What years did Bill Werle play?

Bill Werle played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1954.

Was Bill Werle a pitcher?

Yes. Bill Werle pitched in the major leagues, recording 29 wins and 283 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bill Werle hit?

Bill Werle hit 0 career home runs with 35 hits.

What was Bill Werle's career batting average?

Bill Werle batted .176 over his career, with 35 hits in 199 at bats.

How many RBI did Bill Werle have?

Bill Werle drove in 8 runs in his career.

What was Bill Werle's career ERA?

Bill Werle finished with a 4.69 career ERA, going 29-39 with 283 strikeouts.

Bill Werle

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1949-1954)

Bill Werle was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1954 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Boston Red Sox, a span of 6 seasons. Across 185 career appearances, he went 29-39 with a 4.69 ERA and 283 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 October 12, 2026

W–L 29–39

ERA 4.69

WHIP 1.45

SO 283

Pitcher PIV -723.8

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 182 lb
Born: 12/21/1920 in Oakland, CA, USA
Died: 11/27/2010 in San Mateo, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1949-04-22
Last Game: 1954-06-20

Full name: William George Werle

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bill Werle — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
29	39	185	60	18	2	15	665.1	770	347	80	194	283	4.69	-723.8

Career ERA 4.69 vs. league average 4.04 across their career seasons — 16.1% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Werle — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1949	PIT	NL	12	13	35	29	10	2	0	221.0	243	104	51	106	4.24	4.12 (-3%)	2727.7
1950	PIT	NL	8	16	48	22	6	0	8	215.1	249	110	65	78	4.60	4.36 (-5%)	4.0
1951	PIT	NL	8	6	59	9	2	0	6	149.2	181	94	51	57	5.65	4.04 (-40%)	-2085.8
1952	PIT	NL	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	4.0	9	4	1	1	9.00	—	0.0
1952	SLN	NL	1	2	19	0	0	0	1	39.0	40	21	15	23	4.85	3.70 (-31%)	-720.8
1953	BOS	AL	0	1	5	0	0	0	0	11.2	7	2	1	4	1.54	4.14 (+63%)	251.6
1954	BOS	AL	0	1	14	0	0	0	0	24.2	41	12	10	14	4.38	3.90 (-12%)	-900.5
Career · 7 seasons			29	39	185	60	18	2	15	665.1	770	347	194	283	4.69	—	-724

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 Werle — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
185	199	13	35	6	1	0	8	0	15	50	.176	.234	.216	.450	-1,108

Career AVG .176 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 32.7% below league average.

Career OBP .234 vs. league average .337 across their career seasons — 30.7% below league average.

Career SLG .216 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — 44.3% below league average.

Career OPS .450 vs. league average .725 across their career seasons — 38.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Werle — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1949	PIT	NL	35	77	3	9	1	0	2	5	11	.117	.262 (-56%)	.343 (-50%)	.384 (-66%)	.727 (-59%)	-735.2
1950	PIT	NL	48	67	4	13	1	1	0	6	22	.194	.265 (-27%)	.346 (-25%)	.401 (-41%)	.747 (-33%)	-372.7
1951	PIT	NL	59	40	5	12	4	0	6	2	13	.300	—	—	—	—	0.0
1952	PIT	NL	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1952	SLN	NL	19	9	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	.111	—	—	—	—	0.0
1953	BOS	AL	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1954	BOS	AL	14	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 7 seasons			185	199	13	35	6	1	8	15	50	.176	—	—	—	—	-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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (370 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bill Werle — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	99	109	9	22	0	7	.202
Away	86	89	4	13	0	1	.146

Pitching — Home / Away

Bill Werle — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	99	378.2	454	205	110	158	4.87
Away	86	286.2	313	147	84	128	4.62

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bill Werle — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
1954-06-20	BOS	CLE	L	0	0
1954-06-13	BOS	CLE	L	1	0
1954-06-11	BOS	CLE	L	0	0
1954-06-10	BOS	BAL	L	0	0
1954-06-09	BOS	BAL	W	1	1
1954-06-05	BOS	DET	L	0	0
1954-06-01	BOS	PHA	L	2	0
1954-05-29	BOS	NYY	L	0	0
1954-05-26	BOS	PHA	L	0	0
1954-05-22	BOS	NYY	L	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bill Werle — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1954-06-20	BOS	CLE	—	2.2	4	0	0	3	3	0
1954-06-13	BOS	CLE	—	1.0	4	0	0	0	1	0
1954-06-11	BOS	CLE	—	0.2	0	0	0	1	1	0
1954-06-10	BOS	BAL	—	1.0	2	2	2	1	0	0
1954-06-09	BOS	BAL	—	3.0	5	0	0	0	1	0
1954-06-05	BOS	DET	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1954-06-01	BOS	PHA	—	6.0	12	5	5	1	2	3
1954-05-29	BOS	NYY	—	1.2	3	1	1	0	1	1
1954-05-26	BOS	PHA	—	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1954-05-22	BOS	NYY	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bill Werle — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	185	0	32	167	6	14

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bill Werle — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1949	PIT	P	35	7	43	2	3
1950	PIT	P	48	11	58	2	4
1951	PIT	P	59	10	42	0	3
1952	PIT	P	5	0	2	0	0
1952	SLN	P	19	4	12	2	3
1953	BOS	P	5	0	6	0	1
1954	BOS	P	14	0	4	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bill Werle — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	185

College History

Bill Werle — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
University of California - Berkeley	Berkeley	CA	1942
Modesto Junior College	Modesto	CA	1941

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

Bill Werle: the record in brief

April 22, 1949 and June 20, 1954 bracket Bill Werle's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Club by club, the record runs the Pittsburgh Pirates (1949 to 1952), the St. Louis Cardinals (1952), and the Boston Red Sox (1953 through 1954). Werle played primarily as a pitcher and threw and hit left-handed. Born on December 21, 1920, in Oakland, CA, USA, Werle was listed at 6 feet, 2 inches and 182 pounds. Werle died on November 27, 2010, in San Mateo, CA, USA. Werle's full given name, per the bio, is William George Werle.

Werle pitched in 185 games, starting 60, and finished with a 29-39 record and 4.69 ERA. Werle had 283 strikeouts, 18 complete games, and 15 saves. Against a 4.04 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.69 mark was 16.1% worse. 1949 brought Werle a season-high 12 wins. 1949 was Werle's sharpest full season, a 4.24 ERA against the league's 4.12.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bill Werle

What years did Bill Werle play?: Bill Werle played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1954.
Was Bill Werle a pitcher?: Yes. Bill Werle pitched in the major leagues, recording 29 wins and 283 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bill Werle hit?: Bill Werle hit 0 career home runs with 35 hits.
What was Bill Werle's career batting average?: Bill Werle batted .176 over his career, with 35 hits in 199 at bats.
How many RBI did Bill Werle have?: Bill Werle drove in 8 runs in his career.
What was Bill Werle's career ERA?: Bill Werle finished with a 4.69 career ERA, going 29-39 with 283 strikeouts.