William Bell

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

William Bell was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for 7 teams, including the Kansas City Monarchs. Across 232 career appearances, he went 123-56 with a 3.34 ERA and 685 strikeouts. He also batted .250 with 1 home runs. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 34390.8.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):
For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated

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

📋 View Manager Career

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

William Bell — 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

William Bell — 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

William Bell — 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.

William Bell (b. 1897) Stats, Bio & Career Records
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 1 162.1 155 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 81.2 91 32 25 47 3.53 4.13 (+15%) 1898.9
1933 PC NN2 7 6 17 13 9 1 0 102.2 128 62 22 63 5.44 3.86 (-41%) 2351.5
1934 PC NN2 11 4 21 15 12 1 0 135.1 141 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 30.1 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 28.2 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

William Bell — 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.

William Bell (b. 1897) Stats, Bio & Career Records
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

William Bell — 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

William Bell — 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

William Bell — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 2 10 9 1 69.2 71 17 30 20 2.20

Playoff Pitching by Year

William Bell — 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 15.2 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

William Bell — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home21343610.176
Away224661203.261

Pitching — Home / Away

William Bell — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1884.11091716231.81
Away20124.21312414171.73

Last 10 Games — Batting

William Bell — 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

William Bell — 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

William Bell — 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

William Bell — 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.

William Bell (b. 1897) Stats, Bio & Career Records
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.

vs Bullet Rogan

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

William Bell: the record in brief

The season rows for William Bell begin in 1923. Club by club, the record runs the Kansas City Monarchs (1923 through 1930), the Harlem Stars (1931), the Detroit Wolves (1932), the Homestead Grays (1932), the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932 through 1935), the Newark Dodgers (1935), and the Newark Eagles (1936 to 1937). Born on August 31, 1897, in Hallettsville, TX, USA, Bell is listed as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. Bell's listed size is 5 feet, 7 inches and 170 pounds. Bell's death is recorded on March 16, 1969, in El Campo, TX, USA.

The pitching table credits Bell with a 123-56 record and a 3.34 ERA in 232 games. Bell had 685 strikeouts, 127 complete games, 12 shutouts, and 10 saves. That 3.34 ERA compares with a 4.27 league average across the same seasons, 21.8% better. The best win total was 15, in 1926. The strikeout high was 90 in 1929.

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 run with 182 hits.
What teams did William Bell play for?
William Bell played for 7 teams: the Kansas City Monarchs (1923–1930), the Harlem Stars (1931), the Detroit Wolves (1932), the Homestead Grays (1932), the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–1935), the Newark Dodgers (1935), and the Newark Eagles (1936–1937).
What were William Bell's career stats?
In 232 games, William Bell went 123-56 with a 3.34 ERA, 685 strikeouts, 1,546.0 innings pitched, and 10 saves. At the plate he had 182 hits and 1 home runs.
What position did William Bell play?
William Bell played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was William Bell and how much did he weigh?
William Bell was listed at 5 feet 7 inches and 170 pounds.
What was William Bell's career ERA?
William Bell finished with a 3.34 career ERA, going 123-56 with 685 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did William Bell have?
William Bell recorded 685 career strikeouts.
Is William Bell in the Hall of Fame?
No. William Bell has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.