William Corcoran Phillips (November 9, 1868 – October 25, 1941), nicknamed "Whoa Bill" or "Silver Bill", was an American 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, ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

Biography

Phillips was born in Allenport, Pennsylvania on November 9, 1868. At the age of twenty-one, Phillips broke into the big leagues on August 11, 1890, playing his first ten games for the

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s–1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association An early mention of "base ball" in the region is found in an issue of t ...

. Five days later, on August 16, 1890, Phillips, pitching against the Chicago Colts, gave up two grand slam home runs in the same inning. As a player, he pitched for seven seasons in the majors. In 1895, he came back to play eighteen more games for 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 ...

. In

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

, he went 17–9 on a team that featured nineteen-year-old rookie

Sam Crawford Samuel Earl Crawford (April 18, 1880 – June 15, 1968), nicknamed "Wahoo Sam", was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Crawford batted and threw left-handed, stood tall and weighed . Born in Wahoo, Nebraska, he had a sh ...

and manager

Buck Ewing William "Buck" Ewing (October 17, 1859 – October 20, 1906) was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. He was renowned for both his offensive and defensive skills during his playing career. In 1939, Ewing was elected to the Baseb ...

. Phillips played for the Reds from 1899 to 1903, playing his last game on September 22. In a game against the Reds in 1900, Phillips punched

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

after Thomas fouled off twelve pitches in a single at-bat in the eighth inning. Phillips managed the

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

Indianapolis Hoosiers to the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

pennant. His top hitter was

Benny Kauff Bennie Michael "Benny" Kauff (January 5, 1890 – November 17, 1961)Benny Kauff Pla ...

and the top pitcher was

Cy Falkenberg Frederick Peter "Cy" Falkenberg (December 17, 1879 – April 15, 1961) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1903 to 1917 for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League, the Washington Se ...

. Later he and

Bill McKechnie William Boyd McKechnie (August 7, 1886 – October 29, 1965) was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman during the dead-ball era. McKechnie was the first manager to win ...

managed the Newark Pepper, finishing the

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

season fifth in the Federal League.

Death and interment

Phillips died at the age of seventy-two in

Charleroi, Pennsylvania Charleroi ( ) is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Monongahela River, 21 miles south of Pittsburgh. Charleroi was settled in 1890 and incorporated in 1891. The 2020 census recorded a population of 4,210. Red ...

on October 25, 1941, and was buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in

Fayette City, Pennsylvania Fayette City is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 502 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decline from the figure of 596 tabulated in 2010. It is served by the Belle ...

References

External links

Baseball-Reference.com
– career playing statistics and managerial record
Baseball Almanac
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Bill 1868 births 1941 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Cincinnati Reds players Pittsburgh Alleghenys (NL) players Baseball players from Washington County, Pennsylvania Indianapolis Hoosiers managers Washington Senators (minor league) players Chattanooga Chatts players Akron Summits players Johnstown Terrors players Memphis Fever Germs players Nashville Tigers players Indianapolis Hoosiers (minor league) players Indianapolis Indians managers Indianapolis Indians players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Mobile Sea Gulls players Columbus Discoverers players East Liverpool Potters (baseball) players Wheeling Stogies players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen