Frederick "Cy" Williams (December 21, 1887 – April 23, 1974) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as an

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 catch ...

for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(1912–17) and

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

(1918–30). As Major League Baseball emerged from the

dead-ball era In major league baseball, the dead-ball era refers to a period from about 1900 to 1920 in which run scoring was low and home runs were rare in comparison to the years that followed. In 1908, the major league batting average dropped to .239, and ...

, Williams became one of the most prominent

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

hitters in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Baseball career

Born in Wadena, Indiana, Williams attended Notre Dame where he studied architecture and played football with

Knute Rockne Knute Kenneth Rockne (; March 4, 1888 – March 31, 1931) was an American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships. Rockne is ...

. His hitting prowess caught the attention of the

, who purchased his contract after he graduated from college. Williams made his major league debut with the Cubs on July 18,

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

at the age of 24. From 1915 to 1927 he was a consistent power hitting

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

, leading the

in home runs four times during his career. Williams was the first National League player to hit 200 career home runs, and is one of three players born before 1900 to hit 200 homers in his career (Babe Ruth and

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "the Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager (baseball), manager, and coach (baseball), coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. ...

are the others). He was the National League's career home run leader until his record of 251 was surpassed by Hornsby in 1929. In a 19-year major league career, Williams played in 2,002

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, accumulating 1,981

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 6,780

at bat 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 upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s for a .292 career

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 ...

along with 251 home runs, 1,005

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

and an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

of .365. He hit over .300 six times in his career. An excellent defensive player, Williams had a .973 career

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

, which was nine points higher than the league average during his playing career. Williams was also an effective

pinch-hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Am ...

in his major league career, batting .287 (48-167) with 10 home runs and 41 RBI in that role. The infield shift, in which defensive players moved to the right side of the playing field was first employed against Williams during the 1920s. However, it later became known as the "Williams Shift" because of another hitter,

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

. Williams played in his final major league game on September 22, 1930 at the age of 42. In 1931, he served as a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

for the Richmond Byrds of the Eastern League.

Later life

After retirement, Williams worked as an architect at the 3 Lakes Theatre in

Three Lakes, Wisconsin Three Lakes is a town in Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,131 at the 2010 census. The census-designated place of Three Lakes is located in the town. The unincorporated community of Clearwater Lake is also located in ...

beginning in 1949. Before that, he designed the 3 Lakes Theatre's exterior and interior and later opened that June of the same year.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Cy 1887 births 1974 deaths Major League Baseball center fielders National League home run champions Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Minor league baseball managers Richmond Byrds players Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's track and field athletes Baseball players from Indiana People from Benton County, Indiana People from Three Lakes, Wisconsin University of Notre Dame alumni 20th-century American architects 20th-century American sportsmen

Baseball career

Later life

See also

References

External links