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Photo of Bill Virdon


Bill Virdon

William Charles Virdon

Position: Centerfielder
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 175 lb.

Born: June 9, 1931 in Hazel Park, MI
High School: West Plains HS (West Plains, MO)
Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1950. (All Transactions)
Debut: April 12, 1955
Teams (by GP): Pirates/Cardinals 1955-1968

Final Game: July 31, 1968
    About biographical information

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Standard Fielding

Adv Fielding w/ run summary
Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
1955 STL NL 24 OF 142 132 123 1186.0 358 339 7 12 1 .966 1 1 2.63 2.44 .977 2.30 2.28 RoY-1
1955 STL NL 24 CF 110 102 97 910.0 258 247 3 8 0 .969 -4 -5 2.47 2.27 .982 2.61 2.59 RoY-1
1955 STL NL 24 RF 33 29 25 267.0 76 67 5 4 2 .947 3 14 2.43 2.18 .975 1.98 1.96 RoY-1
1955 STL NL 24 LF 1 1 1 9.0 6 6 0 0 0 1.000 1 187 6.00 6.00 .972 2.00 2.00 RoY-1
1956 TOT NL 25 CF 154 148 140 1294.2 400 383 12 5 1 .988 -3 -3 2.75 2.56 .982 2.76 2.73 MVP-18
1956 TOT NL 25 OF 154 148 140 1294.2 404 387 12 5 2 .988 -3 -3 2.77 2.59 .977 2.28 2.25 MVP-18
1956 STL NL 25 CF 24 22 16 183.2 57 54 2 1 0 .982 2 12 2.74 2.33 .982 2.76 2.73
1956 STL NL 25 OF 24 22 16 183.2 56 53 2 1 0 .982 2 12 2.70 2.29 .977 2.28 2.25
1956 PIT NL 25 CF 130 126 124 1111.0 343 329 10 4 1 .988 -4 -5 2.75 2.61 .982 2.76 2.73
1956 PIT NL 25 OF 130 126 124 1111.0 348 334 10 4 2 .989 -4 -5 2.79 2.65 .977 2.28 2.25
1957 PIT NL 26 CF 141 138 131 1242.0 413 395 11 7 1 .983 13 13 2.94 2.88 .985 2.81 2.83
1957 PIT NL 26 OF 141 138 131 1242.0 422 403 13 6 2 .986 13 13 3.01 2.95 .980 2.29 2.31
1958 PIT NL 27 CF 143 143 142 1267.1 407 394 10 3 0 .993 12 12 2.87 2.83 .986 2.73 2.71
1958 PIT NL 27 OF 143 143 142 1267.1 415 401 11 3 0 .993 12 12 2.93 2.88 .980 2.26 2.25
1959 PIT NL 28 CF 144 139 133 1251.0 428 403 16 9 5 .979 10 10 3.01 2.91 .980 2.62 2.60
1959 PIT NL 28 OF 144 139 133 1251.0 429 404 16 9 5 .979 10 10 3.02 2.92 .977 2.21 2.19
1960 PIT NL 29 CF 109 98 93 887.2 284 269 10 5 0 .982 9 12 2.83 2.56 .981 2.60 2.60
1960 PIT NL 29 OF 109 98 93 887.2 287 272 10 5 0 .983 9 12 2.86 2.59 .978 2.20 2.20
1961 PIT NL 30 CF 145 144 143 1269.0 392 379 7 6 4 .985 3 3 2.74 2.66 .981 2.63 2.60
1961 PIT NL 30 OF 145 144 143 1269.0 396 384 6 6 4 .985 3 3 2.77 2.69 .977 2.16 2.14
1962 PIT NL 31 CF 156 156 154 1375.1 368 348 11 9 0 .976 2 2 2.35 2.30 .979 2.47 2.45 GG
1962 PIT NL 31 OF 156 156 154 1375.1 380 360 11 9 0 .976 2 2 2.43 2.38 .974 2.07 2.05 GG
1963 PIT NL 32 CF 142 142 138 1255.1 325 315 6 4 2 .988 2 2 2.30 2.26 .982 2.37 2.36
1963 PIT NL 32 OF 142 142 138 1255.1 333 323 6 4 2 .988 2 2 2.36 2.32 .977 2.01 2.00
1964 PIT NL 33 CF 134 112 107 1038.1 250 238 7 5 2 .980 -2 -3 2.12 1.83 .977 2.35 2.33
1964 PIT NL 33 OF 134 112 107 1038.1 254 243 5 6 1 .976 -2 -3 2.15 1.85 .973 1.99 1.98
1965 PIT NL 34 CF 128 110 99 1026.0 267 256 3 8 1 .970 4 4 2.27 2.02 .981 2.29 2.30
1965 PIT NL 34 OF 128 110 99 1026.0 271 260 3 8 1 .970 4 4 2.31 2.05 .975 2.00 2.00
1968 PIT NL 37 OF 4 0 0 6.0 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 -0 -80 1.50 0.25 .980 1.95 2.02
1968 PIT NL 37 RF 3 0 0 5.0 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 -0 -96 1.80 0.33 .980 1.98 2.03
1968 PIT NL 37 LF 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 1.80 1.60
12 Seasons OF 1542 1462 1403 13098.2 3950 3777 100 73 18 .982 51 5 2.66 2.51 .977 2.16 2.15
11 Seasons CF 1506 1432 1377 12816.2 3792 3627 96 69 16 .982 46 4 2.61 2.47 .982 2.57 2.56
2 Seasons RF 36 29 25 272.0 77 68 5 4 2 .948 3 12 2.42 2.03 .975 1.98 1.97
2 Seasons LF 2 1 1 10.0 6 6 0 0 0 1.000 1 168 5.40 3.00 .972 1.98 1.80
12 Seasons TOT 1542 1462 1403 13098.2 3950 3777 100 73 18 .982 51 5 2.66 2.51 .977 2.16 2.15
Lg Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
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-1948 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
  • From 1948 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 1948 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 1918 on.
  • Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1948 to 1973 and complete from then on.
  • Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1918) 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 1948 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

