Bill Force
Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records
Bill Force was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Stars and the Baltimore Black Sox. Across 174 career appearances, he went 54-46 with a 4.44 ERA and 438 strikeouts. He also batted .222 with 6 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 761.1.
- 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
- Position
- Pitcher
- Bats / Throws
- R / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'9" / 165 lb
- Died
- 4/2/1969 in Norfolk, VA, USA
Full name: William Force
Season-by-Season Pitching
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | DS | NNL | 8 | 8 | 25 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 157.0 | 156 | 77 | 41 | 86 | 4.41 | 4.02 (-10%) | 1270.1 |
| 1922 | DS | NNL | 9 | 4 | 22 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 140.0 | 119 | 63 | 39 | 90 | 4.05 | 4.18 (+3%) | -279.7 |
| 1923 | DS | NNL | 11 | 9 | 37 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 195.0 | 199 | 84 | 50 | 92 | 3.88 | 4.03 (+4%) | 723.9 |
| 1924 | BBS | ECL | 10 | 6 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 115.1 | 115 | 59 | 33 | 64 | 4.60 | 4.13 (-12%) | 2081.2 |
| 1925 | BBS | ECL | 3 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 82.0 | 90 | 37 | 28 | 26 | 4.06 | 4.55 (+11%) | 1091.0 |
| 1926 | BBS | ECL | 2 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 49.1 | 62 | 33 | 25 | 21 | 6.02 | 4.11 (-47%) | -270.2 |
| 1927 | BBS | ECL | 7 | 6 | 22 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 117.0 | 119 | 52 | 40 | 37 | 4.00 | 4.08 (+2%) | -1547.3 |
| 1928 | BBS | ECL | 3 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 58.0 | 79 | 45 | 21 | 16 | 6.98 | 4.13 (-69%) | -1942.4 |
| 1929 | BBS | ANL | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21.0 | 21 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 4.71 | 4.60 (-3%) | -365.5 |
| Career · 9 seasons | 54 | 46 | 174 | 100 | 55 | 3 | 6 | 934.2 | 960 | 461 | 285 | 438 | 4.44 | — | 761 | ||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 218 | 424 | 54 | 94 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 41 | 3 | 40 | 4 | .222 | .293 | .323 | .616 | -323 |
Career AVG .222 vs. league average .284 across their career seasons — 22.0% below league average.
Career OBP .293 vs. league average .346 across their career seasons — 15.3% below league average.
Career SLG .323 vs. league average .397 across their career seasons — 18.6% below league average.
Career OPS .616 vs. league average .743 across their career seasons — 17.1% below league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | DS | NNL | 32 | 81 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 1 | .222 | .286 (-22%) | .344 (-15%) | .395 (-25%) | .739 (-20%) | -270.3 |
| 1922 | DS | NNL | 29 | 58 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 0 | .310 | .285 (+9%) | .345 (+19%) | .397 (+43%) | .743 (+32%) | 328.9 |
| 1923 | DS | NNL | 49 | 96 | 16 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 0 | .302 | .282 (+7%) | .344 (+5%) | .390 (+9%) | .734 (+7%) | 129.3 |
| 1924 | BBS | ECL | 27 | 46 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | .196 | — | — | — | — | -201.4 |
| 1925 | BBS | ECL | 14 | 32 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .094 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1926 | BBS | ECL | 18 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .120 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1927 | BBS | ECL | 27 | 48 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .125 | — | — | — | — | -309.8 |
| 1928 | BBS | ECL | 15 | 27 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .185 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1929 | BBS | ANL | 7 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .273 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 9 seasons | 218 | 424 | 54 | 94 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 41 | 3 | 40 | 4 | .222 | — | — | — | — | -323 | ||
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
Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Away | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
Pitching — Home / Away
| Split | G | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 1 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0.00 |
| Away | 1 | 3.1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
Last 6 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929-06-06 | BLS | NYL | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1927-07-31 | BLS | HIL | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1924-08-03 | BLS | BRG | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922-06-27 | DT1 | SSN | W | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1921-07-25 | DT1 | KCM | L | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1921-07-09 | DT1 | CB1 | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last 2 Games — Pitching
| Date | Tm | Opp | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922-06-27 | DT1 | SSN | W | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| 1921-07-09 | DT1 | CB1 | — | 3.1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF | 25 | 10 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| P | 174 | 100 | 25 | 216 | 26 | 5 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | DS | OF | 8 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1921 | DS | P | 25 | 17 | 6 | 41 | 7 | 1 |
| 1922 | DS | OF | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922 | DS | P | 22 | 15 | 5 | 37 | 1 | 2 |
| 1923 | DS | OF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1923 | DS | P | 37 | 18 | 6 | 48 | 5 | 1 |
| 1924 | BBS | P | 25 | 12 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 0 |
| 1925 | BBS | P | 13 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1926 | BBS | OF | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1926 | BBS | P | 14 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| 1927 | BBS | OF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1927 | BBS | P | 22 | 13 | 0 | 33 | 5 | 0 |
| 1928 | BBS | OF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1928 | BBS | P | 12 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| 1929 | BBS | OF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1929 | BBS | P | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 174 |
| Left Field | 2 |
| Center Field | 2 |
| Right Field | 21 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Bill Force: the record in brief
Bill Force's record on this page is drawn from the season tables, which run from 1921 to 1929. Club by club, the record runs the Detroit Stars (1921 through 1923) and the Baltimore Black Sox (1924 to 1929). Force played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. Born on July 17, 1895, in Walker County, GA, USA, Force was listed at 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds. The bio records the death on April 2, 1969, in Norfolk, VA, USA. Bill Force was the playing name; the full given name is William.
Force pitched in 174 games, starting 100, and finished with a 54-46 record and 4.44 ERA. The same table counts 438 strikeouts and 55 complete games. The league ERA over Force's seasons was 4.20, so the 4.44 figure ran 5.6% worse than average. No season topped the 11 wins of 1923. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 3.88 in 1923, when the league's was 4.03.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bill Force
- Was Bill Force a pitcher?
- Yes. Bill Force pitched in the major leagues, recording 54 wins and 438 strikeouts.
- How many home runs did Bill Force hit?
- Bill Force hit 6 career home runs with 94 hits.
- What teams did Bill Force play for?
- Bill Force played for 2 teams: the Detroit Stars (1921–1923) and the Baltimore Black Sox (1924–1929).
- What were Bill Force's career stats?
- In 174 games, Bill Force went 54-46 with a 4.44 ERA, 438 strikeouts, 934.2 innings pitched, and 6 saves. At the plate he had 94 hits and 6 home runs.
- What position did Bill Force play?
- Bill Force played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
- How tall was Bill Force and how much did he weigh?
- Bill Force was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 165 pounds.
- What was Bill Force's career ERA?
- Bill Force finished with a 4.44 career ERA, going 54-46 with 438 strikeouts.
- How many strikeouts did Bill Force have?
- Bill Force recorded 438 career strikeouts.
- Is Bill Force in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Bill Force has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.