What years did Bill Donovan play?

Bill Donovan played in Major League Baseball from 1898 to 1918.

Was Bill Donovan a pitcher?

Yes. Bill Donovan pitched in the major leagues, recording 185 wins and 1552 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bill Donovan hit?

Bill Donovan hit 7 career home runs with 251 hits.

What teams did Bill Donovan play for?

Bill Donovan played for 4 teams: the Washington Senators (1898), the Brooklyn Superbas (1899–1902), the Detroit Tigers (1903–1912, 1918), and the New York Yankees (1915–1916).

What were Bill Donovan's career stats?

In 378 games, Bill Donovan went 185-139 with a 2.69 ERA, 1,552 strikeouts, 2,964.2 innings pitched, and 8 saves. At the plate he had 251 hits and 7 home runs.

What position did Bill Donovan play?

Bill Donovan played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Bill Donovan and how much did he weigh?

Bill Donovan was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 190 pounds.

What was Bill Donovan's career ERA?

Bill Donovan finished with a 2.69 career ERA, going 185-139 with 1,552 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Bill Donovan have?

Bill Donovan recorded 1,552 career strikeouts.

Is Bill Donovan in the Hall of Fame?

No. Bill Donovan has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bill Donovan

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1898-1918)

Bill Donovan was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1898 to 1918 for 4 teams, including the Washington Nationals, a span of 21 seasons. Across 378 career appearances, he went 185-139 with a 2.69 ERA and 1,552 strikeouts. He also batted .193 with 7 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 12831.4.

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 October 24, 2026

W–L 185–139

ERA 2.69

WHIP 1.24

SO 1,552

Pitcher PIV 12831.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: B / R
Height / Weight: 5'11" / 190 lb
Born: 10/13/1876 in Lawrence, MA, USA
Died: 12/9/1923 in Forsyth, NY, USA
MLB Debut: 1898-04-22
Last Game: 1918-09-02

Full name: William Edward Donovan

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bill Donovan — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
185	139	378	327	289	35	8	2964.2	2,631	886	30	1,059	1,552	2.69	12831.4

Career ERA 2.69 vs. league average 2.97 across their career seasons — 9.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Donovan (b. 1876) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1898	WAS	NL	1	6	17	7	6	0	0	88.0	88	42	69	36	4.30	3.59 (-20%)	-2065.3
1899	BRO	NL	1	2	5	2	2	0	1	25.0	35	12	13	11	4.32	3.85 (-12%)	145.1
1900	BRO	NL	1	2	5	4	2	0	0	31.0	36	23	18	13	6.68	3.68 (-81%)	-255.2
1901	BRO	NL	25	15	45	38	36	2	3	351.0	324	108	152	226	2.77	3.49 (+21%)	4219.8
1902	BRO	NL	17	15	35	33	30	4	1	297.2	250	92	111	170	2.78	3.17 (+12%)	3289.7
1903	DET	AL	17	16	35	34	34	4	0	307.0	247	78	95	187	2.29	3.10 (+26%)	3853.8
1904	DET	AL	16	16	34	34	30	3	0	293.0	251	80	94	137	2.46	2.66 (+7%)	-810.8
1905	DET	AL	18	15	34	32	27	5	0	280.2	236	81	101	135	2.60	2.82 (+8%)	-159.3
1906	DET	AL	9	15	25	25	22	0	0	211.2	221	74	72	85	3.15	2.68 (-18%)	-1463.5
1907	DET	AL	25	4	32	28	27	3	1	271.0	222	66	82	123	2.19	2.50 (+12%)	631.8
1908	DET	AL	18	7	29	28	25	6	0	242.2	210	56	53	141	2.08	2.40 (+13%)	3817.5
1909	DET	AL	8	7	21	17	13	4	2	140.1	121	36	60	76	2.31	2.55 (+9%)	-79.4
1910	DET	AL	17	7	26	23	20	3	0	206.2	184	56	61	107	2.44	2.79 (+13%)	1264.8
1911	DET	AL	10	9	20	19	15	1	0	168.1	160	62	64	81	3.31	3.37 (+2%)	139.2
1912	DET	AL	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	10.0	5	1	2	6	0.90	3.36 (+73%)	199.1
1915	NYA	AL	0	3	9	1	0	0	0	33.2	35	18	10	17	4.81	2.90 (-66%)	104.2
1916	NYA	AL	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	1	0	1	0	0.00	—	0.0
1918	DET	AL	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	6.0	5	1	1	1	1.50	—	0.0
Career · 18 seasons			185	139	378	327	289	35	8	2,964.2	2,631	886	1,059	1,552	2.69	—	12,831

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 Donovan — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
459	1,302	142	251	30	11	7	95	36	77	342	.193	.241	.249	.490	-4,053

Career AVG .193 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — 24.8% below league average.

