William Alvan Faul (April 21, 1940 – February 21, 2002) was an American

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 ...

player, a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

and

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

(1962–66; 1970). He stood tall and weighed . Born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Faul attended Goshen High School. Playing alongside his brother Jerry, Faul helped Goshen win the 1958 Ohio state baseball championship, then he played baseball at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, where he set the school's

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

record and once fanned 24 batters in a game.

Baseball career

Faul signed with the Tigers in 1962. Assigned to the

Knoxville Smokies The Knoxville Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team was based in Kodak, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, fr ...

of the Sally League, he won six of eight decisions and posted a 2.10

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 ...

. After a one-game major-league trial late in 1962, Faul spent the entire season with the Tigers. Working as a swing man, he appeared in 28 games pitched, ten as a starter, won five of 11 decisions, had two

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s and one save. But Faul also gained a reputation as one of his buttoned-up era's more free-spirited players and struggled under old-school

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Chuck Dressen Charles Walter Dressen (''pronounced:'' DREE-sen) (September 20, 1894Dressen's birthdate has been revised from 1898, as was commonly reported in '' The Sporting News' Baseball Register'' and ''Macmillan's Baseball Encyclopedia'', to 1894 by both ...

after Dressen took command of the Tigers in mid-season. Faul spent all but one game of the campaign in Triple-A, where he compiled an outstanding win–loss record (11–1) but a high earned run average (4.05) for the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. The Tigers then sold his contract to Cubs during

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in . The deal set up Faul's most successful big-league campaign. It began inauspiciously when he was roughed up during an April

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appearance against his hometown team, the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. The outing earned Faul another trip to Triple-A, where he spent two months in 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 ...

. Recalled in July and eventually plugged into the second-division Cubs' starting rotation, Faul worked in 17 games (including 16 starts), threw five complete games and three shutouts, including a two-hitter and a three-hitter. The 1965 Cubs tied a major league record by turning three triple plays, and Faul was the pitcher on each occasion. At one point that season, Faul credited the success he was having to his having the ability to hypnotize himself and batters. For the year, Faul posted a 6–6 record and set a personal best with a 3.54 earned run average. He began working out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

for the Cubs' new manager,

Leo Durocher Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager and coach (baseball), coach. He playe ...

, but got a chance to start on May 1 against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

. He defeated the Phils 6–1, registering what would be his final major league victory. He got in five more starts during the seasons first half, but was sent to Triple-A

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

in July. After spending 3 years in the minors, he surfaced in the majors again as a member of the Giants' bullpen, appearing in seven May games and registering one save. Then he was sent back to Triple-A, where he toiled through 1971. After sitting out the 1972 campaign, he made a final comeback in the Cubs' organization in 1973 before retiring. All told, Faul appeared in 71 big-league games, including 33 starting assignments, over all or parts of six seasons. He won 12 games, lost 16, with eight complete games, three shutouts, and two saves. In 261

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

he allowed 247 hits and 97

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, with 164

s. His career ERA was 4.72.

Personal life and death

Faul was a resident of Pleasant Plain, Ohio. He died at age 61 and is survived by his brother Jerry who still resides in Ohio.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faul, Bill 1940 births 2002 deaths All-American college baseball players Baseball players from Cincinnati Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Bearcats baseball players Detroit Tigers players Indianapolis Indians players Knoxville Smokies players Major League Baseball pitchers Midland Cubs players Omaha Royals players Phoenix Giants players Baseball players from Warren County, Ohio Portland Beavers players Salt Lake City Bees players San Francisco Giants players Syracuse Chiefs players Tacoma Cubs players Waterbury Indians players 20th-century American sportsmen