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Bill Sowders

William Jefferson Sowders (Little Bill)

Positions: Pitcher and Outfielder
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 155 lb.

Born: November 29, 1864 in Louisville, KY (All Transactions)
Debut: April 24, 1888 (Age 23)
Teams (by GP): Beaneaters/PittsburghAlleghenys 1888-1890

Final Game: June 19, 1890 (Age 25)
Died: February 2, 1951 in Indianapolis, IN
Buried: Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, IN
Relatives: Brother of John Sowders and Brother of Len Sowders
    About biographical information

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Standard Pitching

More Stats

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB Awards
1888 23 BSN NL 19 15 .559 2.07 36 35 1 34 2 0 317.0 278 155 73 3 73 132 9 0 14 1311 140 1.107 7.9 0.1 2.1 3.7 1.81
1889 24 TOT NL 7 7 .500 6.37 20 15 5 12 0 3 94.2 147 90 67 4 52 43 6 0 7 485 61 2.102 14.0 0.4 4.9 4.1 0.83
1889 24 BSN NL 1 2 .333 5.14 7 4 3 3 0 3 42.0 53 35 24 3 23 10 2 0 2 202 81 1.810 11.4 0.6 4.9 2.1 0.43
1889 24 PIT NL 6 5 .545 7.35 13 11 2 9 0 0 52.2 94 55 43 1 29 33 4 0 5 283 50 2.335 16.1 0.2 5.0 5.6 1.14
1890 25 PIT NL 3 8 .273 4.42 15 11 4 9 0 0 106.0 117 77 52 1 24 30 2 0 7 458 75 1.330 9.9 0.1 2.0 2.5 1.25
3 Yrs 29 30 .492 3.34 71 61 10 55 2 3 517.2 542 322 192 8 149 205 17 0 28 2254 95 1.335 9.4 0.1 2.6 3.6 1.38
162 Game Avg. 15 15 .492 3.34 37 31 5 28 1 2 267 279 166 99 4 77 106 9 0 14 1161 95 1.335 9.4 0.1 2.6 3.6 1.38
PIT (2 yrs) 9 13 .409 5.39 28 22 6 18 0 0 158.2 211 132 95 2 53 63 6 0 12 741 64 1.664 12.0 0.1 3.0 3.6 1.19
BSN (2 yrs) 20 17 .541 2.43 43 39 4 37 2 3 359.0 331 190 97 6 96 142 11 0 16 1513 125 1.189 8.3 0.2 2.4 3.6 1.48

Player Value--Pitchers

WAR Explained (v2.2): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl
Year Age Tm Lg IP G GS R RA9 RA9opp RA9def RA9role PPFp RA9avg RAA WAA gmLI WAAadj WAR RAR waaWL% 162WL% Salary Awards
1888 23 BSN NL 317.0 36 35 155 4.40 4.49 0.08 0.00 102.0 4.50 9 0.9 1.0 -0.3 3.6 33 .526 .506 $3,000
1889 24 BSN NL 42.0 7 4 35 7.50 5.79 0.29 0.00 104.0 5.71 -8 -0.6 1.0 -0.0 -0.3 -3 .411 .496
1889 24 PIT NL 52.2 13 11 55 9.40 5.90 0.12 0.00 93.0 5.37 -23 -1.7 1.0 -0.1 -1.3 -17 .366 .489
1890 25 PIT NL 106.0 15 11 77 6.54 5.76 -0.73 0.00 92.0 5.97 -3 -0.2 1.0 -0.2 0.6 6 .484 .499
3 Seasons 517.2 71 61 322 5.60 5.00 -0.06 0.00 99.2 4.99 -25 -1.7 1.0 -0.6 2.6 19 .477 .497 $3,000
PIT (2 yrs) 158.2 28 22 132 7.49 5.81 -0.44 0.00 92.3 5.77 -26 -2.0 1.0 -0.2 -0.7 -11 .429 .494
BSN (2 yrs) 359.0 43 39 190 4.76 4.64 0.11 0.00 102.2 4.64 1 0.3 1.0 -0.4 3.3 30 .507 .501 $3,000

