Willis Hudlin
Born: 5/23/1906 in Wagoner, OK, USA
Died: 8/5/2002 in Little Rock, AR, USA
MLB Debut: 1926-08-15 | Final Game: 1944-08-31
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'0" | Weight: 190 lbs
Full name: George Willis Hudlin
Biography
Willis Hudlin was a professional baseball pitcher whose career spanned from 1926 to 1944. Born in 1906, Hudlin played during a transformative era in Major League Baseball, navigating the challenges and changes of the sport in the pre- and post-World War II years. He finished his career with a record of 158 wins and 156 losses, showcasing his resilience and ability to compete at the highest level. With an earned run average (ERA) of 4.41, he demonstrated a solid yet sometimes inconsistent performance on the mound, striking out 677 batters while also earning 31 saves.
Hudlin's playing style was characterized by his ability to adapt to different game situations, which allowed him to play effectively as both a starter and a reliever. He became known for his durability and work ethic, making him a reliable member of his teams throughout his career. Hudlin's contributions to the game were significant during an era marked by the rise of new pitching strategies and the increasing importance of bullpen management, helping to shape the future of pitching roles in baseball. His legacy remains as a testament to the evolution of pitchers in a rapidly changing sport.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 158 | 156 | 491 | 328 | 155 | 11 | 31 | 2613.3 | 3011 | 1281 | 118 | 846 | 677 | 4.41 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | CLE | AL | 1 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32.3 | 25 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 2.78 | -338.8 |
| 1927 | CLE | AL | 18 | 12 | 43 | 30 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 264.7 | 291 | 118 | 83 | 65 | 4.01 | 1933.5 |
| 1928 | CLE | AL | 14 | 14 | 42 | 26 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 220.3 | 231 | 99 | 90 | 62 | 4.04 | -365.3 |
| 1929 | CLE | AL | 17 | 15 | 40 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 280.3 | 299 | 104 | 73 | 60 | 3.34 | 4645.8 |
| 1930 | CLE | AL | 13 | 16 | 37 | 33 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 216.7 | 255 | 110 | 76 | 60 | 4.57 | 436.4 |
| 1931 | CLE | AL | 15 | 14 | 44 | 34 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 254.3 | 313 | 130 | 88 | 83 | 4.60 | -692.9 |
| 1932 | CLE | AL | 12 | 8 | 33 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 181.7 | 204 | 95 | 59 | 65 | 4.71 | 796.9 |
| 1933 | CLE | AL | 5 | 13 | 34 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 147.3 | 161 | 65 | 61 | 44 | 3.97 | -1196.6 |
| 1934 | CLE | AL | 15 | 10 | 36 | 26 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 195.0 | 210 | 103 | 65 | 58 | 4.75 | 735.3 |
| 1935 | CLE | AL | 15 | 11 | 36 | 29 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 231.7 | 252 | 95 | 61 | 45 | 3.69 | 1769.9 |
| 1936 | CLE | AL | 1 | 5 | 27 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 64.0 | 112 | 64 | 31 | 20 | 9.00 | 216.3 |
| 1937 | CLE | AL | 12 | 11 | 35 | 23 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 175.7 | 213 | 80 | 43 | 31 | 4.10 | 993.1 |
| 1938 | CLE | AL | 8 | 8 | 29 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 127.0 | 158 | 69 | 45 | 27 | 4.89 | -2144.2 |
| 1939 | CLE | AL | 9 | 10 | 27 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 143.0 | 175 | 78 | 42 | 28 | 4.91 | 872.7 |
| 1940 | CLE | AL | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23.7 | 31 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 4.94 | 30.8 |
| 1940 | NY1 | NL | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 10.80 | 0.0 |
| 1940 | SLA | AL | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.3 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 11.12 | -38.2 |
| 1940 | WSN | AL | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37.3 | 50 | 27 | 5 | 9 | 6.51 | - |
| 1944 | SLA | AL | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 0.0 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 492 | 894 | 76 | 180 | 39 | 3 | 5 | 69 | 2 | 52 | 228 | 0.201 | 0.252 | 0.268 | 0.520 | -3685.3 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | CLE | AL | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.125 | 0.0 |
| 1927 | CLE | AL | 43 | 96 | 12 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 0.250 | -322.7 |
| 1928 | CLE | AL | 42 | 72 | 4 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 0.194 | -421.8 |
| 1929 | CLE | AL | 40 | 97 | 5 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 0.196 | -761.2 |
| 1930 | CLE | AL | 37 | 73 | 6 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 0.219 | -439.4 |
| 1931 | CLE | AL | 44 | 100 | 11 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 28 | 0.200 | -474.2 |
| 1932 | CLE | AL | 33 | 64 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 0.203 | -292.6 |
| 1933 | CLE | AL | 34 | 41 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0.146 | 0.0 |
| 1934 | CLE | AL | 36 | 68 | 5 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 0.206 | -262.1 |
| 1935 | CLE | AL | 37 | 86 | 10 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 0.279 | -44.1 |
| 1936 | CLE | AL | 27 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0.111 | 0.0 |
| 1937 | CLE | AL | 35 | 59 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 0.169 | -421.8 |
| 1938 | CLE | AL | 29 | 43 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0.116 | 0.0 |
| 1939 | CLE | AL | 27 | 48 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 0.188 | -245.5 |
| 1940 | CLE | AL | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.125 | 0.0 |
| 1940 | NY1 | NL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1940 | SLA | AL | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 | 0.0 |
| 1940 | WSN | AL | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.100 | 0.0 |
| 1944 | SLA | AL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 491 | 0 | 150 | 734 | 38 | 54 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | CLE | P | 8 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 1927 | CLE | P | 43 | 0 | 12 | 80 | 1 | 4 |
| 1928 | CLE | P | 42 | 0 | 16 | 60 | 7 | 3 |
| 1929 | CLE | P | 40 | 0 | 24 | 88 | 5 | 8 |
| 1930 | CLE | P | 37 | 0 | 8 | 67 | 5 | 6 |
| 1931 | CLE | P | 44 | 0 | 14 | 65 | 4 | 10 |
| 1932 | CLE | P | 33 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 2 | 1 |
| 1933 | CLE | P | 34 | 0 | 8 | 48 | 1 | 2 |
| 1934 | CLE | P | 36 | 0 | 10 | 62 | 1 | 8 |
| 1935 | CLE | P | 36 | 0 | 11 | 48 | 1 | 2 |
| 1936 | CLE | P | 27 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| 1937 | CLE | P | 35 | 0 | 4 | 51 | 4 | 4 |
| 1938 | CLE | P | 29 | 0 | 7 | 29 | 3 | 3 |
| 1939 | CLE | P | 27 | 0 | 21 | 42 | 1 | 2 |
| 1940 | CLE | P | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1940 | NY1 | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1940 | SLA | P | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 1940 | WS1 | P | 8 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 1944 | SLA | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 491 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 22th | 2.0 | 64 | 0 |