Sabermetric Fielding

Year Tm Lg Age Pos Rtot Rtot/yr Rtz Rtzhm Rtzrd Rdp Rof Rctch Rdrs Rdrs/yr Rpm Rdp Rbnt Rof Rhr RerC RsbC RsbP
1955 STL NL 24 CF -4 -5 -1 0 -1 -3
1955 STL NL 24 RF 3 14 2 1 1 1
1955 STL NL 24 LF 1 187 1 0 1 0
1956 STL NL 25 CF 2 12 -0 1 -1 2
1956 PIT NL 25 CF -4 -5 -4 -3 -1 -1
1957 PIT NL 26 CF 13 13 10 8 2 3
1958 PIT NL 27 CF 12 12 12 6 6 0
1959 PIT NL 28 CF 10 10 11 -1 12 -1
1960 PIT NL 29 CF 9 12 8 6 1 1
1961 PIT NL 30 CF 3 3 6 4 2 -3
1962 PIT NL 31 CF 2 2 -0 0 -1 3
1963 PIT NL 32 CF 2 2 4 5 -1 -2
1964 PIT NL 33 CF -2 -3 -3 -4 1 1
1965 PIT NL 34 CF 4 4 5 4 0 -1
1968 PIT NL 37 RF -0 -96 -0 -0 -0 0
1968 PIT NL 37 LF 0 0 0 0 0
11 Seasons CF 46 4 47 27 21 -1
2 Seasons RF 3 12 2 1 1 1
2 Seasons LF 1 168 1 0 1 0
12 Seasons TOT 51 5 51 28 23 0

