Cotton Williams

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records

Cotton Williams was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Newark Eagles. Across 37 career appearances, he went 6-10 with a 4.62 ERA and 91 strikeouts. He also batted .258 with 1 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 3822.3.

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

W–L 6–10
ERA 4.62
WHIP 1.44
SO 91
Pitcher PIV 3822.3
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'9" / 165 lb
Born
1/18/1917 in MD, USA
Died
12/28/2000 in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Full name: Robert A. Williams

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Cotton Williams — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
281.0 263.0 39.0 71.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 26.0 15.0 1.0 0 .270 .311 .407 .718

Pitching

Cotton Williams — Pitching
W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
8 18 27 10 23 1 246.2 265 176 55 6 60 57 2.01 1.32

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Cotton Williams — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1944 3.0 3.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000 3.000
1949 24.0 23.0 4.0 3.0 1.0 1.0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 .130 .167 .261 .428
Listed seasons · 2 27 26 5 6 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 .231 — — —

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Cotton Williams — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
1944 0 1 1 0 0 0 3.0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00
1949 0 3 4 3 3 0 28.0 38 21 8 0 9 5 2.57 1.68
Listed seasons · 2 0 4 5 3 3 0 31.0 38 33 8 0 9 5 2.32 1.52

Career Pitching Statistics

Cotton Williams — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
6 10 37 16 3 0 2 181.3 203 93 5 58 91 4.62 3822.3

Career ERA 4.62 vs. league average 3.76 across their career seasons — 22.6% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Cotton Williams — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1943 NE NN2 1 1 5 2 0 0 1 27.0 21 9 3 13 3.00 3.50 (+14%) 276.3
1945 NE NN2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4.3 3 2 2 2 4.15 — 0.0
1946 NE NN2 0 0 6 2 0 0 0 26.7 41 24 13 7 8.10 3.59 (-126%) 44.9
1947 NE NN2 4 2 10 4 1 0 0 51.3 54 20 11 29 3.51 3.97 (+12%) 1882.7
1948 NE NN2 1 7 15 8 2 0 1 72.0 84 38 29 40 4.75 4.10 (-16%) 1618.3
Career · 5 seasons 6 10 37 16 3 0 2 181.1 203 93 58 91 4.62 — 3,822

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

Cotton Williams — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
83 213 32 55 5 4 1 24 0 15 0 .258 .313 .333 .646 -272

Career AVG .258 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .313 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — 5.7% below league average.

Career SLG .333 vs. league average .363 across their career seasons — 8.2% below league average.

Career OPS .646 vs. league average .695 across their career seasons — 7.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Cotton Williams — Season-by-Season Batting
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1943 NE NN2 19 64 8 15 2 1 0 6 0 2 0 .234 .255 (-8%) .324 (-17%) .346 (-14%) .671 (-16%) -165.6
1945 NE NN2 14 52 9 15 0 1 1 6 0 7 0 .288 .260 (+11%) .328 (+13%) .354 (+8%) .683 (+11%) 102.7
1946 NE NN2 6 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .100 — — — — 0.0
1947 NE NN2 15 26 5 10 1 1 0 6 0 2 0 .385 — — — — 0.0
1948 NE NN2 29 61 9 14 2 1 0 6 0 3 0 .230 .263 (-13%) .340 (-19%) .379 (-22%) .719 (-20%) -209.4
Career · 5 seasons 83 213 32 55 5 4 1 24 0 15 0 .258 — — — — -272

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

Cotton Williams — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Cotton Williams — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1946 NWS NE 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Cotton Williams — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 0 1 0 0 3.7 11 8 1 1 19.64

Playoff Pitching by Year

Cotton Williams — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1946 NWS NE 0 0 1 0 0 3.7 11 8 1 1 19.64

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (143 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Cotton Williams — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home4493132238.237
Away531211838210.314

Pitching — Home / Away

Cotton Williams — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home24113.11062728112.14
Away2283.1991622331.73

Last 10 Games — Batting

Cotton Williams — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1949-08-11 HOEKCMW 522100100
1949-08-10 HOEKCMW 100000000
1949-08-08 HOEKCML 300000000
1949-07-17 HOEIN9L 000000000
1949-06-15 HOEMEMW 000000000
1949-06-02 HOEPH5L 211010000
1949-05-30 HOEPH5W 100000000
1949-05-30 HOEPH5L 100000000
1949-05-15 HOEKCML 400000000
1949-05-05 HOEBIRL 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Cotton Williams — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1949-08-08 HOEKCM L 8.0954210
1949-07-17 HOEIN9 L 8.014100000
1949-06-15 HOEMEM — 0.0000000
1949-06-02 HOEPH5 — 3.0300320
1949-05-05 HOEBIR — 0.0000000
1948-09-05 NW2NY5 L 9.01033300
1948-08-23 NW2BLG — 5.0100100
1948-08-19 NW2BLG L 3.2544100
1948-08-14 NW2BLG W 7.0840170
1948-07-18 NW2PH5 — 5.1100100

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Cotton Williams — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 4 1 4 7 0 2
3B 10 10 15 14 2 1
OF 20 16 27 0 3 0
P 37 16 3 53 2 4
SS 7 7 15 14 4 1

Season-by-Season Fielding

Cotton Williams — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1943 NE 2B 3 1 3 6 0 2
1943 NE OF 6 6 8 0 0 0
1943 NE P 5 2 0 6 0 0
1943 NE SS 6 6 14 10 4 1
1945 NE 2B 1 0 1 1 0 0
1945 NE 3B 9 9 14 12 2 1
1945 NE OF 3 3 6 0 1 0
1945 NE P 1 0 0 1 1 0
1945 NE SS 1 1 1 4 0 0
1946 NE P 6 2 0 9 0 0
1947 NE 3B 1 1 1 2 0 0
1947 NE P 10 4 3 14 1 1
1948 NE OF 11 7 13 0 2 0
1948 NE P 15 8 0 23 0 3

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Cotton Williams — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Pitcher 37
Second Base 4
Third Base 10
Shortstop 7
Left Field 16
Right Field 4

Frequently Asked Questions about Cotton Williams

Was Cotton Williams a pitcher?
Yes. Cotton Williams pitched in the major leagues, recording 6 wins and 91 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Cotton Williams hit?
Cotton Williams hit 1 career home runs with 55 hits.
What was Cotton Williams's career batting average?
Cotton Williams batted .258 over his career, with 55 hits in 213 at bats.
How many RBI did Cotton Williams have?
Cotton Williams drove in 24 runs in his career.
What was Cotton Williams's career ERA?
Cotton Williams finished with a 4.62 career ERA, going 6-10 with 91 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Cotton Williams have?
Cotton Williams recorded 91 career strikeouts.