William Bell

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (Final season: 1937)

W–L 123–56
ERA 3.34
WHIP 1.19
SO 685
Pitcher PIV 34390.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'7" / 170 lb
Born
8/31/1897 in Hallettsville, TX, USA
Died
3/16/1969 in El Campo, TX, USA
Last Game
1937-08-15

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
116.0 110.0 12.0 26.0 5.0 0 1.0 13.0 4.0 1.0 1.0 .236 .263 .309 .572

Pitching

W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
20 14 31 18 14 1 286.0 303 154 47 7 81 68 1.48 1.34

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
123 56 232 167 127 12 10 1546.0 1,499 574 41 344 685 3.34 34390.8

Career ERA 3.34 vs. league average 4.27 across their career seasons — 21.8% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1923 KCM NNL 3 1 5 5 3 1 0 38.0 35 14 11 11 3.32 4.03 (+18%) 24.1
1924 KCM NNL 9 2 16 13 7 0 0 108.0 109 45 27 33 3.75 4.13 (+9%) 1342.4
1925 KCM NNL 10 3 18 11 8 1 2 116.0 94 40 26 45 3.10 4.55 (+32%) 3054.0
1926 KCM NNL 15 6 24 19 16 1 0 177.0 142 47 44 68 2.39 4.11 (+42%) 3391.8
1927 KCM NNL 13 4 24 17 12 4 1 162.3 155 48 35 52 2.66 4.08 (+35%) 1141.1
1928 KCM NNL 9 7 24 15 12 1 1 150.0 144 48 23 49 2.88 4.13 (+30%) 3483.6
1929 KCM NNL 14 4 25 17 13 0 3 157.0 134 59 31 90 3.38 4.60 (+26%) 4942.7
1930 KCM NNL 9 3 13 11 11 2 1 101.0 95 30 17 72 2.67 4.80 (+44%) 4380.2
1931 HAR IND 2 2 4 3 3 0 0 32.0 27 9 7 12 2.53 4.10 (+38%) 849.5
1932 DW EWL 2 1 3 3 2 0 0 24.0 19 4 5 17 1.50 4.13 (+64%) 1080.3
1932 HG EWL 2 1 3 3 3 0 0 27.0 28 10 6 10 3.33 4.13 (+19%) 653.5
1932 PC IND 8 2 10 9 7 0 0 81.7 91 32 25 47 3.53 4.13 (+15%) 1898.9
1933 PC NN2 7 6 17 13 9 1 0 102.7 128 62 22 63 5.44 3.86 (-41%) 2351.5
1934 PC NN2 11 4 21 15 12 1 0 135.3 141 50 32 68 3.33 4.29 (+23%) 2931.5
1935 PC NN2 1 3 4 4 1 0 0 17.0 33 19 6 11 10.06 4.35 (-131%) 267.6
1935 ND NN2 2 1 6 2 2 0 2 30.3 31 14 4 12 4.15 4.35 (+4%) 857.9
1936 NE NN2 4 4 10 5 5 0 0 58.0 67 31 14 13 4.81 4.59 (-5%) 1323.6
1937 NE NN2 2 2 5 2 1 0 0 28.7 26 12 9 12 3.77 4.34 (+13%) 416.6
Career · 18 seasons 123 56 232 167 127 12 10 1,546.0 1,499 574 344 685 3.34 — 34,391

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
294 729 80 182 27 4 1 84 4 54 4 .250 .305 .302 .607 -1,334

Career AVG .250 vs. league average .282 across their career seasons — 11.4% below league average.

Career OBP .305 vs. league average .344 across their career seasons — 11.4% below league average.

Career SLG .302 vs. league average .398 across their career seasons — 24.1% below league average.

Career OPS .607 vs. league average .742 across their career seasons — 18.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1923 KCM NNL 6 18 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .222 — — — — 0.0
1924 KCM NNL 20 53 4 10 1 0 0 4 0 1 0 .189 .283 (-34%) .345 (-37%) .389 (-47%) .734 (-42%) -360.4
1925 KCM NNL 20 47 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .043 — — — — 0.0
1926 KCM NNL 29 75 8 19 5 2 0 14 1 5 1 .253 .279 (-9%) .345 (-13%) .390 (-4%) .735 (-8%) -129.0
1927 KCM NNL 32 87 9 26 2 2 0 10 1 7 0 .299 .282 (+6%) .344 (+2%) .392 (-6%) .736 (-2%) -32.8
1928 KCM NNL 29 65 7 17 5 0 0 4 0 3 1 .262 .280 (-7%) .342 (-14%) .395 (-14%) .737 (-14%) -159.7
1929 KCM NNL 26 67 10 20 3 0 0 10 0 6 0 .299 .289 (+3%) .353 (+3%) .415 (-17%) .769 (-8%) -68.6
1930 KCM NNL 25 70 11 18 3 0 0 12 0 6 0 .257 .293 (-13%) .354 (-11%) .429 (-30%) .784 (-21%) -245.7
1931 HAR IND 5 12 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 .167 — — — — 0.0
1932 DW EWL 7 18 2 7 1 0 0 3 1 3 0 .389 — — — — 0.0
1932 HG EWL 7 23 5 6 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 .261 — — — — 0.0
1932 PC IND 21 52 3 12 1 0 0 5 0 2 0 .231 .275 (-16%) .335 (-19%) .391 (-36%) .726 (-28%) 0.0
1933 PC NN2 18 38 7 10 1 0 1 7 0 5 0 .263 — — — — 0.0
1934 PC NN2 23 52 3 14 1 0 0 9 0 5 1 .269 .278 (-3%) .340 (-2%) .392 (-27%) .733 (-15%) -111.9
1935 PC NN2 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1935 ND NN2 6 14 2 8 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .571 — — — — 0.0
1936 NE NN2 11 24 2 4 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 .167 — — — — 0.0
1937 NE NN2 5 10 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 .300 — — — — 0.0
Career · 18 seasons 294 729 80 182 27 4 1 84 4 54 4 .250 — — — — -1,108

