William Leopold Doak (January 28, 1891 – November 26, 1954) was an American

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), ...

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 for three teams between 1912 and 1929. He spent portions of 13 seasons with the

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 ha ...

. He was nicknamed "Spittin' Bill" because he threw the

spitball A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to m ...

. He led 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 ...

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 number ...

in 1914, and he won 20 games in the 1920 season.

Early life

Doak was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. He was the son of Bertha Schaltenbrand Doak and William E. Doak, a civil engineer. Both sides of Doak's family originated from Germany. He had one sibling, a younger sister. Doak's father pressured him to become a mining engineer, but Doak began playing semipro baseball in 1909. He was in the minor leagues by the next year, and made it to the major leagues by 1912.

Career

The St. Louis Cardinals purchased Doak's contract in the summer of 1913, and he spent the majority of his career with that team. In he went 19–6 and led the league with an ERA of 1.72. Doak won 20 games in , and led the NL in ERA again in 1921. On June 14, 1924, Doak was traded by the Cardinals to the Brooklyn Robins for

Leo Dickerman Leo Louis Dickerman (October 31, 1896 in De Soto, Missouri – April 30, 1982 in Atkins, Arkansas) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched for the Brooklyn Robins during the 1923 and 1924 baseball seasons and the St. Louis Cardinals ...

. He returned to St. Louis for a short time in 1929 before retiring. His lifetime record is 169–157, with an ERA of 2.98 and 1,014 strikeouts. Even though Doak played with many unremarkable teams, he is among the Cardinals' top 10 in eight pitching categories; his 32 shutouts rank second behind

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

. Doak's main pitch, the

, earned him the nickname "Spittin' Bill". When the pitch was outlawed in 1920, Doak was one of 17 pitchers allowed to continue throwing the spitball. Doak made his most lasting contribution to baseball by innovating the design of the

baseball glove A baseball glove or mitt is a large glove (traditionally made of leather, today other options do exist) worn by baseball players of the defending team, which assists players in catching and fielding balls hit by a batter or thrown by a teammate ...

. In 1920, he suggested to Rawlings that a web should be laced between the first finger and thumb, saying it would create a natural pocket. The Bill Doak glove soon replaced all other baseball gloves and is the standard to this day.

Later life

Doak retired to Bradenton, Florida, where he owned a candy shop (Bill Doak's Sweet Shop), and also coached the Bradenton High School baseball team, which made it to the state championship. He died in Bradenton, aged 63.

References

External links

* Bill Doak Biograph

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doak, Bill 1891 births 1954 deaths St. Louis Cardinals players Brooklyn Robins players Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Pittsburgh Sportspeople from Bradenton, Florida National League ERA champions Wheeling Stogies players Akron Rubbermen players Columbus Senators players Akron Giants players

Early life

Career

Later life

See also

References

External links