The Chicago press corps concluded that Tucker, a bespectacled White Sox outfielder, was a dead ringer for comedian Joe E. Brown. Fans began calling him Joe E. Tucker. He led the league in hitting for the first part of 1944, with his average hovering near .400 through June. He was the AL’s leadoff hitter in the All-Star Game but shortly after, mired in a 0-for-32 slump, was benched. He finished at .287. One of the league’s fastest runners, he raced base stealing champ George Case in a wartime Comiskey Park promotion, losing a 75-yard dash by three paces. He was traded to the Indians in time to play part-time for the 1948 World Champions.
