William Paul Macdonald, Jr. (March 28, 1929 – May 4, 1991) was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in 36 Major League

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

for the 1950 and 1953

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Born in Alameda, California, he stood tall and weighed as an active player. Macdonald signed his first professional contract with 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 ...

and spent 1947–48 in their farm system. After

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * '' Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Foot Pole, 2022 ...

15 games during the latter season for the Flint Arrows of the Class A Central League, Macdonald was declared a free agent by Commissioner of Baseball

Happy Chandler Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was an American politician from Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also se ...

on October 27, 1948; three months later, he signed with the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

, the Pirate affiliate in the Double-A Southern Association.Spink, J.G. Taylor, Rickart, Paul A., and Abramovich, Joe, ''The Official Baseball Register.'' St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1952, pp. 184–185 In 1949, he posted a 13–11 record with the Pelicans and made the Pirates' roster out of

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

. As a rookie, he appeared in 32 games, twenty as a

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 ...

, and won eight of 18 decisions, with six

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 ...

s and two shutouts. In his second MLB game, on May 23, he threw a complete game, three- hitter and blanked the eventual National League champion

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 ...

, 6–0 at Shibe Park. Macdonald missed the entire 1951–52 seasons due to military service. When he returned to baseball in 1953, he pitched ineffectively for the Pirates during the season's early weeks and spent much of the campaign with the Hollywood Stars of the Open-Classification

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

. He left baseball after the 1954 minor league season. All told, in 160 Major League

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, Macdonald gave up 150 hits and 96

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 ...

; he struck out 64.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Bill 1929 births 1991 deaths Baseball players from Alameda, California Flint Arrows players Hollywood Stars players Lubbock Hubbers players Major League Baseball pitchers New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Pittsburgh Pirates players