| Willard Hershberger | |||
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Full Name: Willard McKee "Bill" Hershberger Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 5-10 Weight: 167 lbs. Born: May 28, 1910 in Lemon Cove, California Died: Aug 3, 1940 in Boston, Massachusetts Debut: 4/19/1938 College: None |
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| CAREER BATTING STATISTICS |
| BATTING | |||||||||||||||
| YEAR | TEAM | LG | AVG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | OBP | SLG |
| 1938 1939 1940 |
Cin Cin Cin |
NL NL NL |
.276 .345 .309 |
49 63 48 |
105 174 123 |
12 23 6 |
29 60 38 |
3 9 4 |
1 2 2 |
0 0 0 |
12 32 26 |
5 9 6 |
6 4 6 |
.315 .384 .351 |
.324 .420 .374 |
| Totals | AVG .316 |
G 160 |
AB 402 |
R 41 |
H 127 |
2B 16 |
3B 5 |
HR 0 |
RBI 70 |
BB 20 |
K 16 |
OBP .356 |
SLG .381 |
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| BATTING | BASERUNNING | MISC | |||||||||||
| YEAR | TEAM | LG | HBP | GDP | TB | IBB | SH | SF | SB | CS | SB% | AB/HR | AB/K |
| 1938 1939 1940 |
Cin Cin Cin |
NL NL NL |
1 2 2 |
1 6 5 |
34 73 46 |
-- -- -- |
1 10 2 |
-- -- -- |
1 1 0 |
-- -- -- |
-.--- -.--- -.--- |
--.- --.- --.- |
17.5 43.5 20.5 |
| Totals | HBP 5 |
GDP 12 |
TB 153 |
IBB -- |
SH 13 |
SF -- |
SB 2 |
CS -- |
SB% -.--- |
AB/HR --.- |
AB/K 25.1 |
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| CAREER FIELDING STATISTICS |
| YEAR | TEAM | LG | POS | G | Ch | PO | A | E | DP | FPCT |
| 1938 1938 1939 1940 |
Cin Cin Cin Cin |
NL NL NL NL |
2B C C C |
1 39 60 37 |
1 126 228 134 |
0 108 204 121 |
0 13 21 11 |
1 5 3 2 |
0 2 2 0 |
0.000 0.960 0.987 0.985 |
| Totals | G 137 |
Ch 489 |
PO 433 |
A 45 |
E 11 |
DP 4 |
FPCT 0.978 |
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| WORLD SERIES BATTING STATISTICS |
| BATTING | |||||||||||||||
| YEAR | TEAM | LG | AVG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | OBP | SLG |
| 1939 |
Cin |
NL |
.500 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.500 |
.500 |
| Totals | AVG .500 |
G 3 |
AB 2 |
R 0 |
H 1 |
2B 0 |
3B 0 |
HR 0 |
RBI 1 |
BB 0 |
K 0 |
OBP .500 |
SLG .500 |
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| BATTING | BASERUNNING | MISC | |||||||||||
| YEAR | TEAM | LG | HBP | GDP | TB | IBB | SH | SF | SB | CS | SB% | AB/HR | AB/K |
| 1939 |
Cin |
NL |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
-.--- |
--.- |
--.- |
| Totals | HBP 0 |
GDP 0 |
TB 1 |
IBB 0 |
SH 0 |
SF 0 |
SB 0 |
CS 0 |
SB% -.--- |
AB/HR --.- |
AB/K --.- |
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| WORLD SERIES FIELDING |
| YEAR | TEAM | POS | G | Ch | PO | A | E | DP | FPCT |
| 1939 |
Cin |
C |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.000 |
| Totals | G 2 |
Ch 1 |
PO 1 |
A 0 |
E 0 |
DP 0 |
FPCT 1.000 |
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Willard Hershberger is the ONLY player in Major League history to have committed suicide during
his playing season. Willard died on August 3, 1940. Hershberger's suicide ended a frustrated career. A farmhand
in the player-rich Yankee system, he shared a catching future with Buddy Rosar, judged
the better defensive player. Bill Dickey was the Yankee catcher, a lefthanded hitter.
Both Hershberger and Rosar were righthanded, and Rosar was chosen as Dickey's backup.
Hershberger was sold to Cincinnati, and had to settle in behind another future Hall
of Fame catcher, Ernie Lombardi.