Career OBP .241 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — 24.2% below league average.

Career SLG .249 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 25.5% below league average.

Career OPS .490 vs. league average .652 across their career seasons — 24.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Donovan (b. 1876) 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
1898	WAS	NL	39	103	11	17	2	2	2	8	2	4	28	.165	.270 (-39%)	.333 (-37%)	.347 (-19%)	.680 (-28%)	-468.2
1899	BRO	NL	5	13	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.231	—	—	—	—	0.0
1900	BRO	NL	5	13	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1901	BRO	NL	46	135	16	23	3	0	2	13	1	8	27	.170	.271 (-37%)	.326 (-34%)	.359 (-34%)	.686 (-34%)	-703.1
1902	BRO	NL	48	161	16	28	3	2	1	16	7	9	26	.174	.266 (-35%)	.321 (-30%)	.343 (-31%)	.665 (-30%)	-738.2
1903	DET	AL	40	124	11	30	3	2	0	12	3	4	34	.242	.261 (-8%)	.316 (-16%)	.345 (-14%)	.662 (-15%)	-293.9
1904	DET	AL	46	140	12	38	2	1	1	6	2	3	41	.271	.246 (+10%)	.300 (-5%)	.321 (avg)	.622 (-2%)	-69.5
1905	DET	AL	44	130	16	25	4	0	0	5	8	12	28	.192	.248 (-23%)	.307 (-13%)	.322 (-31%)	.629 (-22%)	-382.7
1906	DET	AL	28	91	5	11	0	1	0	2	6	1	32	.121	.247 (-51%)	.307 (-58%)	.315 (-55%)	.622 (-56%)	-726.0
1907	DET	AL	37	109	20	29	7	2	0	19	4	6	34	.266	.245 (+8%)	.304 (avg)	.308 (+19%)	.613 (+9%)	108.0
1908	DET	AL	30	82	5	13	1	0	0	2	2	10	26	.159	.240 (-34%)	.298 (-16%)	.306 (-44%)	.605 (-30%)	-308.1
1909	DET	AL	22	45	6	9	0	0	0	1	0	2	9	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1910	DET	AL	26	69	6	10	1	0	0	2	0	5	24	.145	.249 (-42%)	.317 (-36%)	.326 (-51%)	.644 (-44%)	-434.5
1911	DET	AL	24	60	11	12	3	1	1	6	1	11	20	.200	.266 (-25%)	.336 (-4%)	.356 (-7%)	.693 (-5%)	-36.5
1912	DET	AL	6	13	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.077	—	—	—	—	0.0
1915	NYA	AL	10	12	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	.083	—	—	—	—	0.0
1916	NYA	AL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1918	DET	AL	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 18 seasons			459	1,302	142	251	30	11	7	95	36	77	342	.193	—	—	—	—	-4,053

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

Bill Donovan — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
6	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Bill Donovan — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	BB	SO	AVG
1909	WS	DET	2	4	0	1	.000
1908	WS	DET	2	4	1	1	.000
1907	WS	DET	2	8	0	3	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Bill Donovan — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	4	6	6	0	50.0	41	16	17	33	2.88

Playoff Pitching by Year

Bill Donovan — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1909	WS	DET	1	1	2	2	12.0	7	4	8	7	3.00
1908	WS	DET	0	2	2	2	17.0	17	8	4	10	4.24
1907	WS	DET	0	1	2	2	21.0	17	4	5	16	1.71

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (846 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bill Donovan — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	217	582	77	133	5	67	.229
Away	251	720	66	118	1	35	.164

Pitching — Home / Away

Bill Donovan — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	182	1422.0	1225	251	534	737	1.59
Away	196	1543.2	1408	345	532	846	2.01

