William Charles Stafford (August 13, 1938 – September 19, 2001) was a

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 ...

player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1960 to 1967. Stafford was a successful pitcher for the

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

from 1961 to 1962, winning a combined 28 games in two seasons. He appeared 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 ...

3 times for the Yankees from 1960 to 1962, and was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the

1962 World Series The 1962 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1962 season. The 59th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in spor ...

versus the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. In September 2001, Stafford died in his home at the age of 63 of a heart attack.

Teams

, 1960–1965 * Kansas City Athletics, 1966–1967

Pitching stats

* 186 Games * 43 Wins * 40 Losses * 9 Saves * 449 Strikeouts * 3.52 ERA * In 1961, Stafford had the second best

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

with 2.68. On October 1 of that season, he was the winning pitcher when

Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new MLB single-season home run record with 61 ...

hit his 61st home run of the season, breaking

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

's single-season record of 60 in 1927. * As a kid in New York Stafford played at Athens Little League in Athens, New York.

External links

Bill Stafford
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)

at The Deadball Era 1938 births 2001 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from New York (state) New York Yankees players Kansas City Athletics players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Binghamton Triplets players St. Petersburg Saints players Mobile A's players Birmingham A's players Toledo Mud Hens players Tucson Toros players Phoenix Giants players Seattle Angels players People from Catskill, New York People from Wayne, Michigan {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub