William Alfred Hands, Jr. (May 6, 1940 – March 9, 2017) was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player who
pitched in the
major leagues from 1965 to 1975. His best season came in
1969 with the
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 ...
, when he won 20 games.
Early life
A native of
Rutherford, New Jersey
Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough's population was 18,834.
Rutherford was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 21, 1881, fr ...
, Bill Hands played baseball at
Rutherford High School.
Hands pitched at
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...
and
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...
before signing with the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
. He was later inducted into the Rutherford Hall of Fame.
Major Leagues
Hands, whose nickname was "Froggy," signed as an amateur free agent with the San Francisco Giants in 1959, made his major league debut with them in 1965, pitching in four games that season. After the 1965 season, Hands was traded to the Chicago Cubs with catcher
Randy Hundley
Cecil Randolph Hundley Jr. (born June 1, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, and the San Diego Padres. H ...
for outfielder
Don Landrum
Donald Leroy Landrum (February 16, 1936 – January 9, 2003) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco Giant ...
and reliever
Lindy McDaniel
Lyndall Dale McDaniel (December 13, 1935 – November 14, 2020), known as Lindy McDaniel, was an American professional baseball pitcher who had a 21-year career in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1975. During his career, he witnessed approxim ...
,
a trade regarded at the time as a success for the Giants, and which went on to be viewed as one of the best in Cubs history.
In 1966 with the Chicago Cubs, he started 26 games and relieved 15, going 8-13 with a 4.58 ERA. By 1968, at age 28, he went 16-10 with a 2.89 ERA, followed up in 1969 by his best season, as he went 20-14 with a 2.49 ERA. He threw 18 complete games and pitched 300 innings, while pitching in a rotation along with Hall of Famer
Ferguson Jenkins
Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and ...
.
The right-hander spent seven seasons with the Cubs, two with the
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 ...
and two with the
Texas Rangers.
Of Hands, Ferguson Jenkins said, "Hands was an 'even-tempered guy' with a good sinking fastball and sharp slider who did his job and never complained about being underappreciated on a team full of stars."
He finished his career with a record of 111-110 and an ERA of 3.35.
Personal life
During his professional career, he had been a resident of
Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey.
After retiring from baseball, Hands was a salesman for an oil company on Long Island. He later opened up a service station, the Orient Service Center, in
Orient, New York
Orient is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States. The CDP's population was 743 at the 2010 census.
''Orient'' and ''Orient Point'' are used almost interchangeably. However, Orient Point ...
, where he lived for many years with his wife Sandy; his son (Bill) and grandchildren also lived in Orient.
Hands died in Florida on March 9, 2017.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hands, Bill
1940 births
2017 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
San Francisco Giants players
Minnesota Twins players
Chicago Cubs players
Texas Rangers players
Baseball players from New Jersey
Sportspeople from Hackensack, New Jersey
People from Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey
People from Rutherford, New Jersey
Fresno Giants players
Hastings Giants players
Eugene Emeralds players
Springfield Giants players
Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops baseball players
Fairleigh Dickinson Knights baseball players
Rutherford High School (New Jersey) alumni
People from Suffolk County, New York