Appearances

Year Tm Lg Age G GS Batting Defense P C 1B 2B 3B SS LF CF RF OF DH PH PR
1955 STL NL 24 144 132 144 142 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 110 33 142 0 8 1
1956 PIT NL 25 133 126 133 130 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 130 0 130 0 6 0
1956 STL NL 25 24 22 24 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 0 24 0 2 0
1957 PIT NL 26 144 138 144 141 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 141 0 141 0 5 0
1958 PIT NL 27 144 143 144 143 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 143 0 143 0 1 0
1959 PIT NL 28 144 139 144 144 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 144 0 144 0 0 0
1960 PIT NL 29 120 98 120 109 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 109 0 109 0 10 3
1961 PIT NL 30 146 144 146 145 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 145 0 145 0 1 0
1962 PIT NL 31 156 156 156 156 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 156 0 156 0 0 0
1963 PIT NL 32 142 142 142 142 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 142 0 142 0 0 0
1964 PIT NL 33 145 112 145 134 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 134 0 134 0 12 6
1965 PIT NL 34 135 110 135 128 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 128 0 128 0 13 5
1968 PIT NL 37 6 0 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 4 0 3 0
12 Seasons 1583 1462 1583 1542 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1506 36 1542 0 61 15
Appearances table is calculated solely from full RetroSheet play-by-play data available from 1973 on. A combination of RetroSheet (starting with the 1918 season) and non-RetroSheet data is used for other seasons.

Advanced Fielding -- CF*

Errors Assists Single w/ Runner on 1st Single w/ Runner on 2nd Double w/ Runner on 1st Flyout, <2out, Runner on 3rd Flyout, <2out, Runner on 2nd Baserunning Totals
Year Tm Lg Age Tot Cch Fld Thr ROE Tot 1B 2B 3B Hm Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Held% Adv Kill Kill% Aother PA RHB% BIP% FBIP% Fld F2O%
1955 STL NL 24 7 0 6 1 1 3 0 0 1 1 31 15 1 21 0 1 8 4 1 18 3 0 15 13 0 93 35 37.6% 55 3 3.2% 0 3102 64% 79% 30% 324 64%
1956 PIT NL 25 2 0 2 0 2 7 1 3 2 2 42 20 2 22 2 1 3 1 0 10 1 0 13 9 1 90 33 36.7% 53 4 4.4% 3 3459 58% 83% 30% 390 61%
1956 STL NL 25 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 6 5 0 5 3 0 1 0 0 6 1 0 6 6 0 24 15 62.5% 9 0 0.0% 2 785 66% 82% 26% 93 59%
1957 PIT NL 26 6 0 6 0 0 10 0 4 1 3 59 32 2 45 8 3 5 1 1 17 2 0 34 28 0 160 71 44.4% 84 6 3.8% 4 4787 59% 83% 31% 589 64%
1958 PIT NL 27 3 0 3 0 0 10 0 3 6 0 60 29 4 36 2 0 7 2 0 19 2 0 40 32 0 162 67 41.4% 91 4 2.5% 6 5207 58% 82% 31% 617 65%
1959 PIT NL 28 9 0 9 0 1 16 0 1 7 1 84 41 4 50 5 0 13 3 0 16 3 0 37 27 1 200 79 39.5% 116 5 2.5% 11 5202 60% 83% 31% 700 58%
1960 PIT NL 29 5 0 5 0 0 10 0 3 4 1 56 29 4 36 3 0 7 5 0 13 3 0 17 11 0 129 51 39.5% 74 4 3.1% 6 3674 63% 81% 29% 500 56%
1961 PIT NL 30 6 0 5 1 0 7 0 2 2 1 75 40 1 43 3 0 13 3 0 16 0 0 34 25 2 181 71 39.2% 107 3 1.7% 4 5357 65% 82% 27% 680 56%
1962 PIT NL 31 9 0 9 0 0 11 0 4 5 1 79 37 1 59 10 1 15 7 0 14 4 0 40 34 0 207 92 44.4% 113 2 1.0% 9 5799 61% 80% 28% 649 55%
1963 PIT NL 32 4 0 4 0 1 6 1 2 1 0 42 22 0 26 3 0 4 4 0 17 1 0 30 20 1 119 50 42.0% 68 1 0.8% 5 5130 59% 80% 24% 509 61%
1964 PIT NL 33 5 0 5 0 4 7 0 2 3 1 57 28 0 38 7 1 5 3 0 9 2 0 30 21 1 139 61 43.9% 76 2 1.4% 5 4250 67% 80% 26% 460 52%
1965 PIT NL 34 7 0 7 0 1 3 0 1 0 2 36 19 0 17 3 0 6 2 0 17 3 1 26 18 0 102 45 44.1% 56 1 1.0% 2 3964 61% 79% 25% 399 61%
11 Seasons 64 0 62 2 10 92 2 25 33 13 627 317 19 398 49 7 87 35 2 172 25 1 322 244 6 1606 670 41.7% 902 35 2.2% 57 50716 61% 81% 28% 5910 59%
MLB Averages 42.1% 2.3% 63% 80% 28% 57%

