WHY I THINK BILL DINNEEN SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

 WHY I THINK BILL DINNEEN SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

By- Damien 

Bill Dinneen was a very fine pitcher, but I am mostly advocating him for his long career as an umpire. He umpired three games in 1907 and full time from 1909 through 1937, and umpired eight different World Series for a total of 45 career World Series games. Dinneen also umpired behind the plate for the first ever all-star game in 1933. As a player, Bill Dinneen was also plenty good. He went 170-177 lifetime with a 3.01 ERA. He won 20 or more games four times and was the first person ever to both play and umpire in at least one World Series. He is still the only person to umpire in the World Series who had once pitched a shutout in the Fall Classic (he went 3-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 28 strikeouts in the 1903 World Series, which was his only Series appearance). Bill Dinneen started his career with the NL Washington Senators in 1898 with a 9-16 record. He went 14-20 in 1899 but turned it around in 1900 with the Boston Beaneaters by going 20-14. Dinneen won 15 games in 1901 and was dealt over to the AL Boston Americans after the season, winning 21 games in 1902. He rung up a 21-13 record in 1903 to lead the Americans to the first ever World Series title, and kept it up with 23 wins in 1904. Dinneen went 12-14 (with a no-hitter on September 27) in 1905 but slumped to eight wins in 1906. He split his next season between the Boston Americans and the St. Louis Browns and won seven games. Dinneen went 14-7 with a 2.10 ERA for the Browns in 1908 and 6-7 in 1909, the year he started to umpire. Finding a chance to succeed in baseball without giving himself a sore arm, he quit pitching early, at the age of 33. After 29 years as an umpire, he retired. Bill Dinneen was a great pitcher and a famous, long-tenured umpire whose 40-year career in baseball should have been enough to get him into Cooperstown. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games Pitched career: 391 season high: 42 in 1902 

Starts career: 352 season high: 42 in 1902 

Complete Games career: 306 season high: 39 in 1902 

Shutouts career: 24 season high: 6 in 1903 

Games Finished career: 35 season high: 10 in 1908 

Wins career: 170 season high: 23 in 1904 

Losses career: 177 season high: 21 in 1902 led AL: 21 in 1902 

Winning Percentage career: .490 season high: .622 in 1904 

ERA career: 3.01 season low: 2.10 in 1908  

WHIP career: 1.231 season low: 1.031 in 1904 

Innings Pitched career: 3,074 ⅔ season high: 371 ⅓ in 1902 

Strikeouts career: 1,127 season high: 153 in 1904 

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 3.3 season high: 4.5 in 1903 

Walks career: 829 season high: 106 in 1899 

Strikeouts Per Walk career: 1.36 season high: 2.43 in 1904 

Saves career: 7 season high: 4 in 1907 led AL: 2 in 1903, 4 in 1907 

Fielding Percentage career: .941 season high: .979 in 1908 

Double Plays career: 19 season high: 4 in 1903 

Putouts career: 160 season high: 25 in 1900 

Assists career: 800 season high: 98 in 1904 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-nicknamed “Big Bill” 

-was the first former MLB player to later become an umpire, and was well known for his integrity 

-pitched seven innings without allowing an earned run in his final MLB game, yet still earned the loss 

-won a World Series ring in 1903 with the Boston Americans 

-led the AL in batters faced in 1902 (1,508) 

-tossed two shutouts in the 1903 World Series, including the first one ever 

-struck out 11 batters in Game 2 of the 1903 World Series to set the single game record 

-batted .303 in 1899 and .280 in 1900 

-drew two walks in the 1903 World Series 

-also played two games at first base, eight in the outfield, one as a pinch hitter, and three as a pinch runner 

-ranks 37th in career complete games 

-among MLB umpires, ranks 18th in career regular season games, sixth in games behind home plate, fourth in World Series, and fifth in World Series games 

-was the second base umpire when Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss turned his unassisted triple play against the Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1920 World Series