Bill Donovan

Born: 10/13/1876 in Lawrence, MA, USA

Died: 12/9/1923 in Forsyth, NY, USA

MLB Debut: 1898-04-22 | Final Game: 1918-09-02

Bats: B | Throws: R | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 190 lbs

Full name: William Edward Donovan

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Biography

Bill Donovan, born in 1876, was a prominent pitcher in Major League Baseball during the early 20th century, with a career that spanned from 1898 until his retirement in 1918. Known for his skillful pitching and competitive spirit, Donovan finished his career with a record of 185-139 and an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 2.69. Over the course of his career, he accumulated 1,552 strikeouts and recorded 8 saves, showcasing his ability to not only excel as a starting pitcher but also contribute in crucial late-game situations. Donovan played during a transformative period in baseball history, characterized by the game's evolution from the deadball era into a more offense-oriented approach. His pitching style was marked by a blend of finesse and power, which allowed him to become a key figure on the mound for his teams. With a competitive edge and strategic approach, Donovan left a lasting impact on the game, earning respect from peers and fans alike for his contributions to baseball during a time when the sport was gaining widespread popularity. His legacy is remembered as one of the standout pitchers of his era, reflecting the hard work and dedication that defined the early days of Major League Baseball.

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
185	139	378	327	289	35	8	2964.7	2631	886	30	1059	1552	2.69	0

Career ERA 2.69 vs. league average 2.97 across their career seasons — 9.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1898	WAS	NL	1	6	17	7	6	0	0	88.0	88	42	69	36	4.30	3.59 (-20%)	-2108.6
1899	BRO	NL	1	2	5	2	2	0	1	25.0	35	12	13	11	4.32	3.85 (-12%)	145.1
1900	BRO	NL	1	2	5	4	2	0	0	31.0	36	23	18	13	6.68	3.68 (-81%)	-257.0
1901	BRO	NL	25	15	45	38	36	2	3	351.0	324	108	152	226	2.77	3.49 (+21%)	4219.8
1902	BRO	NL	17	15	35	33	30	4	1	297.7	250	92	111	170	2.78	3.17 (+12%)	3289.7
1903	DET	AL	17	16	35	34	34	4	0	307.0	247	78	95	187	2.29	3.10 (+26%)	3853.8
1904	DET	AL	16	16	34	34	30	3	0	293.0	251	80	94	137	2.46	2.66 (+7%)	-867.4
1905	DET	AL	18	15	34	32	27	5	0	280.7	236	81	101	135	2.60	2.82 (+8%)	-169.9
1906	DET	AL	9	15	25	25	22	0	0	211.7	221	74	72	85	3.15	2.68 (-18%)	-1537.2
1907	DET	AL	25	4	32	28	27	3	1	271.0	222	66	82	123	2.19	2.50 (+12%)	631.8
1908	DET	AL	18	7	29	28	25	6	0	242.7	210	56	53	141	2.08	2.40 (+13%)	3817.5
1909	DET	AL	8	7	21	17	13	4	2	140.3	121	36	60	76	2.31	2.55 (+9%)	-82.0
1910	DET	AL	17	7	26	23	20	3	0	206.7	184	56	61	107	2.44	2.79 (+13%)	1264.8
1911	DET	AL	10	9	20	19	15	1	0	168.3	160	62	64	81	3.31	3.37 (+2%)	139.2
1912	DET	AL	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	10.0	5	1	2	6	0.90	3.36 (+73%)	199.1
1915	NYY	AL	0	3	9	1	0	0	0	33.7	35	18	10	17	4.81	2.90 (-66%)	-
1916	NYY	AL	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	1	0	1	0	0.00	—	-
1918	DET	AL	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	6.0	5	1	1	1	1.50	—	0.0

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
459	1302	142	251	30	11	7	95	36	77	342	0.193	0.241	0.249	0.490	-4394.7

Career AVG .193 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — 24.8% below league average.

Career OBP .241 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — 24.2% below league average.

Career SLG .249 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 25.5% below league average.

Career OPS 0.490 vs. league average 0.652 across their career seasons — 24.9% below league average.