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bill Donovan — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	SO
1918-09-02	DET	CHW	W	2	1	1	0
1918-07-04	DET	CHW	L	0	0	0	0
1916-09-08	NYY	PHA	L	0	0	0	0
1915-09-09	NYY	MIN	L	0	0	0	0
1915-08-31	NYY	MIN	L	1	0	0	1
1915-08-27	NYY	DET	L	2	1	1	1
1915-08-12	NYY	CLE	L	0	0	0	0
1915-08-07	NYY	SLA	L	3	0	0	1
1915-07-23	NYY	CHW	L	0	0	0	0
1915-07-13	NYY	DET	L	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bill Donovan — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1918-09-02	DET	CHW	W	5.0	5	1	1	0	1	0
1918-07-04	DET	CHW	—	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0
1916-09-08	NYY	PHA	—	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0
1915-09-09	NYY	MIN	L	2.0	4	3	3	0	1	0
1915-08-31	NYY	MIN	—	4.0	1	0	0	1	6	0
1915-08-27	NYY	DET	—	4.0	6	5	5	3	2	0
1915-08-12	NYY	CLE	—	2.0	1	0	0	0	3	0
1915-08-07	NYY	SLA	—	7.0	6	2	2	4	3	1
1915-07-23	NYY	CHW	L	1.2	2	1	0	0	0	0
1915-07-13	NYY	DET	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bill Donovan — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	18	7	144	7	3	4
2B	8	4	9	9	2	0
OF	37	9	58	10	7	3
P	378	187	173	654	49	20
SS	3	0	1	4	4	2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bill Donovan — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1898	WAS	2B	1	0	0	0	0	0
1898	WAS	OF	20	0	38	4	3	3
1898	WAS	P	17	0	6	17	3	2
1898	WAS	SS	1	0	1	1	2	1
1899	BRO	P	5	0	1	5	1	0
1900	BRO	P	5	0	0	12	0	0
1901	BRO	P	45	0	14	75	7	5
1902	BRO	1B	8	0	87	7	1	3
1902	BRO	2B	1	0	2	3	0	0
1902	BRO	OF	4	0	8	0	1	0
1902	BRO	P	35	0	20	71	5	2
1903	DET	2B	1	0	0	1	0	0
1903	DET	OF	1	0	1	2	0	0
1903	DET	P	35	0	25	65	6	2
1903	DET	SS	2	0	0	3	2	1
1904	DET	1B	8	7	52	0	1	1
1904	DET	OF	1	1	0	0	2	0
1904	DET	P	34	34	28	89	4	2
1905	DET	2B	2	1	2	2	1	0
1905	DET	OF	8	7	10	4	0	0
1905	DET	P	34	32	16	67	6	3
1906	DET	2B	3	3	5	3	1	0
1906	DET	OF	1	1	1	0	1	0
1906	DET	P	25	25	11	62	3	1
1907	DET	P	32	28	13	56	4	0
1908	DET	P	29	28	16	39	5	0
1909	DET	P	21	17	9	29	1	1
1910	DET	P	26	23	9	33	2	2
1911	DET	P	20	0	4	25	2	0
1912	DET	1B	2	0	5	0	1	0
1912	DET	OF	2	0	0	0	0	0
1912	DET	P	3	0	0	1	0	0
1915	NYA	P	9	0	1	7	0	0
1916	NYA	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1918	DET	P	2	0	0	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bill Donovan (b. 1876) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	378
First Base	19
Second Base	9
Shortstop	3
Left Field	16
Center Field	9
Right Field	13

Awards & Honors

Bill Donovan — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1908	Baseball Magazine All-Star	P5

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bill Donovan (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Bill Donovan: the record in brief

Between the debut on April 22, 1898 and the final game on September 2, 1918, Bill Donovan built the record summarized on this page. Club by club, the record runs the Washington Senators (1898), the Brooklyn Superbas (1899 to 1902), the Detroit Tigers (1903 through 1918), and the New York Yankees (1915 through 1916). Donovan, born on October 13, 1876, in Lawrence, MA, USA, is listed as a pitcher and batted from both sides and threw right-handed. The bio gives 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds. The bio records the death on December 9, 1923, in Forsyth, NY, USA. Bill Donovan was the playing name; the full given name is William Edward.

Donovan's career pitching line is 185 wins, 139 losses and a 2.69 ERA over 378 appearances. Also on Donovan's record: 1,552 strikeouts, 289 complete games, and 35 shutouts. The leagues Donovan pitched in allowed 2.97 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 9.5% better than average. 1901 brought Donovan a season-high 25 wins.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bill Donovan

What years did Bill Donovan play?: Bill Donovan played in Major League Baseball from 1898 to 1918.
Was Bill Donovan a pitcher?: Yes. Bill Donovan pitched in the major leagues, recording 185 wins and 1552 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bill Donovan hit?: Bill Donovan hit 7 career home runs with 251 hits.
What teams did Bill Donovan play for?: Bill Donovan played for 4 teams: the Washington Senators (1898), the Brooklyn Superbas (1899–1902), the Detroit Tigers (1903–1912, 1918), and the New York Yankees (1915–1916).
What were Bill Donovan's career stats?: In 378 games, Bill Donovan went 185-139 with a 2.69 ERA, 1,552 strikeouts, 2,964.2 innings pitched, and 8 saves. At the plate he had 251 hits and 7 home runs.
What position did Bill Donovan play?: Bill Donovan played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Bill Donovan and how much did he weigh?: Bill Donovan was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 190 pounds.
What was Bill Donovan's career ERA?: Bill Donovan finished with a 2.69 career ERA, going 185-139 with 1,552 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Bill Donovan have?: Bill Donovan recorded 1,552 career strikeouts.
Is Bill Donovan in the Hall of Fame?: No. Bill Donovan has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.