William Richard Campbell (born August 9, 1948) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in

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), ...

(MLB) from 1973 to 1987. He played for 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 ...

(AL)

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL)

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

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 (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

, and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

Early life

Campbell was born in

Highland Park, Michigan Highland Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,977 at the 2020 census. Along with its neighbor of Hamtramck, Highland Park is an enclave city surrounded by the city of Detroit. History The area tha ...

, and raised in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyte ...

. He graduated from Ganesha High School in Pomona, and attended

Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is a public community college in southern California, located in Walnut in eastern Los Angeles County. It offers more than 260 degree and certificate programs, 25 support programs, and more than 50 studen ...

. After being drafted for military service in 1968, Campbell joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He served as a radio operator in Vietnam during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and was discharged in 1970.

Start of career

Nicknamed "Soup" because of his last name, Campbell was signed as an amateur free agent pitcher by the Twins and began his career with the Class A minor league Wisconsin Rapids in 1971. In 1972, he moved up to Minnesota's AA level Charlotte affiliate, and in 1973 he started the season with AAA Tacoma and had 10 wins and 5 losses when he was called up to the major leagues in July. Campbell made his Twins debut on July 14, 1973, in relief of

Jim Kaat James Lee Kaat (; born November 7, 1938) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins (–), ...

. He pitched one scoreless inning, and allowed one hit to the Cleveland Indians, while striking out two. Used primarily in relief, he posted a record in 1973 of 3 wins and 3 losses in 28 games, with an earned run average of 3.18. In 1974, Campbell pitched in 63 games, all in relief, and compiled an 8-7 record with 19 saves and a 2.62 ERA. In 1975, he started slowly after a spring training arm injury, and split time between relieving and starting. His overall record was 4 wins and 6 losses, with 5 saves and a 3.79 ERA. In 1976, new manager

Gene Mauch Gene William Mauch (November 18, 1925 – August 8, 2005) was an American professional baseball player and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers (, ), Pittsburgh Pirates (), Chicago Cubs ...

named Campbell as his closer. Campbell rose to the occasion; his 78 appearances led the league, and his record was 17 wins, 5 losses, 20 saves, and a 3.01 ERA. He finished 7th in the voting for that year's Cy Young award, and 8th in the voting for Most Valuable Player. In 1977, Campbell signed with the Boston Red Sox. He finished with 13 wins, 9 losses, 31 saves, and an ERA of 2.96. He was selected for the AL All-Star team, and won both the AL Fireman of the Year (awarded by ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'') and

Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award The Rolaids Relief Man Award was an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given from 1976 to 2012 to the top relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL). Relief pitchers enter th ...

. Campbell was the first American league recipient of the Rolaids award, and the first two-time winner. Campbell experienced arm trouble in 1978, and was no longer the dominating closer he had been in 1976 and 1977. He played until 1987, and spent time with the Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals, Tigers, and Expos in addition to the Red Sox, but never posted more than 6 wins or 8 saves in a season. His best year during the latter part of his career was 1983, when he led the National League in appearances with 82.

Later life

After leaving the major leagues, Campbell spent two seasons with the Senior Professional Baseball Association. According to 1987 news articles, Campbell was among those who were swindled by sports agent LaRue Harcourt, and lost approximately $800,000. He remained involved in baseball, and served on the coaching staff of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1999. In retirement, he was a resident of the

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area. He also coached for the Red Sox organization and was a volunteer coach for youth baseball leagues.

References

External links

Bill Campbell
at Baseball Almanac
Bill Campbell
at Baseball Gauge {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Bill 1948 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars American League saves champions Baseball coaches from Michigan Baseball players from Michigan Boston Red Sox players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Chicago Cubs players Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Milwaukee Brewers coaches Minnesota Twins players Montreal Expos players People from Highland Park, Michigan Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Cardinals players Sun City Rays players Tacoma Twins players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Winter Haven Super Sox players Wisconsin Rapids Twins players

Early life

Start of career

Later life

See also

References

External links