Wilburn Rue Butland (March 22, 1918 – September 19, 1997) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who appeared in 32 games in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

over four seasons between 1940 and 1947. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, Butland batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was listed as tall and . In his four-season

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

career, Butland posted a 9–3 record with 62 strikeouts and a 3.88

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in 150 innings pitched. His lone full season in the majors was 1942, in which he appeared in 23 games, won seven, lost one, threw two

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s and six complete games, and posted a sparkling 2.51 ERA. He handled 46

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

(15 putouts, 31 assists) in his major league career without an error for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Butland's pro career lasted from 1936 through 1950, although he missed three seasons due to service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He died in Terre Haute at age 79 on September 19, 1997.

External links

Bill Butland
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
MLB
historical statistics 1918 births 1997 deaths Baseball players from Indiana Boston Red Sox players Crookston Pirates players Eau Claire Bears players Jacksonville Tars players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Roanoke Red Sox players St. Augustine Saints players Scranton Red Sox players Sportspeople from Terre Haute, Indiana Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers {{US-baseball-pitcher-1910s-stub