William Edgar Reeder (February 20, 1922 – March 12, 2001) 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 ...

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, ...

who appeared in one season and 21

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

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 ...

for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

."Bill Reeder Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved December 14, 2010. A right-hander who was listed as tall and , he was born in Dike, Texas, an unincorporated community in Hopkins County. Reeder's pro career began in 1940 in the Class C

East Texas League The East Texas League was a Texas–based minor league baseball league that existed between 1916 and 1950. The East Texas League played as a Class D level league in 1916 and from 1923 to 1926. The league became a Class C level league from 1936 ...

, and was interrupted by three years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. '' Baseball in Wartime'' reports that, as a member of the 381st Infantry Regiment of the 96th Infantry Division, Reeder saw combat at the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

in 1945. With his unit under sustained attack from

Japanese Army The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct t ...

mortar fire, the pre-war

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

pitcher successfully called upon his arm strength to hurl

hand grenades A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

at the enemy emplacement, silencing the mortars. For his action, Reeder was awarded a

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

. Reeder resumed his baseball career in 1946 and was acquired by the Cardinals in that autumn's minor league draft. In 1948, he won 19 games for Triple-A Rochester, earning him a major-league trial with the 1949 Cardinals. He was a member of the Redbird pitching staff for the full 1949 campaign, splitting two decisions with no saves and a 5.08

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 ...

in 21 appearances, 20 of them in

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

. He permitted 33

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

and 30

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 21

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 ...

s, in 33

MLB 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 ...

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 ...

. In his lone assignment as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

, he went 2

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

on May 22 at

Sportsman's Park Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the same piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street, on t ...

, allowing four hits, four bases on balls, and four

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s to take the loss, as the Giants defeated the Cardinals, 13–4. One month to the day later, Reeder earned his only

victory against the same team, throwing three

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

frames in relief against the Giants to enable the Redbirds to erase an 8–4 deficit and come back to win, 11–8. Reeder's professional career ended after the 1952 minor-league season. He died in

Sulphur Springs, Texas Sulphur Springs is a city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 15,941. Sulphur Springs is located in Northeast Texas. History Sulphur Springs [''sic ...

, at 79 on March 12, 2001.

References

External links

Biography
from Baseball in Wartime {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeder, Bill 1922 births 2001 deaths Alexandria Aces players Baseball players from Hopkins County, Texas Houston Buffaloes players Major League Baseball pitchers Marshall Tigers players Meridian Eagles players Monroe White Sox players Recipients of the Silver Star Rochester Red Wings players St. Louis Cardinals players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Shreveport Sports players Tyler East Texans players United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American sportsmen