Frederick "Cy" Williams (December 21, 1887 – April 23, 1974) 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 ...

player. 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), ...

as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the Chicago Cubs (1912–17) and Philadelphia Phillies (1918–30). As Major League Baseball emerged from the

dead-ball era In baseball, the dead-ball era was the period from around 1900 to the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1919, when he hit a then-major league record 29 home runs; only three players since 1890 had even hit 20. This era was characterized ...

, Williams became one of the most prominent

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

hitters in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

Baseball career

Born in

Wadena, Indiana Wadena is an unincorporated community in Union Township, Benton County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Wadena was founded by John Swan and named after Wadena, Minnesot ...

, Williams attended Notre Dame where he studied architecture and played football with Knute Rockne. His hitting prowess caught the attention of the Chicago Cubs, who purchased his contract after he graduated from college. Williams made his major league debut with the Cubs on July 18, 1912 at the age of 24. From 1915 to 1927 he was a consistent power hitting center fielder, leading the

in home runs four times during his career. Williams was the first National League player to hit 200 career home runs, and is one of three players born before 1900 to hit 200 homers in his career (Babe Ruth and

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby Sr. (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 193 ...

are the others). He was the National League's career home run leader until his record of 251 was surpassed by Hornsby in 1929. In a 19-year major league career, Williams played in 2,002 games, accumulating 1,981 hits in 6,780 at bats for a .292 career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

along with 251 home runs, 1,005

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

and an on-base percentage of .365. He hit over .300 six times in his career. An excellent defensive player, Williams had a .973 career fielding percentage, which was nine points higher than the league average during his playing career. The Williams Shift, in which defensive players moved to the right side of the playing field, is often associated with

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1 ...

, but it was actually first employed against Cy Williams during the 1920s. He played in his final major league game on September 22, 1930 at the age of 42. In 1931, Williams served as a player-manager in the minor leagues for the Richmond Byrds of the Eastern League.

Later life

After retirement, Williams worked as an architect at the 3 Lakes Theatre in Three Lakes, Wisconsin since 1949. Before that, he designed the 3 Lakes Theatre's exterior and interior and later opened that June of the same year.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Cy 1887 births 1974 deaths Major League Baseball center fielders National League home run champions Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Minor league baseball managers Richmond Byrds players Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's track and field athletes Baseball players from Indiana People from Benton County, Indiana People from Three Lakes, Wisconsin University of Notre Dame alumni 20th-century American architects

Baseball career

Later life

See also

References

External links