Standard Batting

More Stats

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1888 23 BSN NL 36 125 122 14 18 2 0 0 6 1 3 24 .148 .168 .164 .332 5 20 0 1
1889 24 TOT NL 22 69 65 6 17 1 0 0 5 0 4 12 .262 .304 .277 .581 67 18 0 1/O
1889 24 BSN NL 7 18 17 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .235 .278 .235 .513 41 4 0 /1
1889 24 PIT NL 15 51 48 4 13 1 0 0 5 0 3 10 .271 .314 .292 .605 77 14 0 1/O
1890 25 PIT NL 17 52 50 3 9 0 0 0 4 1 2 7 .180 .212 .180 .392 20 9 0 1/O
3 Yrs 75 246 237 23 44 3 0 0 15 2 9 43 .186 .215 .198 .414 26 47 0
162 Game Avg. 162 531 512 50 95 6 0 0 32 4 19 93 .186 .215 .198 .414 26 102 0
PIT (2 yrs) 32 103 98 7 22 1 0 0 9 1 5 17 .224 .262 .235 .497 49 23 0
BSN (2 yrs) 43 143 139 16 22 2 0 0 6 1 4 26 .158 .182 .173 .354 10 24 0

Player Value--Batters

WAR Explained (v2.2): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl
Year Age Tm Lg G PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR waaWL% 162WL% oWAR dWAR oRAR Salary Pos Awards
1888 23 BSN NL 36 125 -14 -0 0 0 8 -6 -0.7 4 -2 -0.7 .482 .496 -0.6 -0.0 -2 $3,000 1
1889 24 BSN NL 7 18 -2 0 0 0 1 0 0.0 1 1 0.0 .500 .500 0.0 0.0 1 /1
1889 24 PIT NL 15 51 -2 0 0 0 4 2 0.2 2 4 0.2 .512 .501 0.2 -0.0 4 1/O
1890 25 PIT NL 17 52 -5 -0 0 0 4 -1 -0.1 2 0 -0.1 .493 .499 -0.1 -0.0 0 1/O
3 Seasons 75 246 -22 -1 0 0 17 -5 -0.6 8 3 -0.6 .492 .499 -0.6 -0.1 3 $3,000
PIT (2 yrs) 32 103 -7 -0 0 0 8 1 0.0 4 4 0.0 .502 .500 0.1 -0.0 4
BSN (2 yrs) 43 143 -15 -0 0 0 9 -6 -0.7 5 -1 -0.7 .485 .498 -0.6 -0.0 -1 $3,000

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG G Awards
1888 BSN NL 23 P 36 317.0 100 23 69 8 1 .920 2.61 2.56 .895 2.36 2.30
1889 TOT NL 24 P 20 94.2 44 11 30 3 0 .932 3.90 2.05 .905 2.22 2.16
1889 BSN NL 24 P 7 42.0 14 3 11 0 0 1.000 3.00 2.00 .905 2.23 2.16
1889 PIT NL 24 P 13 52.2 30 8 19 3 0 .900 4.61 2.08 .905 2.22 2.16
1889 PIT NL 24 OF 2 2 2 0 0 0 1.000 1.00 .910 2.00 0-2-0
1890 PIT NL 25 P 15 106.0 19 7 9 3 0 .842 1.36 1.07 .898 2.24 2.19
1890 PIT NL 25 OF 2 5 5 0 0 0 1.000 2.50 .914 1.90 0-0-2
3 Seasons P 71 517.2 163 41 108 14 1 .914 2.59 2.10 .898 2.31 2.24
2 Seasons OF 4 7 7 0 0 0 1.000 1.75 .913 1.95 0-2-2
3 Seasons TOT 75 517.2 170 48 108 14 1 .918 2.59 2.08 .899 2.31 2.22 0-2-2
Note: Fielding stats are a combination of official records and RetroSheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.
View Complete Notes on Fielding Data
Leagues historically made no effort to balance team, league, and player fielding stats. Since 1990 or so, computers have made this feasible, but prior to that there are hundreds or thousands of discrepancies each year in games played (even whether a player played a position), putouts, assists, double plays and errors.
  • Pre-1945 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
  • From 1945 on SB, CS, Pickoff, & WP data for catchers and pitchers is taken from play-by-play accounts in the retrosheet files. There are several hundred games without pbp from 1945 to 1973 and for those we may not have any data.
  • CG & GS come from the retrosheet data and should be complete and pretty accurate from 1916 on.
  • Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1945 to 1973 and complete from then on.
  • Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1916) is taken from play-by-play or box score data as available.
  • Stats (PO,A,G,etc) for C,P,1B,2B,3B,SS,OF positions is taken from the official reported totals and may have been corrected at various times since their publication.
  • For detailed information on which games retrosheet is missing play-by-play from 1945 to 1973, please see their most wanted games list
  • For detailed information on the availability of data on this site by year, see our data coverage page

