William Wirt Connelly (June 29, 1925 – November 27, 1980) was an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. A right-handed

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 ...

, his pro career extended from 1945 to 1957, with appearances 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), ...

in 1945, 1950, and 1952–53. He batted left-handed, stood tall and weighed . The native of

Alberta, Virginia Alberta is a town in Brunswick County, Virginia, United States. The population was 298 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Christanna Campus of Southside Virginia Community College. History For much of the 20th century, Alberta marked the junc ...

, attended Hampden–Sydney College. Connelly had a 6–2 record with a 6.92

earned-run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numbe ...

in the Majors with four different teams: the Philadelphia Athletics,

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, Detroit Tigers and New York Giants. Purchased by the Giants from the Triple-A

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in August 1952, he won all five of his decisions during the last six weeks of the season, helping New York finish second in 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 ...

. In 25 career games (including seven starting assignments) and 66 innings pitched, he allowed 71 hits and 53 bases on balls,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

34. He had no complete games,

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

or saves.

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1925 births 1980 deaths Austin Senators players Baseball players from Virginia Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Senators players Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players New York Giants (NL) players People from Brunswick County, Virginia Philadelphia Athletics players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Savannah Indians players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub