Joseph Stanley Beggs (November 4, 1910 – July 19, 1983), nicknamed "Fireman", was an American professional baseball pitcher.

[1] At Geneva, he competed in the Penn Relays, finishing in second place in the javelin throw in consecutive years.

[4] After he graduated from Geneva, Beggs signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who gave him a brief trial with the Scranton Miners of the Class A New York–Pennsylvania League.

In 1935, Beggs played for the Akron Yankees of the Class C Middle Atlantic League,[7] and had a 15–14 win–loss record in 41 games pitched.

He had a 21–4 record and a 2.61 earned run average (ERA) for Newark that year,[2] and pitched to the win in Game 4 of the Junior World Series against the Columbus Red Birds.

[13] Beggs made one appearance for the Reds during the 1944 season, as a starting pitcher, before his career was interrupted by World War II.

He started for the Reds on Opening Day and won 12 games with a 2.32 ERA, which was the third-best in the National League.

[17] Later in May 1948, Beggs signed with the Yankees and was assigned to the Kansas City Blues of the American Association.

[21] Beggs spoke fluent Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, and Spanish; he also read Latin and studied French.

[10] Following his baseball career, Beggs taught history and geography in public schools in Millford and Newport, Kentucky.

[1][10] He served as Kentucky's superintendent of prisons under Governor Happy Chandler, and became the director of urban renewal for Newport in 1959.