William Mallory Bagwell (February 24, 1895 – October 5, 1976), nicknamed "Big Bill", was a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

and

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. He played for the

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

and

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

during the 1920s. Bagwell was 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighed 175 pounds."Bill Bagwell Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.

Career

Bagwell started his professional baseball career in 1920 in the Class D level Louisiana State League, with the

Alexandria Tigers The Alexandria Tigers were a minor league baseball team based Alexandria, Louisiana. In 1920, the Tigers played as members of the short lived Class D (baseball), Class D level Louisiana State League, as Alexandria finished in fourth place in a shor ...

. That season, he had a .344

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 ...

in 33 games. Bagwell then spent two years in the

Southwestern League The Southwestern League was the name of four former minor league baseball leagues that operated in the Southwestern United States. The second league, also known as the ''Oklahoma State League'', was in operation for the 1904 season. The third ...

. In 1921, he batted .357, and in 1922, he batted .402 and led the league in batting average,

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(217), and total bases (323)."Bill Bagwell Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011. In October 1922, Bagwell was selected by the Boston Braves in the Rule 5 draft. He played for both the Braves and the Eastern League's Worcester Panthers in 1923. With Boston, he batted .290 in 56 games; with Worcester, he batted .453 in 49 games to lead the Eastern League in batting average. The Braves released Bagwell in April 1924. He spent one season in the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, batted .367 with a career-high 37

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s there, and then returned to the majors in 1925 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Bagwell spent nearly the whole season as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia. He appeared in 36 games and went 15 for 50 (.300) at the plate. In 1926, Bagwell played for the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

. He batted .391 to lead his league in batting average for the third time."1926 Pacific Coast League Batting Leaders"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011. In 1927, however, Bagwell's average fell to .292 for Portland. He bounced around various minor leagues for the next few years before retiring from professional baseball after the 1930 season. In his 11-year career, Bagwell hit .294 in the major leagues and .360 in the minor leagues. He died in Choudrant, Louisiana, in 1976.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagwell, Bill 1895 births 1976 deaths Major League Baseball left fielders Boston Braves players Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Pittsburg Pirates players Salina Millers players Independence Producers players Worcester Panthers players Galveston Sand Crabs players Portland Beavers players Dallas Steers players Beaumont Exporters players Monroe Drillers players Asheville Tourists players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball players Baseball players from Louisiana People from Choudrant, Louisiana Alexandria Tigers players