Dec
06
2021

Joe Muir Felt the Clock Ticking

This is apparently the only mainstream baseball card issued of Joe Muir during his MLB career. It was a brief period, as he only amassed 52 innings across 21 games in 1951-1952. Muir had spent years in the minor leagues, establishing himself as a capable pitcher and with a decent bat. Approaching the age of 30, he found himself with few prospects for a substantive big league career and elected to retire from the sport.

He became a Maryland State Trooper where he served for an extensive period. Muir could have stuck it out with the Pirates and its affiliated farm clubs for a few years, but the state police academy had a maximum age of 29 for new recruits. Low-level ball players did not earn substantial salaries at this time, and he was already moonlighting as an oysterman in the Chesapeake Bay when the offseason arrived. In hindsight he probably made the right move.