William Young Knowlton (August 18, 1898 – February 25, 1944) was a right-handed

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Early life

Knowlton was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1898. According to one account, he got his start in baseball at the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

Eddystone, Pennsylvania Eddystone is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,410 at the 2010 census. History The area at the mouth of Ridley Creek was first called "Tequirassy" by Native Americans. The land was owned by Olof Persson Stille, o ...

. According to another, he gained fame as a sandlot pitcher in Philadelphia and then played for Petersburg in the Virginia League.

Career

Baseball

Kowlton appeared in one game 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), ...

. On September 3, 1920, he started a game for the

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, the team became the Oaklan ...

against the Washington Senators at

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

. He pitched 5-2/3 innings and allowed three earned runs in a losing effort. His career record in Major League Baseball was zero wins, one loss, five

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s, and a 4.76

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 ...

. Knowlton continued playing in the minor leagues for several years, including stints with the Jersey City Skeeters (1922),

Crisfield Crabbers The Crisfield Crabbers were a minor league baseball team based in Crisfield, Maryland. The Crisfield Crabbers teams played as exclusively as members of the Class D level Eastern Shore League from 1922 to 1928 and in 1937, winning the 1926 leag ...

(1922),

Wilkes-Barre Barons The Wilkes-Barre Barons were a basketball team from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Barons played between 1933 and 1980 in different American leagues. The team won 11 titles during this time, including while playing in the American Basketball ...

(1925–1926),

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

(1926), and

Williamsport Grays The Williamsport Grays were a minor league baseball team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania between 1923 and 1962. The club began play in 1923 in the New York–Pennsylvania League and were a charter member of the Eastern League in 1938. The team was ...

(1926–1929). He also reportedly played for baseball clubs in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

Philadelphia Police Department

Knowlton joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 1938, serving in the 42nd District. He was married to Irene Knowlton at that time.

Death

Knowlton died in Philadelphia in 1944 at age 45. He collapsed as he stepped from a trolley car of an apparent heart attack.("he dropped dead from a heart attack while disembarking from a trolley")

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowlton, Bill Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Athletics players Baseball players from Philadelphia 1898 births 1944 deaths Crisfield Crabbers players Jersey City Skeeters players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Williamsport Grays players