William John Steen (November 11, 1887 – March 13, 1979) was an American

baseball 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 tea ...

player. He played professional baseball as a right-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 ...

for 12 years from 1907 to 1917 and 1919, including four years 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), ...

with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

(1912–1915) and

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 ...

(1915). He appeared in 108 major league games and compiled a 28–32 win–loss record with a 3.05

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 ...

(ERA) and 265

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

Early years

Steen was born in

Pittsburgh 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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in 1887. Steen attended

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...

, before playing professional baseball.

Professional baseball

Minor leagues

Steen began playing professional baseball for a team in

Emlenton, Pennsylvania Emlenton is a borough in Clarion and Venango counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 625 at the 2010 census. Of these, 617 were in Venango County, and eight were in Clarion County. The borough is home to the Emlenton Bridg ...

. In 1907, he was signed by the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

who farmed him to the New Castle Nocks of the Ohio-Pennsylvania League. On July 15, 1907, he pitched two complete games in a double-header for New Castle and won both games, allowing only three hits in the second game. He accomplished the feat again on July 27, 1907, pitching 12 innings in the first game and allowing only four hits in the second game. He reportedly pitched and won seven double-headers, including four shutout games, and finished his first season in professional baseball with a 17–16 record. Steen continued to play in the minor leagues for the

in 1908. He won his first six games for Toledo, but he became ill and finished with a 12–10 record. He moved on in 1909 to Grand Rapids where his record was 10-10 and then to the

Bloomington Bloomers The Bloomington Bloomers were a minor League baseball franchise based in Bloomington, Illinois that played between 1889 and 1939. They were affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals (1935), Cleveland Indians (1938) and Chicago Cubs (1939). They playe ...

where he was 18–15.

Portland Beavers

During the 1910 and 1911 seasons, Steen played for the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

in the

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 ...

(PCL). He had the best seasons of his career, posting a 27–17 record with a 1.78 ERA in 1910 and a 30–15 record with a 2.36 ERA in 1911. While playing with Portland, Steen's pitchers included a

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This chan ...

and a spitter.

Cleveland Indians

Steen debuted with the

on April 15, 1912, and compiled a 23–31 record in four seasons with the team. Steen was Cleveland's #4 starter in 1912, but suffered a broken wrist in 1913.

Detroit Tigers

In June 1915, the

were in a tight pennant race with 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 needed pitching help. They purchased Steen from the Indians. Steen played in 20 games for the 1915 Tigers (including seven as a starter), compiling a record of 5–1 with a 2.72 ERA (

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

of 111) in 79.3 innings pitched. The 1915 Tigers wound up winning 100 games (the best record in the team's history) but finished in second place to the Red Sox who won 101 games. Steen pitched his last major league game on August 22, 1915.

Pacific Coast League

Although his major league career ended in August 1915, Steen continued to pitch in the Pacific Coast League for the San Francisco Seals from 1915 to 1917 and for the Oakland Oaks in 1919. He compiled a 10–5 record and a 1.54 ERA for the 1915 Seals team.

Later years

Steen died in

Signal Hill, California Signal Hill is a city in area in Los Angeles County, California. Located high on a hill, the city is an enclave completely surrounded by the city of Long Beach. Signal Hill was incorporated on April 22, 1924, roughly three years after oil wa ...

at age 91 in 1979.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steen, Bill 1887 births 1979 deaths Cleveland Indians players Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Pittsburgh Washington & Jefferson Presidents baseball players Portland Beavers players Bloomington Bloomers players Toledo Mud Hens players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Signal Hill, California