William Robert Steinecke (February 7, 1907 – July 20, 1986) was an American professional

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 t ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and

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 ...

. A native of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

who attended

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

, Steinecke spent almost 40 years in uniform, but only four games 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 Pittsburgh Pirates). He threw and batted right-handed, stood (173 cm) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg) as an active player. Steinecke's playing career began in with the

Rock Island Islanders The Rock Island Islanders was the primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in Rock Island, Illinois, one of the Quad Cities, between 1892 and 1937. Rock Island teams played as members of the Illinois–Iowa League (1892), Western Ass ...

of the Class D Mississippi Valley League. After

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.361 for the

Binghamton Triplets The Binghamton Triplets were a minor league baseball team based in Binghamton, New York between 1923 and 1963. The franchise played as members of the New York–Penn League (1923–1937), Eastern League (1938–1963), New York–Penn League (19 ...

of the Class B

New York–Pennsylvania League New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

— and being elected the loop's all-star catcher for 1931 — Steinecke received his Pittsburgh trial. In four games and four

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

between September 16 and September 24, 1931, he went hitless. By the opening of the season, he was back at Binghamton. Steinecke achieved his most sustained success in the New York–Penn League of the 1930s (now the Eastern League), batting over .300 in six different seasons. In his best campaign, for the

Williamsport Grays The Williamsport Grays were a minor league baseball team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania between 1923 and 1962. The club began play in 1923 in the New York–Pennsylvania League and were a charter member of the Eastern League in 1938. The team was ...

, Steinecke batted .349 with 110

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

in 132 games played. All told, he appeared in 1,907 minor league games over 21 different seasons, batting .297 with 57 home runs and 855 RBI. Steinecke's long minor-league managerial career began in in the Class B

Sally League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, and from 1946 to 1964 he skippered clubs in the lower minors. He joined the Milwaukee Braves farm system in and continued with the Braves through the middle of . (As manager of the Class D

McCook Braves The McCook Braves were a minor league baseball team based in McCook, Nebraska. From 1956 to 1959, the McCook Braves played as members of the short-season Class D level Nebraska State League as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves for their durati ...

of the Nebraska State League, he was a figure in former bonus-baby

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 ...

Pat Jordan Pat Jordan (17 July 1928 – 1 September 2001) was a British Trotskyist who was central to founding the International Marxist Group. Jordan was born in Chelsea, London,Cohen, S. 'Pat Jordan (1928-2001) in ''Revolutionary History'' Vol.8 No.3 pg ...

's memoir, ''A False Spring''.) He then served as a scout for the Braves and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. Steinecke died at age 79 in

Saint Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabi ...

References

* Johnson, Lloyd, ed., ''The Minor League Register.'' Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1994.

External links

Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinecke, Bill 1907 births 1986 deaths Baseball players from Cincinnati Beaumont Exporters players Binghamton Triplets players Davenport Blue Sox players Dayton Ducks players DePaul Blue Demons baseball players DeLand Red Hats players Fort Worth Cats players Jacksonville Tars players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Leesburg Packers players Major League Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Montreal Expos scouts Newark Bears (International League) players Omaha Packers players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portsmouth Cubs players Rock Island Islanders players St. Augustine Saints players Savannah Indians players Scranton Miners players Seattle Indians players Suffolk Goobers players Waterloo Hawks (baseball) players Williamsport Grays players Jesup Bees players