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Bill Werle

William George Werle (Bugs)

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left, Throws: Left
Height: 6' 2", Weight: 182 lb.

Born: December 21, 1920 in Oakland, CA
School: University of California (All Transactions)
Debut: April 22, 1949
Teams (by GP): Pirates/RedSox/Cardinals 1949-1954

Final Game: June 20, 1954
Died: November 27, 2010 in San Mateo, CA
Buried: Skylawn Memorial Park, San Mateo, CA
About biographical information

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Fan EloRater

Fine Details · Last Updated Dec 23, 2011, 10:01AM

All-Time Rank (among Pitchers): #1. Walter Johnson… #2. Cy Young… #3. Greg Maddux… #4. Christy Mathewson… #5. Pete Alexander… #6. Tom Seaver… #7. Randy Johnson…

All-Time Rank (among Pitchers): #1. Walter Johnson… #2. Cy Young… #3. Greg Maddux… #4. Christy Mathewson… #5. Pete Alexander… #6. Tom Seaver… #7. Randy Johnson…

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	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
1943	22	-min	AA	1	2	.333	4.85	9	3		3	0		26.0	25	20	14		13	9						1.462	8.7		4.5	3.1	0.69	SFR · PCL
1944	23	-min	AA	14	19	.424	4.05	36	35		24	0		289.0	331	160	130		84	129	4	0	12			1.436	10.3		2.6	4.0	1.54	SFR · PCL
1946	25	SFG-min	AAA	12	8	.600	2.26	33	22		11	1		175.0	173	63	44		59	72	5	1	3			1.326	8.9		3.0	3.7	1.22	SFR · PCL
1947	26	-min	AAA	12	12	.500	3.29	36	26		14	3		205.0	231	103	75		42	80	6	1	4			1.332	10.1		1.8	3.5	1.90	SFR · PCL
1948	27	-min	AAA	17	7	.708	2.74	34			23	2		250.0	256	93	76		61	136	8	1	3			1.268	9.2		2.2	4.9	2.23	SFR · PCL
1949	28	PIT	NL	12	13	.480	4.24	35	29	2	10	2	0	221.0	243	117	104	23	51	106	8	0	4	945	99	1.330	9.9	0.9	2.1	4.3	2.08
1950	29	PIT	NL	8	16	.333	4.60	48	22	18	6	0	8	215.1	249	127	110	25	65	78	6	0	4	940	96	1.458	10.4	1.0	2.7	3.3	1.20
1951	30	PIT	NL	8	6	.571	5.65	59	9	24	2	0	6	149.2	181	102	94	20	51	57	6	3	2	665	74	1.550	10.9	1.2	3.1	3.4	1.12
1952	31	TOT	NL	1	2	.333	5.23	24	0	6	0	0	1	43.0	49	28	25	7	16	24	1	0	0	189	72	1.512	10.3	1.5	3.3	5.0	1.50
1952	31	PIT	NL	0	0		9.00	5	0	0	0	0	0	4.0	9	5	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	22	49	2.500	20.3	2.3	2.3	2.3	1.00
1952	31	STL	NL	1	2	.333	4.85	19	0	6	0	0	1	39.0	40	23	21	6	15	23	1	0	0	167	77	1.410	9.2	1.4	3.5	5.3	1.53
1953	32	BOS-min	AAA	13	8	.619	2.60	31	11		10	3		128.0	97	40	37	4	25	58	5	0	2			0.953	6.8	0.3	1.8	4.1	2.32	LOU · AA
1953	32	BOS	AL	0	1	.000	1.54	5	0	2	0	0	0	11.2	7	3	2	1	1	4	0	0	0	42	280	0.686	5.4	0.8	0.8	3.1	4.00
1954	33	BOS-min	AAA	7	4	.636	3.99	14	14		6	0		97.0	103	48	43	9	8	58	2	0	0			1.144	9.6	0.8	0.7	5.4	7.25	LOU · AA
1954	33	BOS	AL	0	1	.000	4.38	14	0	8	0	0	0	24.2	41	13	12	5	10	14	2	0	0	125	95	2.068	15.0	1.8	3.6	5.1	1.40
1955	34	-min	Opn	17	8	.680	3.54	33	32		17	2		221.0	248	91	87	8	30	76	5	0	0			1.258	10.1	0.3	1.2	3.1	2.53	POR · PCL
1956	35	LAD-min	Opn	16	15	.516	4.41	35	34		17	1		246.2	330	131	121	27	40	82	3	1	10			1.500	12.0	1.0	1.5	3.0	2.05	POR · PCL
1957	36	CHC-CLE-min	Opn	9	8	.529	3.88	26	23		10	2		174.0	219	85	75	15	17	58	5	0	4			1.356	11.3	0.8	0.9	3.0	3.41	POR,SDG · PCL
1958	37	CLE-min	AAA	10	8	.556	3.11	28	24		9	1		171.0	191	73	59	14	34	65	4	0	5			1.316	10.1	0.7	1.8	3.4	1.91	SDG · PCL
1959	38	CLE-min	AAA	5	8	.385	4.36	32	14		4	0		128.0	153	75	62	12	29	47	7	0	3			1.422	10.8	0.8	2.0	3.3	1.62	SDG · PCL
1960	39	CHW-SFG-min	AAA	7	8	.467	4.10	26	21					134.0	149	67	61	14	17							1.239	10.0	0.9	1.1			SDG,TAC · PCL
1961	40	OAK-SFG-min	AAA	7	8	.467	3.52	23	19					143.0	159	69	56	14	27							1.301	10.0	0.9	1.7			HAW,TAC · PCL
1963	42	SFG-min	A	0	0		0.00	1	0					0.1	0	0	0	0	0							0.000	0.0	0.0	0.0			FRE · CALL
6 Seasons				29	39	.426	4.69	185	60	60	18	2	15	665.1	770	390	347	81	194	283	23	3	10	2906	90	1.449	10.4	1.1	2.6	3.8	1.46
162 Game Avg.				8	11	.426	4.69	51	17	17	5	1	4	185	214	108	96	22	54	79	6	1	3	807	90	1.449	10.4	1.1	2.6	3.8	1.46

PIT (4 yrs)				28	35	.444	4.76	147	60	44	18	2	14	590.0	682	351	312	69	168	242	20	3	10	2572	90	1.441	10.4	1.1	2.6	3.7	1.44
BOS (2 yrs)				0	2	.000	3.47	19	0	10	0	0	0	36.1	48	16	14	6	11	18	2	0	0	167	121	1.624	11.9	1.5	2.7	4.5	1.64
STL (1 yr)				1	2	.333	4.85	19	0	6	0	0	1	39.0	40	23	21	6	15	23	1	0	0	167	77	1.410	9.2	1.4	3.5	5.3	1.53

NL (4 yrs)			NL	29	37	.439	4.76	166	60	50	18	2	15	629.0	722	374	333	75	183	265	21	3	10	2739	89	1.439	10.3	1.1	2.6	3.8	1.45
AL (2 yrs)			AL	0	2	.000	3.47	19	0	10	0	0	0	36.1	48	16	14	6	11	18	2	0	0	167	121	1.624	11.9	1.5	2.7	4.5	1.64

Player Value--Pitchers

WAR: 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Strtr, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	IP	GS	R	Rrep	Rdef	aLI	RAR	WAR	Salary
1949	28	PIT	NL	221.0	29	117	132	-1	1.0	15	2.1	$
1950	29	PIT	NL	215.1	22	127	133	-2	1.0	6	1.5	$
1951	30	PIT	NL	149.2	9	102	88	-2	1.0	-14	-0.6	$
1952	31	PIT	NL	4.0	0	5	2	0	1.0	-3	-0.3	$
1952	31	STL	NL	39.0	0	23	22	1	1.0	-1	-0.2	$
1953	32	BOS	AL	11.2	0	3	7	0	1.0	4	0.4	$
1954	33	BOS	AL	24.2	0	13	15	0	.4	2	0.0	$
6 Seasons				665.1	60	390	399	-4	1.0	9	2.9	$

PIT (4 yrs)				590.0	60	351	355	-5	1.0	4	2.7	$
BOS (2 yrs)				36.1	0	16	22	0	.6	6	0.4	$
STL (1 yr)				39.0	0	23	22	1	1.0	-1	-0.2	$

