William Lawrence "Seattle Bill" James (March 12, 1892 – March 10, 1971) was a

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 ...

. He was given a nickname to differentiate him from his contemporary, "Big" Bill James. The Braves purchased James in from the Seattle Giants of the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

. In

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

, James was an integral member of the "Miracle Braves" team that went from last place to first place in two months, becoming the first team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July.The 1914 Boston Braves at www.thisgreatgame.com
In his only full season, James posted a record of 26 wins against 7 losses. The Braves then went on to defeat Connie Mack's heavily favored

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 ...

in the

1914 World Series The 1914 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 1914 season. The 11th edition of the World Series, it was played between the American League champion and defending World Series champion Philadelphia Athletics and t ...

. James was 2–0 in the

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 ...

as the Braves recorded the first sweep in Series history. His victory in Game Two was a 1-0 shutout. During World War I, James was an instructor at bomb-throwing for the US Army. He pitched in the minor leagues until 1925.

Sources

* 1892 births 1971 deaths Boston Braves players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from California Seattle Giants players Portland Beavers players Galveston Pirates players Beaumont Oilers players Saint Mary's Gaels baseball players Seattle Rainiers players Beaumont Exporters players Sacramento Senators players Chattanooga Lookouts players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub