Was Joe Williams a pitcher?

Yes. Joe Williams pitched in the major leagues, recording 109 wins and 1033 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Joe Williams hit?

Joe Williams hit 15 career home runs with 216 hits.

What teams did Joe Williams play for?

Joe Williams played for 5 teams: the Chicago Giants (1910–1911), the New York Lincoln Giants (1912–1923), the Brooklyn Royal Giants (1924), the Homestead Grays (1928–1932), and the Detroit Wolves (1932).

What were Joe Williams's career stats?

In 207 games, Joe Williams went 109-59 with a 2.57 ERA, 1,033 strikeouts, 1,517.0 innings pitched, and 5 saves. At the plate he had 216 hits and 15 home runs.

What position did Joe Williams play?

Joe Williams played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Joe Williams and how much did he weigh?

Joe Williams was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 190 pounds.

What was Joe Williams's career ERA?

Joe Williams finished with a 2.57 career ERA, going 109-59 with 1,033 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Joe Williams have?

Joe Williams recorded 1,033 career strikeouts.

Joe Williams

Pitcher · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (Final season: 1932)

Joe Williams was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for 5 teams, including the Chicago Giants. Across 207 career appearances, he went 109-59 with a 2.57 ERA and 1,033 strikeouts. He also batted .297 with 15 home runs. Joe Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 802.

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 23, 2026

⭐ Hall of Fame 1999

W–L 109–59

ERA 2.57

WHIP 1.18

SO 1,033

Pitcher PIV 44974.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 190 lb
Born: 4/6/1886 in Seguin, TX, USA
Died: 2/25/1951 in New York, NY, USA
Last Game: 1932-09-28
Hall of Fame: Inducted 1999 (Veterans)

Full name: Joseph Williams

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Joe Williams — Batting
PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
7.0	7.0	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	1.0	1.0	.143	.143	.143	.286

Pitching

Joe Williams — Pitching
W	L	GS	CG	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
16	13	25	23	6	0	233.2	239	127	23	11	43	138	0.89	1.21

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

Joe Williams — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season	PA	AB	R	H	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1925	4.0	3.0	1.0	0	0	0	.000	.250	.000	.250
1926	5.0	5.0	0	1.0	0	0	.200	.200	.200	.400
1927	5.0	5.0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
1939	7.0	7.0	0	1.0	1.0	1.0	.143	.143	.143	.286
Listed seasons · 4	21	20	1	2	1	1	.100	—	—	—

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Joe Williams — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season	W	GS	CG	IP	H	R	HR	BB	SO	WHIP
1925	1	1	1	9.0	9	3	2	1	9	1.11
1926	1	1	1	9.0	6	5	1	1	7	0.78
1927	1	1	1	9.0	3	0	0	1	3	0.44
Listed seasons · 3	3	3	3	27.0	18	8	3	3	19	0.78

Career Pitching Statistics

Joe Williams — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
109	59	207	172	140	14	5	1517.0	1,456	433	26	339	1,033	2.57	44974.5

Career ERA 2.57 vs. league average 3.60 across their career seasons — 28.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Williams (b. 1886) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1910	COG	WES	5	2	8	6	5	0	0	57.0	44	12	8	45	1.89	2.79 (+32%)	2302.9
1911	COG	WES	3	5	10	10	6	2	0	68.0	74	31	25	52	4.10	3.37 (-22%)	988.8
1912	NLG	EAS	7	2	11	10	9	0	0	86.2	76	21	15	61	2.18	3.36 (+35%)	2496.6
1913	NLG	EAS	9	2	14	11	11	3	1	101.1	111	21	25	70	1.87	3.07 (+39%)	2565.2
1914	NLG	EAS	5	3	10	8	5	1	0	68.2	68	18	21	43	2.36	2.93 (+19%)	991.3
1915	NLG	EAS	6	1	7	6	5	0	0	55.2	49	13	10	34	2.10	2.90 (+27%)	1486.4
1916	NLG	EAS	5	2	9	6	6	1	0	63.1	70	11	17	37	1.56	2.78 (+44%)	829.1
1917	NLG	EAS	10	0	12	9	9	1	0	101.0	88	19	31	70	1.69	2.69 (+37%)	2183.5
1918	NLG	EAS	10	6	16	14	14	1	0	134.2	128	17	32	93	1.14	2.83 (+60%)	3694.5
1919	NLG	EAS	9	3	13	11	11	2	1	102.2	93	33	20	88	2.89	3.09 (+6%)	3853.9
1920	NLG	EAS	1	2	3	3	3	1	0	26.0	27	5	2	15	1.73	3.45 (+50%)	1029.5
1921	NLG	EAS	0	1	2	0	0	0	1	1.0	2	1	0	1	9.00	—	0.0
1922	NLG	IND	2	3	6	6	5	0	0	49.0	42	12	10	36	2.20	4.18 (+47%)	2279.8
1923	NLG	ECL	3	3	8	7	4	0	0	53.2	61	26	8	33	4.36	4.03 (-8%)	1684.5
1924	BRG	ECL	3	8	15	12	8	1	1	96.0	107	43	16	53	4.03	4.13 (+2%)	3659.9
1928	HG	EAS	3	1	4	3	2	0	0	28.0	32	14	5	16	4.50	4.13 (-9%)	505.9
1929	HG	ANL	6	7	19	15	14	0	1	138.2	144	51	28	88	3.31	4.60 (+28%)	4279.2
1930	HG	IND	11	5	17	15	13	1	0	131.1	104	41	22	116	2.81	4.80 (+41%)	6058.4
1931	HG	IND	6	2	11	11	7	0	0	78.1	59	21	25	54	2.41	4.10 (+41%)	2345.8
1932	DW	EWL	1	0	4	3	1	0	0	27.0	29	10	5	11	3.33	4.13 (+19%)	703.8
1932	HG	EWL	4	1	8	6	2	0	0	49.0	48	13	14	17	2.39	4.13 (+42%)	1035.4
Career · 21 seasons			109	59	207	172	140	14	5	1,517.0	1,456	433	339	1,033	2.57	—	44,974

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

Joe Williams — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
256	728	99	216	31	6	15	121	13	60	3	.297	.353	.418	.770	802

Career AVG .297 vs. league average .271 across their career seasons — +9.7% above league average.

Career OBP .353 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — +5.7% above league average.

Career SLG .418 vs. league average .369 across their career seasons — +13.1% above league average.

Career OPS .770 vs. league average .703 across their career seasons — +9.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Williams (b. 1886) 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
1910	COG	WES	9	23	4	6	0	1	0	2	1	2	0	.261	—	—	—	—	0.0
1911	COG	WES	15	50	6	11	2	0	1	7	1	3	0	.220	.266 (-17%)	.336 (-21%)	.356 (-10%)	.693 (-16%)	-131.7
1912	NLG	EAS	11	40	5	13	4	0	2	11	0	1	0	.325	—	—	—	—	0.0
1913	NLG	EAS	15	49	5	9	2	0	1	8	1	2	0	.184	—	—	—	—	-177.5
1914	NLG	EAS	10	25	1	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	.160	—	—	—	—	0.0
1915	NLG	EAS	7	22	6	12	1	2	0	4	0	2	0	.545	—	—	—	—	0.0
1916	NLG	EAS	12	34	6	11	1	0	2	6	1	4	0	.324	—	—	—	—	0.0
1917	NLG	EAS	23	67	15	27	4	1	3	17	1	10	0	.403	.248 (+62%)	.312 (+54%)	.323 (+94%)	.635 (+74%)	763.1
1918	NLG	EAS	21	73	11	29	2	1	1	9	0	7	0	.397	.255 (+56%)	.318 (+41%)	.326 (+51%)	.645 (+46%)	518.3
1919	NLG	EAS	15	54	7	21	4	0	1	13	2	5	0	.389	.262 (+48%)	.322 (+39%)	.347 (+49%)	.670 (+44%)	385.1
1920	NLG	EAS	5	20	1	5	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1921	NLG	EAS	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1922	NLG	IND	7	21	2	3	0	0	1	1	1	3	0	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1923	NLG	ECL	16	28	4	10	1	0	1	9	1	3	0	.357	—	—	—	—	0.0
1924	BRG	ECL	20	43	1	11	3	0	1	6	0	2	1	.256	—	—	—	—	0.0
1928	HG	EAS	4	10	3	3	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	.300	—	—	—	—	0.0
1929	HG	ANL	20	57	6	8	1	0	0	3	0	2	0	.140	.289 (-51%)	.353 (-52%)	.415 (-62%)	.769 (-57%)	-554.1
1930	HG	IND	18	48	6	15	3	1	0	10	1	3	2	.312	—	—	—	—	-1.1
1931	HG	IND	13	31	4	10	0	0	1	5	0	3	0	.323	—	—	—	—	0.0
1932	DW	EWL	5	10	1	2	0	0	0	3	1	2	0	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1932	HG	EWL	8	22	5	6	2	0	0	3	1	2	0	.273	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 21 seasons			256	728	99	216	31	6	15	121	13	60	3	.297	—	—	—	—	802

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

Joe Williams — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Away	1	3	1	2	1	3	.667

Pitching — Home / Away

Joe Williams — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Away	1	9.0	9	3	1	4	3.00

Last 1 Games — Batting

Joe Williams — Last 1 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO
1924-08-03	BRG	BLS	W	3	1	2	1	0	1	3	2	0

Last 1 Games — Pitching

Joe Williams — Last 1 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1924-08-03	BRG	BLS	W	9.0	9	5	3	1	4	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Joe Williams — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	27	5	212	7	5	12
OF	11	4	9	2	0	0
P	207	98	56	451	31	6

Season-by-Season Fielding

Joe Williams — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1910	COG	1B	1	0	1	0	0	0
1910	COG	P	8	0	4	27	1	0
1911	COG	1B	8	0	65	1	2	2
1911	COG	P	10	0	2	23	1	0
1912	NLG	P	11	0	5	25	1	0
1913	NLG	OF	2	0	3	1	0	0
1913	NLG	P	14	0	1	26	0	0
1914	NLG	P	10	0	0	17	3	0
1915	NLG	P	7	0	2	16	1	0
1916	NLG	OF	4	4	3	0	0	0
1916	NLG	P	9	6	2	23	1	0
1917	NLG	1B	8	0	51	2	3	4
1917	NLG	OF	3	0	1	0	0	0
1917	NLG	P	12	0	2	29	2	0
1918	NLG	1B	4	0	37	2	0	2
1918	NLG	OF	2	0	2	1	0	0
1918	NLG	P	16	0	11	36	3	1
1919	NLG	1B	4	3	38	0	0	2
1919	NLG	P	13	11	6	44	3	1
1920	NLG	1B	2	2	20	2	0	2
1920	NLG	P	3	3	0	9	2	0
1921	NLG	P	2	0	0	0	0	0
1922	NLG	P	6	6	1	21	0	0
1923	NLG	P	8	7	0	13	2	0
1924	BRG	P	15	12	5	33	4	0
1928	HG	P	4	3	0	6	1	0
1929	HG	P	19	15	7	36	3	4
1930	HG	P	17	15	3	32	1	0
1931	HG	P	11	11	2	20	2	0
1932	DW	P	4	3	1	4	0	0
1932	HG	P	8	6	2	11	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Joe Williams (b. 1886) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	207
First Base	27
Right Field	11

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Joe Williams: the record in brief

The season rows for Joe Williams begin in 1910. The season rows list, in order, the Chicago Giants (1910 to 1911), the New York Lincoln Giants (1912 through 1923), the Brooklyn Royal Giants (1924), the Homestead Grays (1928 to 1932), and the Detroit Wolves (1932). Williams played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on April 6, 1886, in Seguin, TX, USA and a listed size of 6'3" and 190 pounds. Williams died on February 25, 1951, in New York, NY, USA. The given name on file is Joseph Williams.

Williams's career pitching line is 109 wins, 59 losses and a 2.57 ERA over 207 appearances. The totals include 1,033 strikeouts, 140 complete games, and 14 shutouts. That 2.57 ERA compares with a 3.60 league average across the same seasons, 28.6% better. No season topped the 11 wins of 1930. 1918 was Williams's sharpest full season, a 1.14 ERA against the league's 2.83.

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Williams

Was Joe Williams a pitcher?: Yes. Joe Williams pitched in the major leagues, recording 109 wins and 1033 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Joe Williams hit?: Joe Williams hit 15 career home runs with 216 hits.
Is Joe Williams in the Hall of Fame?: Yes. Joe Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
What teams did Joe Williams play for?: Joe Williams played for 5 teams: the Chicago Giants (1910–1911), the New York Lincoln Giants (1912–1923), the Brooklyn Royal Giants (1924), the Homestead Grays (1928–1932), and the Detroit Wolves (1932).
What were Joe Williams's career stats?: In 207 games, Joe Williams went 109-59 with a 2.57 ERA, 1,033 strikeouts, 1,517.0 innings pitched, and 5 saves. At the plate he had 216 hits and 15 home runs.
What position did Joe Williams play?: Joe Williams played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Joe Williams and how much did he weigh?: Joe Williams was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 190 pounds.
What was Joe Williams's career ERA?: Joe Williams finished with a 2.57 career ERA, going 109-59 with 1,033 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Joe Williams have?: Joe Williams recorded 1,033 career strikeouts.