William John Goeckel (September 3, 1871 – November 1, 1922) was a professional baseball player who played

first base 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 ...

for the 1899

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Biography

Goeckel attended

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master's ...

and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

(Penn). When Goeckel played on Penn's varsity baseball team in 1893, 1894 and 1895, he was considered the finest collegiate first baseman of his day. At Penn Goeckel was also known as a musician and composer. He was most famous for writing the melody for "The Red and Blue", which is considered one of the greatest field songs, and has since been the University's theme song. While at Penn he also composed "Memories" and the "Houston Club March." A tenor, he was also a member and leader of Penn's Glee Club. After his graduation from law school in 1896, began his professional baseball career with the

Chambersburg Maroons The Chambersburg Maroons were a baseball team located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. They called historic Henninger Field their home, and had done so since the club's creation in 1895. They played their last season in 2010, ending 116 years of ex ...

of the Cumberland Valley League. Goeckel then returned to Wilkes-Barre where he served as both player on and manager of the

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...

Eastern League team. His best minor league season was in 1896 when he had a batting average of .330 in 491 at bats for Wilkes-Barre. Goeckel played one season in the major leagues, debuting on August 10, 1899, with the

; his last game was September 21 of that year. Goeckel retired completely from baseball after the 1899 season to practice law in Wilkes-Barre. He later became the organizer and attorney for the South Side Bank and Trust Company as well as chairman of Wilkes-Barre's Democratic City Committee. He continued his interest in music as organist and conductor of the St. Nicholas male choir and as president of the Concordia Singing Society.

Death

Goeckel died November 1, 1922, in Philadelphia, although his residence was still in Wilkes-Barre.

External links

University of Pennsylvania biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goeckel, Billy 1871 births 1922 deaths Major League Baseball first basemen Sportspeople from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Phillies players 19th-century baseball players Chambersburg Maroons players Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons players Minor league baseball managers