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
12 27 1 7 2 0 0 6 2 1 .259

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1926 NNC KCM 3 6 0 4 1 0 0 3 0 0 .667
1925 NNC KCM 2 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .167
1925 NWS KCM 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
1924 NWS KCM 4 9 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 1 .222

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 2 10 9 1 69.7 71 17 30 20 2.20

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1926 NNC KCM 0 0 2 2 0 13.0 12 5 4 4 3.46
1925 NNC KCM 1 1 2 2 0 17.0 11 3 4 6 1.59
1925 NWS KCM 0 1 3 2 1 15.7 19 2 9 4 1.15
1924 NWS KCM 1 0 3 3 0 24.0 29 7 13 6 2.62

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (81 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home21343610.176
Away224661203.261

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1884.11091716231.81
Away20124.21312414171.73

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1937-08-15 NW2HOML 100000000
1937-08-14 NW2HOML 201000010
1937-07-05 NW2NY5W 200000000
1937-06-26 NW2PH5L 100000000
1937-06-15 NW2HOML 000000000
1937-06-11 NW2PH5L 211000110
1937-06-05 NW2WEGW 300000000
1937-05-29 NW2NY5W 301000100
1937-05-22 NW2PH5W 410000000
1937-05-22 NW2PH5W 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1937-08-14 NW2HOM — 5.09100301
1937-07-05 NW2NY5 W 5.0200100
1937-06-26 NW2PH5 L 2.0441120
1937-06-15 NW2HOM L 6.1000000
1937-06-11 NW2PH5 — 5.0883010
1937-06-05 NW2WEG — 3.1744300
1937-05-29 NW2NY5 W 7.2511510
1937-05-22 NW2PH5 W 9.0822000
1937-05-22 NW2PH5 — 1.2744010
1937-05-17 NW2HOM L 9.0210290

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 42 28 43 2 1 0
P 232 167 47 480 14 26

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1923 KCM P 5 5 0 12 1 1
1924 KCM OF 4 2 2 0 0 0
1924 KCM P 16 13 6 47 1 0
1925 KCM OF 2 0 0 0 0 0
1925 KCM P 18 11 0 0 0 0
1926 KCM OF 3 1 2 0 0 0
1926 KCM P 24 19 9 58 6 4
1927 KCM OF 5 4 6 1 0 0
1927 KCM P 24 17 10 57 1 5
1928 KCM OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1928 KCM P 24 15 3 65 0 1
1929 KCM P 25 17 3 39 0 2
1930 KCM OF 12 7 10 1 0 0
1930 KCM P 13 11 1 27 0 0
1931 HAR P 4 3 2 16 0 1
1932 DW OF 3 3 4 0 1 0
1932 DW P 3 3 0 6 0 0
1932 HG OF 3 3 8 0 0 0
1932 HG P 3 3 1 9 1 0
1932 PC OF 7 6 7 0 0 0
1932 PC P 10 9 0 41 1 1
1933 PC P 17 13 4 29 2 3
1934 PC OF 2 2 3 0 0 0
1934 PC P 21 15 3 42 0 4
1935 PC P 4 4 0 2 0 1
1935 ND P 6 2 1 13 0 2
1936 NE P 10 5 2 8 0 1
1937 NE P 5 2 2 9 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 232
Left Field 11
Center Field 13
Right Field 18

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

  1. 98
    Bill Byrd
    101-68, 3.53 ERA
  2. 92
    Ray Brown HOF
    123-47, 3.21 ERA
  3. 89
    Larry Jansen
    122-89, 3.58 ERA
  4. 88
    Rube Curry
    84-60, 3.57 ERA
  5. 85
    Tiny Bonham
    103-72, 3.06 ERA
  6. 82
    Tex Hughson
    96-54, 2.94 ERA

Compare William Bell

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Bell's closest peers by position and era.

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Frequently Asked Questions about William Bell

Was William Bell a pitcher?
Yes. William Bell pitched in the major leagues, recording 123 wins and 685 strikeouts.
How many home runs did William Bell hit?
William Bell hit 1 career home runs with 182 hits.