William Wright Regan (January 23, 1899 – June 11, 1968) was an American
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Mod ...
second baseman. He played in
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), ...
(MLB) from 1926 to 1931 for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and
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 ...
.
A native of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Regan was a
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
veteran who played semi-pro baseball before starting his professional career in 1922. He played for the
Kitchener and
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
teams of the
Michigan-Ontario League, and later moved on to the
Columbus Senators of the
American Association American Association may refer to:
Baseball
* American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891
* American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997
* American Association of Profe ...
. In 1925 hit a .298
batting average for Columbus, and .317 in 38 games in 1926, before joining the Boston Red Sox at midseason to become the team's regular second baseman for the next five years.
Basically a
line drive hitter and smart baserunner, Regan had good contact and was able to convert his gap line drives into
extra bases.
In 1927 he recorded career-numbers with 37
doubles and 10
triples
TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...
, while hitting .274 in 129 games.
His most productive season came in 1928, when he posted career-highs with seven
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 ...
s and 75
RBI, while collecting 30 doubles and six triples. On
June 16 of that year, he came to bat twice in an inning and homered both times. His second was an
inside-the-park homer, as he equaled his HR output of the previous season. Besides this, he was considered in the
American League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...
vote in both years.
In 1929 Regan hit a career-high .288, while collecting 54
RBI. A year later he was still productive hitting 35 doubles, and 10 triples. He also played with the Pirates in 1931, his last major league season.
In a six-year career, Regan was a .267 hitter (632-for-2364) with 18 home runs and 292 RBI in 641 games, including 236 runs, 158 doubles, 36 triples, 38 stolen bases, and a .306
on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
. He made 610 appearances at second base, and committed 138
errors in 3610 chances for a .965
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
. Eventually, he appeared in 14 games at
third base
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
(12),
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
(1), and
right field
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...
(1).
Regan later played in 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 ...
for the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
,
Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...
,
Montreal Royals
The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...
and
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
, before ending his career in 1935 with the
Birmingham Barons
The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...
of the
Southern Association. While in Baltimore, he hit a career-high .321.
Following his retirement, Regan worked in the
Allegheny County
Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...
(PA) police department for 20 years and also joined the armed forces during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Regan died in his homeland of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, at the age of 69.
Fact
*62 years later,
Ellis Burks became the second player in Red Sox history to hit two home runs in the same inning (August 27, ).
Babe Ruth's last strikeout victim on September 28, 1930. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1930/B09280BOS1930.htm
See also
References
Baseball ReferenceBill Regan MLB- Baseballbiography.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regan, Bill
1899 births
1968 deaths
Boston Red Sox players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Major League Baseball second basemen
American military personnel of World War I
American military personnel of World War II
Baseball players from Pittsburgh
Columbus Senators players
Portsmouth Truckers players
Baltimore Orioles (International League) players
Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
Montreal Royals players
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players
Birmingham Barons players
Burials at Calvary Catholic Cemetery (Pittsburgh)
Military personnel from Pittsburgh