William A. Sharsig (1855 – February 1, 1902) was an American

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), ...

co-owner,

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

business manager The Oxford English Dictionary defines a business manager as "a person who manages the business affairs of an individual, institution, organization, or company". Compare manager. Business managers drive the work of others (if any) in order to oper ...

and on field

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

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 ...

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 ...

, both their first incarnation and their

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

, which had migrated over from the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

. He lived, worked, and was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Managerial career

Sharsig founded the Athletics in September 1880. In 1881, the team went on a barnstorming tour, and Sharsig took on two partners: player Charlie Mason and manager Horace Phillips.Base ball in Philadelphia: a history of the early game, 1831-1900, John Shiffert, p. 247 (Google Books result)
/ref> After the tour, Phillips jumped ship to the Philadelphia Quakers, a competing team founded by

Al Reach Alfred James Reach (May 25, 1840 – January 14, 1928) was an Anglo-American sportsman who, after becoming one of the early stars of baseball in the National Association, went on to become an influential executive, publisher, sporting goods manuf ...

(which would eventually become the

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 ...

), and was replaced on the management team by minstrel show performer

Lew Simmons Lewis Simmons (1838–1911) was an American Major League Baseball manager for the 1886 Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active fr ...

. As co-owner of the team, Bill named himself manager of his team on several occasions. In five seasons; , and from to . He finished his career with 238 wins and 216 losses for a .524

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

Post-career

After the Association folded in , Bill went on to manage the

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

team in the Western League in and in . Bill died in his hometown of Philadelphia, and was interred at Mount Vernon Cemetery.

References

External links

Baseball Reference
– Career Managerial Statistics
Bill Sharsig
at

SABR The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

(Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharsig, Bill 1855 births 1902 deaths Burials at Mount Vernon Cemetery (Philadelphia) Philadelphia Athletics (AA) managers Philadelphia Athletics (AA 1891) managers Sportspeople from Philadelphia Minor league baseball managers