What years did Bill Butland play?

Bill Butland played in Major League Baseball from 1940 to 1947.

Was Bill Butland a pitcher?

Yes. Bill Butland pitched in the major leagues, recording 9 wins and 62 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bill Butland hit?

Bill Butland hit 0 career home runs with 2 hits.

What was Bill Butland's career batting average?

Bill Butland batted .051 over his career, with 2 hits in 39 at bats.

How many RBI did Bill Butland have?

Bill Butland drove in 3 runs in his career.

What was Bill Butland's career ERA?

Bill Butland finished with a 3.88 career ERA, going 9-3 with 62 strikeouts.

Bill Butland

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1940-1947)

Bill Butland was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1940 to 1947 for the Boston Red Sox, a span of 8 seasons. Across 32 career appearances, he went 9-3 with a 3.88 ERA and 62 strikeouts.

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 September 9, 2026

W–L 9–3

ERA 3.88

WHIP 1.29

SO 62

Pitcher PIV -1144.3

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / L
Height / Weight: 6'5" / 185 lb
Born: 3/22/1918 in Terre Haute, IN, USA
Died: 9/19/1997 in Terre Haute, IN, USA
MLB Debut: 1940-05-29
Last Game: 1947-05-10

Full name: Wilburn Rue Butland

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bill Butland — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
9	3	32	15	7	2	1	150.7	138	65	11	56	62	3.88	-1144.3

Career ERA 3.88 vs. league average 3.84 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Butland — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1940	BOS	AL	1	2	3	3	1	0	0	21.0	27	13	10	5	5.57	4.21 (-32%)	135.8
1942	BOS	AL	7	1	23	10	6	2	1	111.3	85	31	33	46	2.51	3.57 (+30%)	-240.3
1946	BOS	AL	1	0	5	2	0	0	0	16.3	23	20	13	10	11.02	3.59 (-207%)	-1039.8
1947	BOS	AL	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2.0	3	1	0	1	4.50	—	0.0
Career · 4 seasons			9	3	32	15	7	2	1	150.2	138	65	56	62	3.88	—	-1,144

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

Bill Butland — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
32	39	0	2	0	0	0	3	0	7	16	.051	.196	.051	.247	0

Career AVG .051 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 80.3% below league average.

Career OBP .196 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — 40.9% below league average.

Career SLG .051 vs. league average .368 across their career seasons — 86.1% below league average.

Career OPS .247 vs. league average .699 across their career seasons — 64.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Butland — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1940	BOS	AL	3	7	0	0	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1942	BOS	AL	23	28	1	1	7	12	.036	—	—	—	—	0.0
1946	BOS	AL	5	4	1	2	0	1	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1947	BOS	AL	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 4 seasons			32	39	2	3	7	16	.051	—	—	—	—	0

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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (64 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bill Butland — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	20	28	0	2	0	3	.071
Away	12	12	0	0	0	0	.000

Pitching — Home / Away

Bill Butland — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	20	100.2	87	42	38	48	3.75
Away	12	50.0	51	23	18	15	4.14

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bill Butland — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	RBI	BB	SO
1947-05-10	BOS	NYY	L	0	0	0	0	0
1946-06-26	BOS	DET	L	0	0	0	0	0
1946-06-24	BOS	DET	L	0	0	0	0	0
1946-06-10	BOS	CLE	W	3	1	2	0	0
1946-06-05	BOS	SLA	L	1	0	0	0	1
1946-04-24	BOS	NYY	L	0	0	0	0	0
1942-09-19	BOS	NYY	W	2	0	0	1	1
1942-09-13	BOS	CHW	W	1	0	0	1	1
1942-09-03	BOS	DET	W	2	0	0	1	2
1942-08-30	BOS	SLA	W	4	0	0	0	3

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bill Butland — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1947-05-10	BOS	NYY	—	2.0	3	1	1	0	1	0
1946-06-26	BOS	DET	—	1.2	6	8	8	2	0	2
1946-06-24	BOS	DET	—	2.0	2	0	0	0	1	0
1946-06-10	BOS	CLE	W	7.0	6	2	2	3	7	0
1946-06-05	BOS	SLA	—	4.1	7	6	6	4	3	1
1946-04-24	BOS	NYY	—	1.1	2	4	4	4	0	0
1942-09-19	BOS	NYY	—	7.0	10	6	6	1	2	2
1942-09-13	BOS	CHW	W	9.0	4	1	0	2	2	0
1942-09-03	BOS	DET	W	9.0	4	0	0	3	3	0
1942-08-30	BOS	SLA	W	9.0	6	6	3	3	5	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bill Butland — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	32	0	15	31	0	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bill Butland — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A
1940	BOS	P	3	1	7
1942	BOS	P	23	14	20
1946	BOS	P	5	0	4
1947	BOS	P	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bill Butland — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	32

Frequently Asked Questions about Bill Butland

What years did Bill Butland play?: Bill Butland played in Major League Baseball from 1940 to 1947.
Was Bill Butland a pitcher?: Yes. Bill Butland pitched in the major leagues, recording 9 wins and 62 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bill Butland hit?: Bill Butland hit 0 career home runs with 2 hits.
What was Bill Butland's career batting average?: Bill Butland batted .051 over his career, with 2 hits in 39 at bats.
How many RBI did Bill Butland have?: Bill Butland drove in 3 runs in his career.
What was Bill Butland's career ERA?: Bill Butland finished with a 3.88 career ERA, going 9-3 with 62 strikeouts.