William Anthony Hallahan (August 4, 1902 – July 8, 1981) was an American left-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 ...

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), ...

during the 1920s and 1930s. Nicknamed "Wild Bill" because of his lack of control on the mound—he twice 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 ...

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

—Hallahan nevertheless was one of the pitching stars of the

1931 World Series The 1931 World Series featured the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals beat the Athletics in seven games, a rematch and reversal of fortunes of the previous World Series. The same two ...

and pitched his finest in postseason competition. Hallahan also was the

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

for the National League in the first

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

in 1933, losing a 4–2 decision to

Lefty Gomez Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez (November 26, 1908 – February 17, 1989) was an American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, Gomez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1930 and 1943 for the New York Yankees and the Washingt ...

of 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 ...

and surrendering a third-inning

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

in the process.

Early years in baseball

Hallahan, a native of

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, spent most of his career in the employ of 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 signed with their nearby AA

farm club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, the Syracuse Stars of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

, in 1924. The following season, he made his first NL appearance for the Redbirds, appearing in six games. In 1926, Hallahan pitched in 19 games for the Cardinals during the regular season, and made a first, brief

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

appearance that fall against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. But Hallahan was not yet ready for an extended Major League career. He spent 1927 with Syracuse, winning 19 games and leading the International League in

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

(195) and walks (135). The next season, he won 23 games for the

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

and led the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in strikeouts (244). Finally, in 1929, he rejoined the Cardinals for good.

Stalwart World Series hurler

Hallahan became a starting pitcher in 1930, winning 15 games for the pennant-winning Cardinals and leading the NL in strikeouts (177) and walks (126). In the

1930 World Series The 1930 World Series featured the defending World Series champion (and 1930 American League (AL) champion) Philadelphia Athletics against the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Athletics defeated the Cardinals in six games ...

against 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, the team became the Oaklan ...

, Hallahan split two decisions but he

shut out Shut Out may refer to: * Shutout, a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring * ''Shut Out'' (album), a 1977 album by Paul Jabara * "Shut Out" (song), a 1977 song by Paul Jabara and Donna Summer * "Shutout", a song by The Walk ...

the powerful A's in Game 3 and allowed only two

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

in 11

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

s, for a sparkling

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 1.64. Philadelphia won the Series in six games, the only World Series Hallahan's Cardinals would ever lose. In 1931, Hallahan again led the NL in strikeouts (159) and walks (112) and won 19 games, as St. Louis again took the league championship for a rematch against the Athletics. This time, Hallahan was even more effective. He shut out the A's again in Game 2, pitched a

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 ...

5–1 victory in Game 5, and nailed down the decisive Game 7 in relief by getting the last out in the ninth inning. All together, he gave up only 12 hits and one run in innings — an ERA of 0.36 — as St. Louis triumphed in seven games. Hallahan's dominance is even more impressive because the A's featured a predominantly right-handed-hitting lineup, including fearsome sluggers

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

and

Al Simmons Aloysius Harry Simmons (May 22, 1902 – May 26, 1956), born Alois Szymanski, was an American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "Bucketfoot Al", he played for two decades in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and had his best year ...

. After two more winning campaigns for non-contending Cardinal clubs, Hallahan won only eight games, losing 12, for the 1934 edition. But the

Gashouse Gang The Gashouse Gang was the nickname of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team of the early 1930s. Owing to their success that started in 1926, the Cardinals would win a total of five National League pennants from 1926 to 1934 (nine seasons) while win ...

won the National League title and gave Hallahan one more chance to experience the big stage. In Game 2 of the

1934 World Series The 1934 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1934 season. The 31st edition of the World Series, it matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers. The Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" won in seven gam ...

, against the

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 ...

, Hallahan started against Detroit ace

Schoolboy Rowe Lynwood Thomas "Schoolboy" Rowe (January 11, 1910 – January 8, 1961) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Detroit Tigers (1932–42) and Philadelphia Phillies (1943, 1946–49). He was a three-time A ...

and left with one out in the eighth inning of a 2–2 tie. Detroit won the game in the ninth, 3–2, but overall the Cardinals again prevailed in seven games. All together, in seven World Series games and 39 innings, Hallahan won three games, lost one with an earned-run average of 1.36—still, in 2014, one of the ten lowest (and best) ERAs ever recorded by a pitcher in the postseason (which now includes divisional and championship series playoffs). Hallahan stayed with the Cardinals until May 31, 1936, when he was sold to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, then a second-division team. His career statistics suffered with the Reds and his final club, the cellar-dwelling

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 ...

. Over his last two seasons, 1937–38, Hallahan won four and lost 17 games. Hallahan finished with a regular-season record of 102 victories and 94 defeats, 856 strikeouts and 779 walks, and an ERA of 4.03 in innings pitched.

Life after baseball

After retiring from baseball, Hallahan worked as a supervisor for General Aniline and Film Co. (now

GAF GAF may refer to: Military * General of the Air Force, US * Ghana Armed Forces * Guardia alla Frontiera, Italy Other uses * Gaf, a Perso-Arabic letter * Gaf (Mandaeism), a demon of the Mandaean underworld * GAF Materials Corporation, an Amer ...

) in

Johnson City, New York Johnson City is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Broome County, New York, Broome County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 15,174 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton, New York, Bin ...

. He lived on Davis Street on the West Side of Binghamton, where he led a very quiet life. He was a local legend to the young kids in that neighborhood who frequently begged him to show them his World Series watches and

rings Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

. He always obliged. Wild Bill would attend Little League games at nearby Recreation Park to cheer on the neighborhood kids. The field there is dedicated in his honor. Hallahan died at age 78 in Binghamton, New York.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallahan, Bill 1902 births 1981 deaths Baseball players from New York (state) Cincinnati Reds players Fort Smith Twins players Houston Buffaloes players Kalamazoo Kazoos players Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players National League strikeout champions National League wins champions Sportspeople from Binghamton, New York Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Cardinals players Syracuse Stars (AA) players National League All-Stars

Early years in baseball

Stalwart World Series hurler

Life after baseball

See also

References

External links