Advanced Fielding -- RF*

Errors Assists Single w/ Runner on 1st Single w/ Runner on 2nd Double w/ Runner on 1st Flyout, <2out, Runner on 3rd Flyout, <2out, Runner on 2nd Baserunning Totals
Year Tm Lg Age Tot Cch Fld Thr ROE Tot 1B 2B 3B Hm Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Held% Adv Kill Kill% Aother PA RHB% BIP% FBIP% Fld F2O%
1955 STL NL 24 4 0 3 1 1 4 0 1 2 1 17 10 0 8 1 0 7 3 1 3 0 0 9 6 2 44 20 45.5% 20 3 6.8% 1 954 64% 81% 35% 104 54%
1968 PIT NL 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 50.0% 1 0 0.0% 0 24 58% 96% 25% 4 25%
2 Seasons 4 0 3 1 1 4 0 1 2 1 19 11 0 8 1 0 7 3 1 3 0 0 9 6 2 46 21 45.7% 21 3 6.5% 1 978 64% 81% 35% 108 53%
MLB Averages 40.8% 3.2% 63% 80% 28% 54%

Advanced Fielding -- LF*

Errors Assists Single w/ Runner on 1st Single w/ Runner on 2nd Double w/ Runner on 1st Flyout, <2out, Runner on 3rd Flyout, <2out, Runner on 2nd Baserunning Totals
Year Tm Lg Age Tot Cch Fld Thr ROE Tot 1B 2B 3B Hm Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Kill Opp Held Held% Adv Kill Kill% Aother PA RHB% BIP% FBIP% Fld F2O%
1955 STL NL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 62% 81% 33% 8 75%
1968 PIT NL 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 67% 67% 33% 0
2 Seasons 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 62% 80% 33% 8 75%
MLB Averages 58.3% 2.6% 63% 80% 28% 48%

* Many Detailed Statistics are based on play-by-play accounts accumulated by RetroSheet. These totals may be incomplete (3.6% of all plays from 1918 to 1973 are missing or have incomplete accounts, click link for year and team summary) for some players prior to 1974 and even complete seasons may not match the official totals due to errors in both the official totals and the play-by-play accounts. Pre-1954 seasons have a substantial numbers of games missing play-by-play accounts and should be viewed as essentially incomplete.

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

Hall of Fame
1974 BBWAA ( 0.8%)
1975 BBWAA ( 0.3%)

Awards (yr lg award)
1955 NL Rookie of the Year

MVP (yr lg (rk, shr))
1956 NL (18, 4%)
0.04 Career Shares (1177th)

Gold Gloves
1962 NL (OF)

Def. Games as CF (s.1954) s c a p y
1956 NL  154 (1st)
1957 NL  141 (3rd)
1958 NL  143 (4th)
1959 NL  144 (4th)
1960 NL  109 (5th)
1961 NL  145 (3rd)
1962 NL  156 (2nd)
1963 NL  142 (5th)
1964 NL  134 (5th)
Career  1,506 (28th)

Putouts as CF (s.1954) s c a p y
1956 NL  383 (4th)
1957 NL  395 (3rd)
1958 NL  394 (3rd)
1959 NL  403 (2nd)
1960 NL  269 (5th)
1961 NL  379 (3rd)
1962 NL  348 (4th)
1963 NL  315 (5th)
Career  3,627 (34th)

