William Alfred Hands, Jr. (May 6, 1940 – March 9, 2017) was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
player who
pitched in the
major leagues from 1965 to 1975. His best season came in
1969
1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
with the
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 ...
, when he won 20 games.
Early life
A native of
Rutherford, New Jersey
Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 18,834, an increase of 773 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 18,061, which in turn reflected a de ...
, Bill Hands played baseball at
Rutherford High School.
Hands pitched at
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University () is a private university with its main campuses in New Jersey, located in Madison / Florham Park and in Teaneck / Hackensack. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University offers more than 100 degree prog ...
and
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...
before signing with the
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 ...
. He was later inducted into the Rutherford Hall of Fame.
Major Leagues
Hands, whose nickname was "Froggy," signed as an amateur free agent with the San Francisco Giants in 1959, made his major league debut with them in 1965, pitching in four games that season. After the 1965 season, Hands was traded to the Chicago Cubs with catcher
Randy Hundley
Cecil Randolph Hundley Jr. (born June 1, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, and the San Diego Padres. ...
for outfielder
Don Landrum and reliever
Lindy McDaniel
Lyndall Dale McDaniel (December 13, 1935 – November 14, 2020), known as Lindy McDaniel, was an American professional baseball pitcher who had a 21-year career in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1975. During his career, he witnessed approxim ...
,
a trade regarded at the time as a success for the Giants, and which went on to be viewed as one of the best in Cubs history.
In 1966 with the Chicago Cubs, he started 26 games and relieved 15, going 8-13 with a 4.58 ERA. By 1968, at age 28, he went 16-10 with a 2.89 ERA, followed up in 1969 by his best season, as he went 20-14 with a 2.49 ERA. He threw 18 complete games and pitched 300 innings, while pitching in a rotation along with Hall of Famer
Ferguson Jenkins
Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins Order of Canada, CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and Coach (baseball), coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, C ...
.
The right-hander spent seven seasons with the Cubs, two with the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...
and two with the
Texas Rangers.
Of Hands, Ferguson Jenkins said, "Hands was an 'even-tempered guy' with a good sinking fastball and sharp slider who did his job and never complained about being underappreciated on a team full of stars."
He finished his career with a record of 111-110 and an ERA of 3.35.
Personal life
During his professional career, he had been a resident of
Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey.
After retiring from baseball, Hands was a salesman for an oil company on Long Island. He later opened up a service station, the Orient Service Center, in
Orient, New York
Orient is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States. The CDP's population was 743 at the 2010 census.
''Orient'' and ''Orient Point'' are used almost interchangeably. However, Orient Poin ...
, where he lived for many years with his wife Sandy; his children (Heather, Billy, and Heidi) and grandchildren also lived in Orient.
Hands died in Florida on March 9, 2017.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hands, Bill
1940 births
2017 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
San Francisco Giants players
Minnesota Twins players
Chicago Cubs players
Texas Rangers players
Baseball players from Hackensack, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey
Baseball players from Morris County, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Rutherford, New Jersey
Fresno Giants players
Hastings Giants players
Eugene Emeralds players
Springfield Giants players
Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops baseball players
Fairleigh Dickinson Knights baseball players
Rutherford High School (New Jersey) alumni
Baseball players from Suffolk County, New York
20th-century American sportsmen