Joe "Moses" Shipley

Joe Shipley was a hard-throwing, quite wild pitcher who made the majors with the Giants and White Sox in the late 50's through 1963. Here are his listed transactions from his Baseball Reference major league page...

• Before 1954 Season: Sent from Vidalia (Georgia State) to the New York Giants in an unknown transaction.
• Before 1962 Season: Released by the San Francisco Giants.
• Before 1962 Season: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
• July 24, 1962: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Chicago White Sox for Alan Brice. 

Pretty cut and dried, except for the 1954 deal. Well, these don't explain trips to the Cleveland AAA Salt Lake City team in 1961, single-A Portsmouth (A's) in 1961, and Indianapolis in 1962...AND El Paso in 1965 (Angels). There are a LOT of references to check...

First, how he got to Salt Lake... from The Deseret News of Jan. 3, 1961...

“Salt Lake’s Bees had run their roster of Pacific Coast League effectives to three today with the announcement of a purchase of big, fire-balling Joe (Moses) Shipley from Tacoma’s Giants.”

Herman Franks was big on Shipley, Franks was running that Indians' AAA club. However, the Shipley affair didn't last long in Salt Lake...

From the  Deseret News of June 7, 1961...

“The Bees also announced that pitcher Joe Shipley had been sent to Portsmouth, Va. In the South Atlantic League. Shipley had a 1-4 record in 16 appearances on the mound.”

Oops. Shipley started the 1962 season at Tulsa, the Cardinals' AA team, then was picked up by Indianapolis, the White Sox AAA affiliate: from The Franklin Evening Star of July 26, 1962...

“Indians Purchase Tulsa Moundsman. INDIANAPOLIS - Joe Shipley, a big right-handed pitcher with Tulsa of the Texas League, has been purchased by the Indianapolis Indians and will join the Tribe in time for Sunday's home stand.”

Shipley was purchased from Indianapolis by the Sox in 1963, then sent back with the recall of Joel Horlen. In 1964, he started with Indianapolis, and finished with Jacksonville for the Cardinals. I haven't been able to find that deal.

I DID find that he started 1965 in Reynosa and the Mexican League, and the last transaction and final stop of his career would be El Paso and the Angels' AA team...

From the El Paso Post-Herald of June 1, 1965...

“...the Los Angeles Angels sent Joe Shipley, tall right hander, to El Paso. Shipley was with the Tulsa Oilers in 1962 and won nine games. He was acquired yesterday from the Reynosa Club of the Mexican League.”

After a while as El Paso, that was it for Joe Shipley. If anyone can find the 1964 transaction between Indianapolis and Jacksonville, we can put a good capper on the travels of Moses.

Shipley from the great cardsthatneverwere.blogspot.com