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	Pos
1943	22	-min	AA	13	18	18		1	0	0	0	0	0				.056	.056	.056	.111		1					SFR · PCL
1944	23	-min	AA	37	120	107	11	22	4	1	0	10	0		11	23	.206	.280	.262	.541		28		0	2		SFR · PCL
1946	25	SFG-min	AAA	35	70	59	6	10	3	0	0	4	0		8	18	.169	.269	.220	.489		13		0	3		SFR · PCL
1947	26	-min	AAA	37	81	71	6	9	1	0	0	1	0		4	17	.127	.173	.141	.314		10		0	6		SFR · PCL
1948	27	-min	AAA	34	107	86	14	20	1	1	0	3	1		17	25	.233	.359	.267	.627		23		0	4		SFR · PCL
1949	28	PIT	NL	35	84	77	3	9	1	0	0	2	0		5	11	.117	.171	.130	.301	-19	10	1	0	2		1
1950	29	PIT	NL	48	75	67	4	13	1	1	0	0	0		6	22	.194	.260	.239	.499	31	16	1	0	2		1
1951	30	PIT	NL	59	43	40	5	12	4	0	0	6	0	0	2	13	.300	.333	.400	.733	95	16	1	0	1		1
1952	31	TOT	NL	24	9	9	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.111	.111	.111	.222	-38	1	0	0	0		1
1952	31	PIT	NL	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0		/1
1952	31	STL	NL	19	9	9	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.111	.111	.111	.222	-38	1	0	0	0		1
1953	32	BOS-min	AAA	31	44	34	6	7	1	0	0	2	0		8	11	.206	.357	.235	.592		8	1	0	2		LOU · AA
1953	32	BOS	AL	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	.333	.000	.333	-5	0	0	0	0		/1
1954	33	BOS-min	AAA	14	39	34	5	12	1	2	0	7	0		3	10	.353	.421	.500	.921		17	1	1	1	0	LOU · AA
1954	33	BOS	AL	14	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.200	.000	.200	-44	0	0	0	0	0	1
1955	34	-min	Opn	36	90	83	4	19	2	0	0	3	0		7	15	.229	.289	.253	.542		21	0	0	0	0	POR · PCL
1956	35	LAD-min	Opn	44	115	104	7	28	6	1	1	14	0		8	23	.269	.327	.375	.702		39	1	1	2	0	POR · PCL
1957	36	CHC-CLE-min	Opn	40	82	74	5	13	1	0	0	3	0		4	14	.176	.228	.189	.417		14	0	1	3	0	POR,SDG · PCL
1958	37	CLE-min	AAA	29	69	61	1	11	0	0	0	3	0		3	18	.180	.219	.180	.399		11	1	0	5	0	SDG · PCL
1959	38	CLE-min	AAA	33	41	38	1	4	1	0	1	3	0	0	1	12	.105	.128	.211	.339		8		0	2	0	SDG · PCL
1960	39	SFG-CHW-min	AAA	27	44	36	3	4	0	0	1	1	0	0	8	12	.111	.273	.194	.467		7					TAC,SDG · PCL
1961	40	SFG-OAK-min	AAA	24	51	45	5	8	0	0	1	3	0	0	6	14	.178	.275	.244	.519		11					TAC,HAW · PCL
1963	42	SFG-min	A	1	0	0		0	0	0	0											0					FRE · CALL
6 Seasons				185	219	199	13	35	6	1	0	8	0	0	15	50	.176	.234	.216	.450	20	43	3	0	5	0
162 Game Avg.				162	192	174	11	31	5	1	0	7	0		13	44	.176	.234	.216	.450	20	38	3	0	4

PIT (4 yrs)				147	202	184	12	34	6	1	0	8	0	0	13	46	.185	.239	.228	.467	24	42	3	0	5
BOS (2 yrs)				19	8	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.000	.250	.000	.250	-29	0	0	0	0	0
STL (1 yr)				19	9	9	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.111	.111	.111	.222	-38	1	0	0	0

NL (4 yrs)				166	211	193	13	35	6	1	0	8	0	0	13	49	.181	.233	.223	.456	21	43	3	0	5
AL (2 yrs)				19	8	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.000	.250	.000	.250	-29	0	0	0	0	0

Player Value--Batters

WAR: 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Strtr, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PA	Rbat	Rbaser	Rroe	Rdp	Rfield	Rpos	Rrep	RAR	WAR	oRAR	oWAR	dWAR	Salary	Pos
1949	28	PIT	NL	84	-13	0	0	0	0	7	3	-3	-0.3	-3	-0.3	0.0	$	1
1950	29	PIT	NL	75	-7	0	0	0	0	6	3	2	0.2	2	0.2	0.0	$	1
1951	30	PIT	NL	43	-1	0	0	0	0	3	1	3	0.3	3	0.3	0.0	$	1
1952	31	STL	NL	9	-2	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$	1
1953	32	BOS	AL	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	$	/1
1954	33	BOS	AL	5	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$	1
6 Seasons				219	-24	0	0	0	0	17	7	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	$

PIT (3 yrs)				202	-21	0	0	0	0	16	7	2	0.2	2	0.2	0.0	$
BOS (2 yrs)				8	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$
STL (1 yr)				9	-2	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$