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

Earned Run Average s c a p y
1888 NL  2.07 (5th)

Wins s c a p y
1888 NL  19 (9th)

Win-Loss % s c a p y
1888 NL  .559 (9th)

Walks & Hits per IP s c a p y
1888 NL  1.107 (10th)

Hits per 9 IP s c a p y
1888 NL  7.893 (10th)

Saves s c a p y
1889 NL  3 (1st)

Bases on Balls s c a p y
1888 NL  73 (9th)

Home Runs per 9 IP s c a p y
1888 NL  0.085 (1st)

Games Finished s c a p y
1888 NL  1 (9th)
1889 NL  5 (4th)
1890 NL  4 (6th)

Adjusted ERA+ s c a p y
1888 NL  140 (5th)

Adj. Pitching Runs s c a p y
1888 NL  18 (7th)

Adj. Pitching Wins s c a p y
1888 NL  1.8 (7th)

Putouts as P s c a p y
1888 NL  23 (5th)

                                         

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Black InkPitching - 3 (572), Average HOFer ≈ 40
Gray InkPitching - 16 (1225), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame MonitorPitching - 6 (1215), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsPitching - 8 (1038), Average HOFer ≈ 50
JAWS Starting Pitcher (1542nd), 2.0 career WAR/2.0 7yr-peak WAR/2.0 JAWS
Average HOF P (out of 57) = 72.6 career WAR/50.0 7yr-peak WAR/61.3 JAWS

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores
Similar Pitchers 
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 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Jake Thielman (976)
  2. Bill Mountjoy (975)
  3. Dixie Walker (974)
  4. Gus Krock (973)
  5. Hank Thormahlen (973)
  6. Happy Finneran (970)
  7. Bill Stemmyer (969)
  8. Vern Olsen (968)
  9. Jing Johnson (968)
  10. Randy Tomlin (968)
Most Similar by Ages 
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 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Stan Bahnsen (985)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Russ Bauers (983)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Roscoe Miller (986)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C

Transactions

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.

Salaries

 Salaries may not be complete (especially pre-1985) and may not include some earned bonuses
Year Age Team Salary Sources Notes/Other Sources
188823Boston Beaneaters$3,0003/31/88 TSN
Career to date (may be incomplete)$3,000
Primary salary Data (about) courtesy Doug Pappas, and the Society for American Baseball Research.
Additional 1915-1969 salaries researched via Baseball Hall of Fame contract archives by Dr. Michael Haupert of UW-LaCrosse.
Salaries for mid-season call-ups or traded players may not be shown.
Salaries converted to alternate years using Consumer Price Index (CPI) data courtesty of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Board.

Other Resources & Links

Error?     Compare     Search SABR's Baseball Index     Other Links@google.com     Baseball-Almanac.com     Retrosheet     WahooSam.com     WhatIfSports: Bill Sowders    

Viewed 3,181 times through May 15, 2013.
Name and misspellings: Little William Bill billy Jefferson Will William Sowders

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