshua’s spring training wasn’t too hot
and Gorman Thomas indicated he was finally ready to be an MLB player so Stormin’
Gorman got the nod there while Von was released. He moved south of the border
to play for – and briefly manage – Tabasco
of the Mexican League. Following his year there he returned to the States and
LA where he reprised his back-up role and hit .282 in an off year for the
Dodgers. He was then taken off waivers after the season, this time by the
Padres, who in ’80 employed Von in the same role. After hitting .238 in much
less at bats he was released in late August. He returned to Mexico, where
he played and coached through ’82, his final year as a player. Von finished
with a .273 average with 30 homers and 184 RBI’s. He went hitless with a walk
in five post-season appearances and hit .315 in the minors.
After taking a year off
Joshua returned to coaching and LA by becoming a hitting coach in the Dodgers
chain, which he did from ’84 to ’92. He then took on the same role in the White
Sox chain from ’93 to ’97 before moving to Chicago as its hitting coach from ’98 to
2001. In 2002 he was the minor league hitting coach for Toronto. In 2003 he hooked up with the other Chicago organization and
was a Cubs minor league hitting instructor through mid-’09 when he was again promoted
to the top. That lasted the rest of the season and since 2010 he has been the Triple
A Iowa Cubs hitting coach.
So Von won two batting titles
in ’72 which for sure prompted his ’73 promotion, brief though it was. His
parents were both teachers and Von has opined more than a few times that he
actually prefers coaching in the minors since the players there are actually
looking to be taught.
Years earlier these guys
would have been cross-town from each other, NYC being a very big town:
1. Joshua and Bobby Murcer ’75
to ’76 Giants;
2. Murcer and Sam McDowell ’73
to ’74 Yankees.
Looks like Shea....?
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