William T. Calihan (May 1869 – December 20, 1917) 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. He played in

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 ...

as a 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

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

from to . He played for the

Rochester Broncos The Rochester Broncos were a short-lived baseball team in the American Association, playing only one season, in 1890. They finished fifth in the league with a record of 63–63. Their home games were played at Culver Field. Rochester was one ...

in 1890 and the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

in 1891, both of the American Association.

Biography

Born in Oswego, Calihan had a brother named Tom who was a catcher in the minor leagues. In 1888, Calihan and his brother briefly formed a

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

with Calihan's first professional baseball team, the minor-league Rochester Jingoes. Calihan had a 14–16 record with Rochester that year. The Rochester front office thought that Calihan drank excessively and presented behavioral issues. He ended up with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

during the 1889 season. It looked as if Calihan might join Buffalo's team that was forming in the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded American professional baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Pr ...

in 1890, but the team ultimately lost interest in Calihan. Instead, he entered the major leagues with the Rochester Broncos of the American Association that year. In one season with the Broncos, Calihan had an 18–15 win-loss record and appeared 12 times in the outfield. He spent his last major-league season (1891) with the Philadelphia Athletics, earning a 6–6 record in 13 games. In 50 games as a pitcher, his record was 24–21 with 42

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s in 47 starts and an

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

of 4.14. In 63 total

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

he batted .158 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

, 18 RBI, and 22 runs scored. Calihan remained in the minor leagues through 1898, mostly as an infielder. He married once, but his wife died in 1896 when he was playing in the minor leagues in Atlanta. Calihan died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at the age of 48 in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

References

External links

Baseball Reference

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calihan, Bill 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Oswego County, New York Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball outfielders Rochester Broncos players Philadelphia Athletics (AA 1891) players 1869 births 1917 deaths People from Oswego, New York Rochester Jingoes players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Rochester Flour Cities players Albany Senators players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Atlanta Crackers players Rochester Blackbirds players Canandaigua Rustlers players Lancaster Maroons players Atlanta Colts players