William Millar "Bunk" Congalton (January 24, 1875 – August 19, 1937) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

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) ...

. A native of

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, he stood 5'11" and weighed 190 lbs. Congalton was a

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 N ...

star who twice led the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Wester ...

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

. He reached the major leagues at the age of 27 with the Chicago Orphans, then was back in the big leagues three years later with the

Cleveland Naps 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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressiv ...

. He was fourth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in 1906 with a .320 batting average, and also ranked in the league's top ten for

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

(.361),

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player ...

(.396), and

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

(3). Playing for Cleveland and the Boston Americans in 1907, his .282 average was tenth-best in the league. Congalton died at the age of 62 in Cleveland, Ohio after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

the previous Sunday at a

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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

game. He was interred at the Crown Hill Cemetery in

Twinsburg, Ohio Twinsburg is a suburban city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, located about halfway between Akron and Cleveland. The population was 19,248 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. History In 1817 Ethan Alling, the ...

References

External links

SABR biography
1875 births 1937 deaths Baseball outfielders Baseball people from Ontario Boston Americans players Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Colorado Springs Millionaires players Columbus Senators players Chicago Orphans players Cleveland Naps players Guelph Maple Leafs players Hamilton Blackbirds players Hamilton Hams players Major League Baseball right fielders Major League Baseball players from Canada Marion Glass Blowers players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Milwaukee Creams players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Omaha Rourkes players Port Huron Marines players Sportspeople from Guelph Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Canucks players Wheeling Stogies players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1870s-stub