 William Donovan
Detroit A.L.
 Career: Pitched 9 '1-0'
shutouts ( tied with Don Drysdale)
1915-17,21: Managed NY
Yankees
1907: 25-4 w/.862 winning
pct. (#1 Majors)
BILL DONOVAN
Donovan, William Edward "Wild Bill"
b: 10/13/1876, Lawrence, Mass. d: 12/9/23, Forsyth, N.Y.
BR/TR, 5'11", 190 lbs. Deb: 4/22/1898
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YEAR TM/L W L PCT G GS CG SH SV IP H HR BB
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1898 Was-N 1 6 .143 17 7 6 0 0 88 88 0 69
1899 Bro-N 1 2 .333 5 2 2 0 1 25 35 0 13
1900 Bro-N 1 2 .333 5 4 2 0 0 31 36 0 18
1901 Bro-N 25 15 .625 45 38 36 2 3 351 324 1 152
1902 Bro-N 17 15 .531 35 33 30 4 1 297^2 250 1 111
1903 Det-A 17 16 .515 35 34 34 4 0 307 247 3 95
1904 Det-A 17 16 .515 34 34 30 3 0 293 251 5 94
1905 Det-A 18 15 .545 34 32 27 5 0 280^2 236 2 101
1906 Det-A 9 15 .375 25 25 22 0 0 211^2 221 4 72
1907 *Det-A 25 4 .862 32 28 27 3 1 271 222 3 82
1908 *Det-A 18 7 .720 29 28 25 6 0 242^2 210 2 53
1909 *Det-A 8 7 .533 21 17 13 4 2 140^1 121 0 60
1910 Det-A 17 7 .708 26 23 20 3 0 206^2 184 4 61
1911 Det-A 10 9 .526 20 19 15 1 0 168^1 160 4 64
1912 Det-A 1 0 1.000 3 1 0 0 0 10 5 0 2
1915 NY-A 0 3 .000 9 1 0 0 0 33^2 35 1 10
1916 NY-A 0 0 -- 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
1918 Det-A 1 0 1.000 2 1 0 0 0 6 5 0 1
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Total 18 186 139 .572 378 327 289 35 8 2964^2 2631 30 1059
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While playing for Hartford in the minors, Bill thought that if major leaguer, Cy Seymour of the NY Giants (playing
for Hartford), could return to the majors by throwing wildly over a fence behind home plate, so could he. But after
walking 9 consecutive batters, all Bill got was a $10 fine and a new nickname. Erratic, however, was not a part
of 'Wild' Bill Donovan's pitching style. He was one of the premier pitchers of the majors, winning a total of 186
games. Donovan was accused of having some knowledge of the attempt to throw the 1919 World Series but was vindicated
by Commisioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and sent an apology from his accuser, Wm. Baker, President of the Philadelphia
Phillies. Bill died, tragically, in a train wreck in 1923 and was eulogized by many as being one of the most popular
baseball men of his era.
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