William T. Calihan (May 1869 – December 20, 1917) 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 tea ...

player. He played 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), ...

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 ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

from to . He played for the Rochester Broncos in 1890 and the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

in 1891, both of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

Biography

Born in Oswego, Calihan had a brother named Tom who was a catcher in the minor leagues. In 1888, Calihan and his brother briefly formed a

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

with Calihan's first professional baseball team, the minor-league Rochester Jingoes. Calihan had a 14–16 record with Rochester that year. The Rochester front office thought that Calihan drank excessively and presented behavioral issues. He ended up with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

during the 1889 season. It looked as if Calihan might join Buffalo's team that was forming in the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

in 1890, but the team ultimately lost interest in Calihan. Instead, he entered the major leagues with the Rochester Broncos of the American Association that year. In one season with the Broncos, Calihan had an 18–15 win-loss record and appeared 12 times in the outfield. He spent his last major-league season (1891) with the Philadelphia Athletics, earning a 6–6 record in 13 games. In 50 games as a pitcher, his record was 24–21 with 42

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s in 47 starts and an

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. Comp ...

of 4.14. In 63 total

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

he batted .158 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 18 RBI, and 22 runs scored. Calihan remained in the minor leagues through 1898, mostly as an infielder. He married once, but his wife died in 1896 when he was playing in the minor leagues in Atlanta. Calihan died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

at the age of 48 in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

References

External links

Baseball Reference

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calihan, Bill 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from New York (state) Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball outfielders Rochester Broncos players Philadelphia Athletics (AA 1891) players 1869 births 1917 deaths People from Oswego, New York Rochester Jingoes players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Rochester Flour Cities players Albany Senators players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Atlanta Crackers players Rochester Blackbirds players Canandaigua Rustlers players Lancaster Maroons players Atlanta Colts players