William Charles Monbouquette (August 11, 1936 – January 25, 2015) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player and coach. He played 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), ...

(MLB) as a right-handed

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 ...

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 ...

(1958–65), Detroit Tigers (1966–67),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

(1967–68), and the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

(1968). A four-time All-Star player, Monbouquette was notable for pitching a no-hitter in as a member of the Red Sox.Associated Press Wire Services (January 27, 2015) "Bill Monbouquette, pitcher for Boston Red Sox in 1950s and ’60s, dies at 78", ''The Washington Post

Retrieved September 20, 2017 He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000.

Early career

Bill was born in Medford, Massachusetts, and attended Medford High School (Massachusetts), Medford High School. He was signed as a free agent on June 21, 1955, by the

at the age of 18.

Major League career

Monbouquette compiled 114 wins, 1,122 strikeouts, and a 3.68

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 ...

during his major league career. He was also an above-average fielding pitcher, recording a .984 fielding percentage with only seven errors in 428

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 ...

in innings of work. Bill Monbouquette 1965

Monbouquette was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1955 and started his majors career on July 18, 1958. He won at least 14 games from 1960 to 1963, with a career-high 20 victories in 1963. An

American league The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) All-Star in 1960, 1962, and 1963, Monbouquette no-hit the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

1–0 on August 1, 1962, at Comiskey Park; a second-inning walk to Al Smith was the only baserunner Monbouquette allowed.Ginsburg, Bob (August 2, 1962) "Bounced as All Star, Monbouquette Now the Biggest Star of All" ''The News-Herald'' (Franklin, Pennsylvania) Obtained via Newspapers.com Monbouquette credited Red Sox pitching coach Sal Maglie with refining his delivery, enabling him to improve his pitching performance. He also collected two one-hit games, and set a Red Sox record with a 17 strikeout-game against the Washington Senators in 1961. The record stood until Roger Clemens established a major league record with 20 strikeouts in a 1986 game against Seattle. On September 25, 1965, in a game against the

Kansas City A's The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

, Monbouquette was the starting pitcher versus 58-year-old Hall of Famer

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

. Monbouquette threw a complete game for his tenth win of the season, but became the final strikeout victim of Paige's career in the 3rd inning. After going 96–91 with Boston, Monbouquette was sent to the Detroit Tigers before the 1966 season. He also pitched for the New York Yankees and finished his career with the San Francisco Giants on September 3, 1968. He never made the postseason. Monbouquette was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000. He was a pitching coach for Detroit Single-A affiliate team,

Oneonta Tigers The Oneonta Tigers were a minor league baseball team located in Oneonta, New York. They were members of the New York–Penn League. The Tigers were the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and played their home games ...

. Bill was also once professional hockey player Wayne Muloin's brother-in-law. When people would ask him for an autograph, he surprised people because although he pitched and batted right-handed, his hand writing was left handed.

Illness and death

In May 2008, the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

reported that Monbouquette was suffering from

acute myelogenous leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may includ ...

. The

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

and drug treatment he received had the disease in remission, but he needed a bone marrow and stem cell transplant to be cured. The Red Sox, in conjunction with

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research institution in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana–Farber is the founding member of Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by ...

, on June 7, 2008, encouraged fans to enroll in the National Marrow Donor Registry at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in hopes of finding a suitable donor for Monbouquette and others suffering from the disease. In 2010, the Boston rock band the Remains released a song, "Monbo Time", as a tribute to Monbouquette. The Remains pledged to donate 50% of the revenues they receive from sales of the song to cancer research. Boston Herald, April 22, 2010; nesn.com, April 14, 2010) Monbouquette died on January 25, 2015, aged 78 at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Medford Massachusetts. He was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford, Massachusetts.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Monbouquette, Bill 1936 births 2015 deaths Albany Senators players American League All-Stars Baseball players from Massachusetts Bluefield Blue-Grays players Boston Red Sox players Corning Red Sox players Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Deaths from leukemia Detroit Tigers players Greensboro Patriots players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players New York Mets coaches New York Yankees coaches New York Yankees players New York Yankees scouts San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Medford, Massachusetts

Early career

Major League career

Illness and death

See also

References

External links