Assists as CF (s.1954) s c a p y
1956 NL  12 (2nd)
1957 NL  11 (3rd)
1958 NL  10 (4th)
1959 NL  16 (1st)
1960 NL  10 (3rd)
1961 NL  7 (4th)
1962 NL  11 (2nd)
1964 NL  7 (5th)
Career  96 (33rd)

Errors Committed as CF (s.1954) s c a p y
1955 NL  8 (2nd)
1956 NL  5 (5th)
1957 NL  7 (2nd)
1959 NL  9 (2nd)
1960 NL  5 (4th)
1961 NL  6 (3rd)
1962 NL  9 (2nd)
1963 NL  4 (5th)
1964 NL  5 (5th)
1965 NL  8 (3rd)
Career  69 (32nd)

Def. Games as OF s c a p y
1956 NL  154 (1st)
1957 NL  141 (5th)
1958 NL  143 (5th)
1961 NL  145 (5th)
1962 NL  156 (4th)

Putouts as OF s c a p y
1956 NL  387 (4th)
1957 NL  403 (3rd)
1958 NL  401 (3rd)
1959 NL  404 (2nd)
1961 NL  384 (3rd)
1962 NL  360 (4th)
1963 NL  323 (5th)
Career  3,777 (90th)

Assists as OF s c a p y
1957 NL  13 (4th)
1959 NL  16 (2nd)

Errors Committed as OF s c a p y
1955 NL  12 (2nd)
1959 NL  9 (4th)
1962 NL  9 (5th)

Total Zone Runs as CF (s.1954) s c a p y
1957 NL  13 (2nd)
1958 NL  12 (3rd)
1959 NL  10 (1st)
1960 NL  9 (2nd)
Career  46 (25th)

Range Factor/9Inn as CF (s.1954)† s c a p y
1955 NL  2.47 (5th)
1956 NL  2.75 (5th)
1957 NL  2.94 (2nd)
1958 NL  2.87 (4th)
1959 NL  3.01 (1st)
1960 NL  2.83 (2nd)
1961 NL  2.74 (4th)

Range Factor/Game as CF (s.1954) s c a p y
1956 NL  2.56 (5th)
1957 NL  2.88 (3rd)
1958 NL  2.83 (4th)
1959 NL  2.91 (1st)
1960 NL  2.56 (4th)
1961 NL  2.66 (2nd)
1963 NL  2.26 (5th)

Fielding % as CF (s.1954) s c a p y
1955 NL  .969 (5th)
1956 NL  .988 (2nd)
1957 NL  .983 (5th)
1958 NL  .993 (2nd)
1960 NL  .982 (3rd)
1961 NL  .985 (2nd)
1963 NL  .988 (5th)
1964 NL  .980 (5th)

Total Zone Runs as RF (s.1954) s c a p y
1955 NL  3 (5th)

Total Zone Runs as OF s c a p y
1957 NL  13 (3rd)
1958 NL  12 (4th)
1959 NL  10 (3rd)
1960 NL  9 (5th)
Career  51 (67th)

Range Factor/9Inn as OF† s c a p y
1955 NL  2.63 (4th)
1956 NL  2.77 (5th)
1957 NL  3.01 (2nd)
1958 NL  2.93 (4th)
1959 NL  3.02 (1st)
1960 NL  2.86 (2nd)
1961 NL  2.77 (3rd)
1963 NL  2.36 (5th)

Range Factor/Game as OF s c a p y
1956 NL  2.59 (5th)
1957 NL  2.95 (2nd)
1958 NL  2.88 (4th)
1959 NL  2.92 (1st)
1960 NL  2.59 (4th)
1961 NL  2.69 (1st)
1962 NL  2.38 (5th)
1963 NL  2.32 (3rd)
Career  2.51 (70th)

Fielding % as OF s c a p y
1958 NL  .993 (3rd)

                                         

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Name and misspellings: William Bill billy Charles Will William Virdon

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