William P. "Plunk" Drake (June 8, 1895 – October 30, 1977) was a

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

pitcher. Drake pitched for top Negro league teams between 1920 and 1927, primarily remembered for his time with the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

, participating in two

Colored World Series The Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was a ...

in 1924 and 1925. He gained his nickname from his propensity for pitching inside to batters and his willingness to hit batters who crowded the plate. He claimed to have taught

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

his famous hesitation pitch, though credit is usually given to

Bill Gatewood William Miller "Big Bill" Gatewood (August 22, 1881 – December 8, 1962) was an American Negro league baseball pitcher and manager for several years before the founding of the first Negro National League, and in its first few seasons. He pitch ...

References

;Notes ;Sources * * *
University of Missouri-St Louis Negro Baseball Project: Oral History Interview with Bill Drake

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
* 1895 births 1977 deaths All Nations players Detroit Stars players Indianapolis ABCs players Kansas City Monarchs players St. Louis Giants players Baseball players from Missouri Sportspeople from Sedalia, Missouri Baseball pitchers 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub