1891
Born January 28, 1891
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Bill Doak Marquee
b. January 28, 1891 · Cincinnati Reds 1912, St. Louis Cardinals 1913–1924, 1929, Brooklyn Robins 1924, 1927–1928
In 1919 he took Rawlings a design with a web of leather laced between the thumb and first finger and a pre-formed pocket, which is the glove the game has used ever since. It was sold under his name until 1953, and he was paid royalties on it for thirty years — more, by the end, than he earned pitching.
He led the National League with a 1.72 earned run average in 1914 and a 2.59 in 1921, and won 20 games in 1920. Sixteen seasons gave him 169 wins against 157, a 2.98 earned run average, 2,782 innings, 162 complete games and 34 shutouts, almost all of it for St. Louis.
He threw a spitball and was one of the seventeen pitchers allowed to keep throwing it when the pitch was banned in 1920. He retired to Bradenton, Florida, and ran a candy store. The 1958 ballot gave him three votes of 266. He died in 1954, at sixty-three.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | CIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1913 | STL | 15 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 0 | .032 |
| 1914 | STL | 36 | 85 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 31 | 0 | .118 |
| 1915 | STL | 38 | 86 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 27 | 0 | .174 |
| 1916 | STL | 29 | 62 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 0 | .129 |
| 1917 | STL | 44 | 95 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 0 | .126 |
| 1918 | STL | 31 | 66 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 0 | .182 |
| 1919 | STL | 31 | 64 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 0 | .109 |
| 1920 | STL | 39 | 88 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 37 | 0 | .114 |
| 1921 | STL | 32 | 70 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 0 | .143 |
| 1922 | STL | 37 | 54 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 0 | .130 |
| 1923 | STL | 30 | 67 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 0 | .045 |
| 1924 | BRO/STL | 32 | 61 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 0 | .180 |
| 1927 | BRO | 27 | 47 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | .128 |
| 1928 | BRO | 28 | 27 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .111 |
| 1929 | STL | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 453 | 905 | 40 | 115 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 30 | 30 | 332 | 0 | .127 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | CIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 |
| 1913 | STL | 2 | 8 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 93.0 | 79 | 32 | 39 | 51 | 3.10 |
| 1914 | STL | 19 | 6 | 36 | 33 | 1 | 256.0 | 193 | 49 | 87 | 118 | 1.72 |
| 1915 | STL | 16 | 18 | 38 | 36 | 1 | 276.0 | 263 | 81 | 85 | 124 | 2.64 |
| 1916 | STL | 12 | 8 | 29 | 26 | 0 | 192.0 | 177 | 56 | 55 | 82 | 2.63 |
| 1917 | STL | 16 | 20 | 44 | 37 | 2 | 281.1 | 257 | 97 | 85 | 111 | 3.10 |
| 1918 | STL | 9 | 15 | 31 | 23 | 1 | 211.0 | 191 | 57 | 60 | 74 | 2.43 |
| 1919 | STL | 13 | 14 | 31 | 29 | 0 | 202.2 | 182 | 70 | 55 | 69 | 3.11 |
| 1920 | STL | 20 | 12 | 39 | 37 | 1 | 270.0 | 256 | 76 | 80 | 90 | 2.53 |
| 1921 | STL | 15 | 6 | 32 | 28 | 1 | 208.2 | 224 | 60 | 37 | 83 | 2.59 |
| 1922 | STL | 11 | 13 | 37 | 29 | 2 | 180.1 | 222 | 111 | 69 | 73 | 5.54 |
| 1923 | STL | 8 | 13 | 30 | 26 | 0 | 185.0 | 199 | 67 | 69 | 53 | 3.26 |
| 1924 | BRO/STL | 13 | 6 | 32 | 17 | 3 | 171.1 | 155 | 59 | 49 | 39 | 3.10 |
| 1927 | BRO | 11 | 8 | 27 | 20 | 0 | 145.0 | 153 | 56 | 40 | 32 | 3.48 |
| 1928 | BRO | 3 | 8 | 28 | 12 | 3 | 99.1 | 104 | 36 | 35 | 12 | 3.26 |
| 1929 | STL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9.0 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 12.00 |
| Career | — | 169 | 157 | 453 | 368 | 16 | 2782.2 | 2676 | 920 | 851 | 1014 | 2.98 |
On this day & linked events
1954
Died November 26, 1954
1912
Major-league debut: Bill Doak
Bill Doak made a major-league debut on September 1, 1912.
1929
Final major-league game: Bill Doak
Bill Doak played a final major-league game on May 13, 1929.
Image: Public domain