Vic Willis

Victor Gazaway Willis (April 12, 1876 – August 3, 1947) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher during the 1890s and 1900s. In 14 seasons in the National League (NL), he pitched for the Boston Beaneaters, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals. In 513 career games, Willis pitched 3,996 innings and posted a win–loss record of 249–205, with 388 complete games, 50 shutouts, and a 2.63 earned run average (ERA). Nicknamed the "Delaware Peach", he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995.

Vic Willis
Pitcher
Born: (1876-04-12)April 12, 1876
Cecil County, Maryland
Died: August 3, 1947(1947-08-03) (aged 71)
Elkton, Maryland
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 20, 1898, for the Boston Beaneaters
Last MLB appearance
September 5, 1910, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Win–loss record249–205
Earned run average2.63
Strikeouts1,651
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1995
Election MethodVeterans Committee

Early life

Willis was born on April 12, 1876 in Cecil County, Maryland. He moved to Newark, Delaware, as a young boy, where he attended school. He attended high school at Newark Academy, and played both on the high school baseball team and in semi-pro baseball leagues throughout Delaware.[1] Prior to joining the major leagues, Willis played football and baseball for University of Delaware, then known as Delaware College, despite never attending the college. This was due to their low enrollment at the time, which allowed them to add local talent to fill out their roster.[2]

Willis began his professional baseball career in 1895 with the Harrisburg Senators of the Pennsylvania State League. After the team ceased operations in June, he moved to the Lynchburg Hill Climbers of the Virginia State League. The following year, he was promoted to the Syracuse Stars of the Eastern League. He finished the season with a 10–6 win-loss record, but had spent most of the season battling illness, which caused him to end his season in July.[1] Willis returned to the Stars for the 1897 season and, after establishing a curveball in the offseason, finished the season with 21 wins, with Syracuse winning the league championship in the process. After the season ended, Willis was purchased by the Boston Beaneaters for Fred Lake and $1,000.[1] The Beaneaters acquired Willis to fill the void left by Jack Stivetts, who was near retirement due to an arm injury.[3]

Career

Willis began his major league career with the Beaneaters on April 20, 1898 in a relief appearance against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing eight runs, three walks, and a wild pitch in an 18–2 loss while also hitting two batters. In his next appearance, he beat the Washington Senators, 11–4, in his first career start. He remained in the starting rotation throughout the season, but at times struggled with his control. In one game against the Philadelphia Phillies, opposing pitcher Red Donahue threw a no-hitter, while Willis allowed eight walks in a 5–0 loss.[4] He finished the season with 25 wins, 13 losses, a 2.84 ERA, 148 walks, and 160 strikeouts. He finished second in walks and third in strikeouts in the National League.[5]

Willis wearing a catcher's mask, circa 1900.

Despite being a Hall of Fame pitcher, Willis holds the post-1900 record for most losses in a single season (29, in 1905).[6] For the three seasons from 1903 to 1905, Willis compiled a dismal record with the Boston Beaneaters of 42 wins against 72 losses. However, his ERA during those three years averaged 3.02 and in two of those years his ERA was under 3.00. Despite Willis' performance on the mound during those three seasons, the Boston offense could only muster a combined .238 batting average over those seasons. When he changed teams to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 1906, whose offense had a combined batting average of .256 over the four years Willis was with the team, Willis compiled a record of 88–46. His ERA for those four years was 2.08.

Willis was on one World Series championship team, the 1909 Pirates. He lost one game during the Series, pitching against Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers.[5]

His final major league season was 1910, with the St. Louis Cardinals. Next season Willis pitched for a semipro team in his hometown Newark, Delaware.[7]

Later life

After retirement, Willis purchased and operated the Washington House, a hotel in his hometown of Newark, Delaware. Willis died in 1947 and is interred in St. John Cemetery in Newark, Delaware.[5]

The National Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Vic Willis in 1995, as the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame had done in 1977. He was the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the 19th century.

See also

Notes
  1. Levitt, Daniel R. "Vic Willis". The Baseball Biography Project. The Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
  2. Fleitz, 177
  3. Fleitz, 178
  4. Fleitz, 179
  5. "Vic Willis Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
  6. Burke, Larry (1995). The Baseball Chronicles - A Decade-by-Decade History of the All-American Pastime. New York, NY: Smithmark Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 0831706805.
  7. Lanctot, Neil (1994). Fair Dealing and Clean Playing: the Hilldale Club and the development of black professional baseball, 1910–1932. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 10. ISBN 0-89950-988-6.

References
  • Fleitz, David L. (2004). Ghosts in the Gallery at Cooperstown: Sixteen Forgotten Members of the Hall of Fame. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-1749-8.

Achievements
Preceded by
Deacon Phillippe		 No-hitter pitcher
August 7, 1899		 Succeeded by
Noodles Hahn
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