Bill Bagwell

William Mallory Bagwell (February 24, 1895 – October 5, 1976), nicknamed "Big Bill", was a pinch hitter and left fielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Braves and Philadelphia Athletics during the 1920s. Bagwell was 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighed 175 pounds.[1]

Bill Bagwell
Left fielder
Born: (1895-02-24)February 24, 1895
Choudrant, Louisiana
Died: October 5, 1976(1976-10-05) (aged 81)
Choudrant, Louisiana
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 17, 1923, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
September 26, 1925, for the Philadelphia Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average.294
Home runs2
Runs batted in20
Teams

Career

Bagwell started his professional baseball career in 1920 in the Class D level Louisiana State League, with the Alexandria Tigers. That season, he had a .344 batting average in 33 games. Bagwell then spent two years in the Southwestern League. In 1921, he batted .357, and in 1922, he batted .402 and led the league in batting average, hits (217), and total bases (323).[2][3]

In October 1922, Bagwell was selected by the Boston Braves in the Rule 5 draft.[1] He played for both the Braves and the Eastern League's Worcester Panthers in 1923.[2] With Boston, he batted .290 in 56 games; with Worcester, he batted .453 in 49 games to lead the Eastern League in batting average.[1][4]

The Braves released Bagwell in April 1924.[1] He spent one season in the Texas League, batted .367 with a career-high 37 home runs there, and then returned to the majors in 1925 with the Philadelphia Athletics.[2] Bagwell spent nearly the whole season as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia. He appeared in 36 games and went 15 for 50 (.300) at the plate.[1]

In 1926, Bagwell played for the Pacific Coast League's Portland Beavers. He batted .391 to lead his league in batting average for the third time.[5] In 1927, however, Bagwell's average fell to .292 for Portland. He bounced around various minor leagues for the next few years before retiring from professional baseball after the 1930 season.[2]

In his 11-year career, Bagwell hit .294 in the major leagues and .360 in the minor leagues. He died in Choudrant, Louisiana, in 1976.[1][2]

References
  1. "Bill Bagwell Statistics and History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  2. "Bill Bagwell Minor League Statistics & History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  3. "1922 Southwestern League Batting Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  4. "1923 Eastern League Batting Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  5. "1926 Pacific Coast League Batting Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
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