1877
Born January 26, 1877
Wooster, OH, USA
Kaiser Wilhelm Marquee
b. January 26, 1877 · Pittsburgh Pirates 1903, Boston Beaneaters 1904–1905, Brooklyn Superbas 1908–1910, Baltimore Terrapins 1914–1915, Philadelphia Phillies 1921
Wilhelm carried one of baseball's sharpest examples of how little a pitcher's record can say by itself. For Brooklyn in 1908 he worked 332 innings with a 1.87 earned run average, six shutouts and 33 complete games, yet went 16-22 for a club that finished seventh in the National League.
Nine major-league seasons gave him 56 wins against 105 losses, a 3.44 earned run average and 444 strikeouts in 1,432 innings. He completed 118 of 158 starts and threw 12 shutouts. His career stretched from Pittsburgh in 1903 through Boston, Brooklyn and the Federal League's Baltimore Terrapins.
With Baltimore in 1914, he went 12-17 in 47 appearances and recorded five saves while also starting 27 times. Seven years later he returned for four final pitching appearances with Philadelphia. Wilhelm managed the Phillies for portions of 1921 and all of 1922, going 83-137 across 221 games. He died in 1936, at fifty-nine.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 | PIT | 13 | 34 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .088 |
| 1904 | BSN | 39 | 100 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 0 | .070 |
| 1905 | BSN | 38 | 100 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 0 | .160 |
| 1908 | BRO | 42 | 111 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 0 | .108 |
| 1909 | BRO | 22 | 57 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 0 | .228 |
| 1910 | BRO | 15 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .316 |
| 1914 | BAL | 49 | 84 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 0 | .250 |
| 1915 | BAL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1921 | PHI | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 223 | 507 | 23 | 78 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 17 | 97 | 0 | .154 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 | PIT | 5 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 86.0 | 88 | 31 | 25 | 20 | 3.24 |
| 1904 | BSN | 14 | 20 | 39 | 36 | 0 | 288.0 | 316 | 118 | 74 | 73 | 3.69 |
| 1905 | BSN | 3 | 23 | 34 | 28 | 0 | 242.1 | 287 | 122 | 75 | 76 | 4.53 |
| 1908 | BRO | 16 | 22 | 42 | 36 | 0 | 332.0 | 266 | 69 | 83 | 99 | 1.87 |
| 1909 | BRO | 3 | 13 | 22 | 17 | 0 | 163.0 | 176 | 59 | 59 | 45 | 3.26 |
| 1910 | BRO | 3 | 7 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 68.1 | 88 | 36 | 18 | 17 | 4.74 |
| 1914 | BAL | 12 | 17 | 47 | 27 | 5 | 243.2 | 263 | 109 | 81 | 113 | 4.03 |
| 1915 | BAL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1921 | PHI | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3.38 |
| Career | — | 56 | 105 | 216 | 158 | 5 | 1432.1 | 1495 | 547 | 418 | 444 | 3.44 |
On this day & linked events
1936
Died May 22, 1936
1903
Major-league debut: Kaiser Wilhelm
Kaiser Wilhelm made a major-league debut on April 18, 1903.
1921
Final major-league game: Kaiser Wilhelm
Kaiser Wilhelm played a final major-league game on August 26, 1921.
Image: Public domain