William Henry Spanswick (July 8, 1938 – December 2, 2020) 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. A left-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, ...

, Spanswick appeared in 29

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 ...

, seven as a starter, in the Major Leagues for the 1964

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. Spanswick was born in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

. Listed at tall and , he graduated from

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. ...

, and attended The College of the Holy Cross. He signed with the Red Sox in 1958 and spent six years working his way through the Boston

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

when he made the 1964 club out of

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. He stayed on the Red Sox roster for the entire campaign. His two MLB victories came May 8 as a starter against the Washington Senators and June 28 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 ...

against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, with

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

ace Dick Radatz getting saves in each game. Spanswick pitched exclusively in relief after June 19, 1964. In 65

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 ...

, he allowed 75 hits and 44 bases on balls, with 55

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. The 1964 Red Sox finished eighth in the ten-team

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

, with a 72–90 (.444) record. He returned to the

minor leagues 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 ...

in 1965 and retired after the 1968 season. Spanswick was elected as a member of the inaugural class of the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. He died December 2, 2020, at age 82.

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1938 births 2020 deaths Allentown Red Sox players Baseball players from Springfield, Massachusetts Boston Red Sox players Hawaii Islanders players Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players Johnstown Red Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Enfield, Connecticut Baseball players from Hartford County, Connecticut Raleigh Capitals players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Seattle Angels players Seattle Rainiers players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Waterloo Hawks (baseball) players Lexington Red Sox players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub