William Henry Sherdel (August 15, 1896 – November 14, 1968) was a professional

baseball player 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 te ...

. He was a left-handed

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 ...

over parts of fifteen seasons (1918–1932) with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and Boston Braves. For his career, he compiled a 165–146 record in 514 appearances, with a 3.72

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 839 strikeouts. In Cardinals franchise history, Sherdel ranks fourth all-time in wins (153), third in games pitched (465), fourth in innings pitched (2450.2), fifth in games started (242), eighth in complete games (144), fourth in losses (131), fifth in hit batsmen (51), and eighth in games finished (152).

Formative years

Sherdel was born in

McSherrystown, Pennsylvania McSherrystown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Adams County, Pennsylvania, Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,077 as of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. McSherrystown was home to the headquarters of T ...

on August 15, 1896.

Career

Sherdel's 153 wins are the most ever for a Cardinal left-hander. Sherdel achieved the unusual distinction of giving up at least ten runs in three consecutive starts during the 1929 season – ten runs on June 29, thirteen runs on July 3 and ten runs on July 6. Sherdel was a member of two

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

pennant-winning Cardinals teams, in

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of Viet ...

and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

, winning 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 ...

in 1926. He faced the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

both times. During World Series play, he compiled a 0–4 record in four appearances, with a 3.26 earned run average and six strikeouts. Sherdel was an above-average hitting pitcher during his fifteen-year major league career. He posted a .223

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(214-for-960) scoring ninety-six runs, with thirty-five doubles, five triples, nine home runs, eighty-six RBI and drawing sixty-three bases on balls. He was used as a pinch hitter and played a few games at right field and first base.

Death

Sherdel died in

, at the age of 72.

References

External links

*
Bill Sherdel
at Society for American Baseball Research *Coulson, John G. (2018).
Wee Willie Sherdel: the Cardinals' Winningest Left-hander
'. Victoria, BC, Canada : FriesenPress, 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherdel, Bill 1896 births 1968 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Pennsylvania St. Louis Cardinals players Boston Braves players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Hanover Hornets players Hanover Raiders players Rochester Red Wings players

Formative years

Career

Death

See also

References

External links