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	SB	CS	CS%	PO
1949	PIT	NL	28	P	35	29	10	221.0	52	7	43	2	3	.962	2.04	1.43	.953	2.04	2.02
1950	PIT	NL	29	P	48	22	6	215.1	71	11	58	2	4	.972	2.88	1.44	.961	2.12	2.10	7	1	13%	0
1951	PIT	NL	30	P	59	9	2	149.2	52	10	42	0	3	1.000	3.13	0.88	.962	2.14	2.14	3	0	0%	2
1952	TOT	NL	31	P	24	0	0	43.0	20	4	14	2	3	.900	3.77	0.75	.953	2.18	2.16	4	1	20%	0
1952	PIT	NL	31	P	5	0	0	4.0	2	0	2	0	0	1.000	4.50	0.40	.955	2.25	2.16	0	0		0
1952	STL	NL	31	P	19	0	0	39.0	18	4	12	2	3	.889	3.69	0.84	.953	2.17	2.16	4	1	20%	0
1953	BOS	AL	32	P	5	0	0	11.2	6	0	6	0	1	1.000	4.63	1.20	.957	1.93	1.92	0	1	100%	0
1954	BOS	AL	33	P	14	0	0	24.2	4	0	4	0	0	1.000	1.46	0.29	.960	2.01	1.99	2	1	33%	0
	6 Seasons			P	185	60	18	665.1	205	32	167	6	14	.971	2.69	1.08	.958	2.09	2.09	16	4	20%	2
	6 Seasons			TOT	185	60	18	665.1	205	32	167	6	14	.971	2.69	1.08	.958	2.09	2.09	16	4	20%	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-1950 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
From 1950 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 1950 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 1919 on.
Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1950 to 1973 and complete from then on.
Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1919) 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 1950 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

Bases On Balls per 9 IP s c a p y 1949 NL 2.077 (3rd) 1950 NL 2.717 (9th)	Strikeouts per 9 IP s c a p y 1949 NL 4.317 (6th)	Games Played s c a p y 1950 NL 48 (3rd) 1951 NL 59 (2nd)	Saves s c a p y 1950 NL 8 (2nd) 1951 NL 6 (5th)
Strikeouts s c a p y 1949 NL 106 (7th)	Home Runs s c a p y 1949 NL 23 (4th) 1950 NL 25 (8th)	Hits s c a p y 1949 NL 243 (6th) 1950 NL 249 (9th)	Strikeouts / Base On Balls s c a p y 1949 NL 2.078 (2nd)
Losses s c a p y 1950 NL 16 (5th)	Earned Runs s c a p y 1949 NL 104 (6th) 1950 NL 110 (6th)	Hit By Pitch s c a p y 1949 NL 8 (2nd) 1950 NL 6 (6th) 1951 NL 6 (6th)	Games Finished s c a p y 1950 NL 18 (7th) 1951 NL 24 (7th)
Def. Games as P s c a p y 1950 NL 48 (3rd) 1951 NL 59 (2nd)	Assists as P s c a p y 1950 NL 58 (2nd)	Range Factor/9Inn as P† s c a p y 1951 NL 3.13 (2nd)	Fielding % as P s c a p y 1951 NL 1.000 (1st)

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Gray Ink	Pitching - 16 (1206), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame Standards	Pitching - 4 (1535), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores

Similar Pitchers

Compare Stats to Similars

Bert Cole (977)
Bill Bayne (967)
Dutch Henry (967)
Tom Bolton (965)
Brad Havens (964)
David West (962)
Mike Cvengros (961)
Pete Burnside (960)
Hub Pruett (960)
Dean Stone (960)

Most Similar by Ages

Hold mouse over #'s to see names

Luis Arroyo (984) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Bill Long (972) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Jae Weong Seo (962) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Bill Bayne (970) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Tom Bolton (964) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
David West (962) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C

Transactions

September 21, 1949: Traded by San Francisco (PCL) to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later and cash. The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Steve Nagy (September 27, 1949) to San Francisco (PCL) to complete the trade.
May 3, 1952: Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Red Munger.
October 2, 1952: Selected off waivers by the Boston Red Sox from the St. Louis Cardinals.

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

Other Resources & Links

Error? Compare Search SABR's Baseball Index Other Links@google.com Baseball Library Baseball-Almanac.com Retrosheet The Baseball Cube The Baseball Page WhatIfSports: Bill Werle

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Name and misspellings: William Bill billy Bugs George Will William Werle

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Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.

Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball.

Total Zone Rating and Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com.

Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of 24-7 Baseball.

Player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Many thanks to him. We have only selected seasons (players who debuted before 1960) for which we believe the image has reverted into the public domain. We will quickly remove any images for which that can be shown to not be the case.Please let us know if you are aware of any such images on this site.

Play Index Loading Photos from the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress.

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