Joe Landrum

Joseph Butler Landrum
Born: Dec. 13, 1928 in Columbia, S.C.
Debut: 1950 | Pos: P
H: 5'11" | W: 180 | B: R | T: R

>> Visit the Joe Landrum biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

By 1945,  Joe Landrum had established himself as one of the top prep pitchers in South Carolina. It was no surprise when schools started making scholarship offers.

Landrum, however, had his eyes set on one school in particular. He turned down a scholarship from the University of South Carolina to pay his own way at Clemson.

In March 1946, he got his first start for the Tigers. After getting out of the college infirmary earlier that morning after a bout with strep throat, Landrum took the mound and pitched a no-hitter against Erskine. It was the first no-hitter in Clemson history.

Between 1946 and 1947, Landrum won 22 games for Clemson. In 1946, he finished with a 1.07 earned run average. That ERA is the second lowest of all time for Clemson, trailing only Billy O'Dell who finished the 1954 season with a 0.79 ERA.

Following the 1947 season, Landrum became the first Clemson player to be named All-American. Following that season at Clemson, Landrum signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Landrum played briefly for Brooklyn in the 1950 and 1952 seasons, but his pitching career was cut short by his military service. When the Korean Conflict broke out, Landrum returned to Clemson to finish his engineering degree and get an ROTC commission. The decision signaled the end of his life in baseball.

His son, Bill, pitched for the University of South Carolina and later in major league baseball.