William Alexander "Chauncey" Stuart was a 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 ...

middle infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

and an

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player and coach. He played major league baseball with the

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

in 1895 and 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 ...

in 1899.

Early life

Stuart was born on August 28, 1873, in

Boalsburg, Pennsylvania Boalsburg is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Harris Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,722 at ...

. He attended

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, where he played on the varsity football and baseball teams.

Baseball career

Listed at 5'11" and 170 pounds, Stuart threw and batted right-handed. He made his big league debut on August 15, 1895, with the Pittsburgh Pirates at the age of 21, playing 19 games that year (2 at second base and 17 as shortstop) and hitting .247 with 0 home runs and 10 RBI. He returned to the Major Leagues in 1899 to play for the New York Giants (playing only one game at second base that season) and collected zero hits in three at-bats. Stuart's overall career fielding percentage was unremarkable, at .912.

Football career

Stuart played fullback on the Penn State football team. In 1895, he played the same position for the

Pittsburgh Athletic Club The Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC) was one of the earliest professional ice hockey teams. It was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from around 1895 until 1905 and again from 1907 to 1909. The team was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey ...

, one of the first football teams to pay players. He was known as an outstanding kicker. From 1896 until 1899 he was the coach and star fullback of the Company C team of

Bradford, Pennsylvania Bradford is a city in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located close to the border with New York state and approximately south of Buffalo, New York. Home to an oil refinery, Zippo headquarters and a University of Pittsburgh b ...

, which in its best year, 1897, won all of its 11 games by a combined score of 388 to 0.

Later life

Stuart later became an oil operator in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Alongside his oil career, he tried his hand at managing a theater in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and running a publication called ''Baseball World''. In 1922, he was shot in a hunting accident when his guide mistook him for a deer; he was still recovering months later. He died on October 14, 1928, in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. His body was laid to rest in Spring Creek Presbyterian Cemetery in

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough and Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Bill 1873 births 1928 deaths Pittsburgh Pirates players New York Giants (baseball) players Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from Centre County, Pennsylvania Penn State Nittany Lions baseball players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Scranton Indians players Shenandoah Huns players Franklin Braves players Williamsport Demorest Bicycle Boys players Toronto Canadians players Albany Senators players Newark Colts players Richmond Giants players Bradford Pirates players New Haven Blues players Springfield Ponies players Hartford Indians players Minor league baseball managers Coffeyville Glassblowers players Pittsburgh Athletic Club (football) players