William Joseph Sweeney (December 29, 1904 – April 18, 1957) was an American

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

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), ...

and a longtime

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 ...

at the minor league level. Sweeney threw and batted right-handed, stood (185 cm) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg) in his playing days.

Major League first baseman

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Sweeney was the nephew of former major league infielder William John Sweeney (1886–1948), who played eight seasons in the

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 ...

between and . The younger Sweeney, however, would play his three MLB seasons 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 ...

, for the Detroit Tigers () and

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 eigh ...

(– 31), appearing in 308 games and garnering an even 300 hits in 1,050

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 ...

for a .286

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 ...

, with 58 doubles, eight triples, five home runs and 107

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 ...

. He recorded a .994 fielding percentage as a first baseman.

Pacific Coast League fixture

He would become better known in baseball as a manager in the Pacific Coast League. On May 11, 1936, Sweeney succeeded former Philadelphia Athletics star infielder

Max Bishop Max Frederick Bishop (September 5, 1899 – February 24, 1962) was an American professional baseball player, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Philadelphia ...

as playing manager of 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 ...

, and promptly led them to the 1936 PCL championship. Sweeney led Portland through 1939, then switched to the rival

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

(1940–41). In 1942, he was a playing coach for the crosstown

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

, then was promoted to manager of the Seraphs in 1943. Although his 1943–44 Angels captured PCL regular-season titles — and his '43 squad won 110 of 155 (.710) games — each team fell in the PCL post-season playoffs, and Sweeney's first term as manager of the Angels ended after the 1946 campaign. He then returned to the American League for two seasons, working as a coach for the Tigers under manager

Steve O'Neill Stephen Francis O'Neill (July 6, 1891 – January 26, 1962) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, most notably with the Cleveland Indians. As a manager, he led the Detroit Tig ...

(– 48).

Manager of four PCL teams

Sweeney moved back to the Pacific Coast League in 1949 for his second term as manager of the Portland Beavers. In four seasons (1949–52), the Beavers posted two winning records but no championships. After a successful, second-place finish with the 1953

Seattle Rainiers The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 1968. They were initi ...

, Sweeney resumed the helm of the Angels for a second term there, but a losing record in 1954 was compounded by a poor start to 1955, and Sweeney was replaced by

Bob Scheffing Robert Boden Scheffing (August 11, 1913 – October 26, 1985) was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and front-office executive. Nicknamed "Grumpy", the native of Overland, Missouri, is most often identified with the Chicago ...

in midyear. But Sweeney came back to the field, and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, in the midseason of 1956 for a third and final stint as skipper of the Beavers. He succeeded

Tommy Holmes Thomas Francis Holmes (March 29, 1917 – April 14, 2008) was an American right and center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played nearly his entire career for the Boston Braves. He hit over .300 lifetime (.302) and every year fro ...

as manager and led the Beavers to a third-place finish and was invited to return for 1957. However, on April 18, only six games into the 1957 campaign, Sweeney was stricken with a

perforated ulcer A perforated ulcer is a condition in which an untreated ulcer has burned through the mucosal wall in a segment of the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., the stomach or colon) allowing gastric contents to leak into the abdominal cavity. Signs and symp ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, where his club was playing. He survived emergency surgery but then died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at the age of 52. He was interred in Resurrection Cemetery, San Gabriel, California.Baseball-Alamanac.com Bill Sweeney's career record as a manager in the PCL was 1,471 victories and 1,452 defeats (.503) with one championship over all or parts of 18 seasons. He was selected to the

Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in 2004.

References

Sources

* Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, eds., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007.
Baseball Almanac

Retrosheet

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Bill 1904 births 1957 deaths Baseball players from Cleveland Boston Red Sox players Detroit Tigers coaches Detroit Tigers players Fort Worth Panthers players Hollywood Stars managers Hollywood Stars players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) managers Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball first basemen Portland Beavers managers Portland Beavers players Springfield Senators players Syracuse Chiefs managers Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wichita Izzies players