William Arthur Harbridge (March 29, 1855 – March 17, 1924), also known as "Yaller Bill", was a

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 who split his playing time between

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

for five different teams during his nine-season career that lasted from through .

Career

He began his career in the last year of the National Association and finished with the

Union Association The Union Association was an American professional baseball league which competed with Major League Baseball, lasting for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelv ...

in its only year of existence. On May 6, , Bill is credited as becoming the first left-handed catcher in major league baseball history. He died in his hometown of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

at the age of 68, and was interred at Fernwood Cemetery in Fernwood, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

Baseball players from Philadelphia Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball center fielders Hartford Dark Blues players Chicago White Stockings players Troy Trojans (NL) players Philadelphia Quakers players Cincinnati Outlaw Reds players 1855 births 1924 deaths Springfield (minor league baseball) players Holyoke (minor league baseball) players Brooklyn Atlantics (minor league) players Washington Nationals (minor league) players Albany (minor league baseball) players New York Quicksteps players Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players Augusta Browns players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Burials at Fernwood Cemetery (Lansdowne, Pennsylvania) {{US-baseball-outfielder-1850s-stub