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
1898	WAS	NL	39	103	11	17	2	2	2	8	2	4	28	0.165	.270 (-39%)	.333 (-37%)	.347 (-19%)	.680 (-28%)	-507.3
1899	BRO	NL	5	13	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.231	—	—	—	—	0.0
1900	BRO	NL	5	13	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	0.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1901	BRO	NL	46	135	16	23	3	0	2	13	1	8	27	0.170	.271 (-37%)	.326 (-34%)	.359 (-34%)	.686 (-34%)	-772.4
1902	BRO	NL	48	161	16	28	3	2	1	16	7	9	26	0.174	.266 (-35%)	.321 (-30%)	.343 (-31%)	.665 (-30%)	-814.1
1903	DET	AL	40	124	11	30	3	2	0	12	3	4	34	0.242	.261 (-8%)	.316 (-16%)	.345 (-14%)	.662 (-15%)	-319.1
1904	DET	AL	46	140	12	38	2	1	1	6	2	3	41	0.271	.246 (+10%)	.300 (-5%)	.321 (avg)	.622 (-2%)	-76.4
1905	DET	AL	44	130	16	25	4	0	0	5	8	12	28	0.192	.248 (-23%)	.307 (-13%)	.322 (-31%)	.629 (-22%)	-418.8
1906	DET	AL	28	91	5	11	0	1	0	2	6	1	32	0.121	.247 (-51%)	.307 (-58%)	.315 (-55%)	.622 (-56%)	-769.6
1907	DET	AL	37	109	20	29	7	2	0	19	4	6	34	0.266	.245 (+8%)	.304 (avg)	.308 (+19%)	.613 (+9%)	108.0
1908	DET	AL	30	82	5	13	1	0	0	2	2	10	26	0.159	.240 (-34%)	.298 (-16%)	.306 (-44%)	.605 (-30%)	-327.9
1909	DET	AL	22	45	6	9	0	0	0	1	0	2	9	0.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1910	DET	AL	26	69	6	10	1	0	0	2	0	5	24	0.145	.249 (-42%)	.317 (-36%)	.326 (-51%)	.644 (-44%)	-458.7
1911	DET	AL	24	60	11	12	3	1	1	6	1	11	20	0.200	.266 (-25%)	.336 (-4%)	.356 (-7%)	.693 (-5%)	-38.4
1912	DET	AL	6	13	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.077	—	—	—	—	0.0
1915	NYY	AL	10	12	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0.083	—	—	—	—	0.0
1916	NYY	AL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1918	DET	AL	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0.500	—	—	—	—	0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
6	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	0.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	BB	SO
1909	WS	DET	2	4	0	1
1908	WS	DET	2	4	1	1
1907	WS	DET	2	8	0	3

Playoff Career Pitching

W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	4	6	6	0	50.0	41	16	17	33	2.88

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1909	WS	DET	1	1	2	2	12.0	7	4	8	7	3.00
1908	WS	DET	0	2	2	2	17.0	17	8	4	10	4.24
1907	WS	DET	0	1	2	2	21.0	17	4	5	16	1.71

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	18	7	144	7	3	4
2B	8	4	9	9	2	0
OF	37	9	58	10	7	3
P	378	187	173	654	49	20
SS	3	0	1	4	4	2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1898	WAS	2B	1	0	0	0	0	0
1898	WAS	OF	20	0	38	4	3	3
1898	WAS	P	17	0	6	17	3	2
1898	WAS	SS	1	0	1	1	2	1
1899	BRO	P	5	0	1	5	1	0
1900	BRO	P	5	0	0	12	0	0
1901	BRO	P	45	0	14	75	7	5
1902	BRO	1B	8	0	87	7	1	3
1902	BRO	2B	1	0	2	3	0	0
1902	BRO	OF	4	0	8	0	1	0
1902	BRO	P	35	0	20	71	5	2
1903	DET	2B	1	0	0	1	0	0
1903	DET	OF	1	0	1	2	0	0
1903	DET	P	35	0	25	65	6	2
1903	DET	SS	2	0	0	3	2	1
1904	DET	1B	8	7	52	0	1	1
1904	DET	OF	1	1	0	0	2	0
1904	DET	P	34	34	28	89	4	2
1905	DET	2B	2	1	2	2	1	0
1905	DET	OF	8	7	10	4	0	0
1905	DET	P	34	32	16	67	6	3
1906	DET	2B	3	3	5	3	1	0
1906	DET	OF	1	1	1	0	1	0
1906	DET	P	25	25	11	62	3	1
1907	DET	P	32	28	13	56	4	0
1908	DET	P	29	28	16	39	5	0
1909	DET	P	21	17	9	29	1	1
1910	DET	P	26	23	9	33	2	2
1911	DET	P	20	0	4	25	2	0
1912	DET	1B	2	0	5	0	1	0
1912	DET	OF	2	0	0	0	0	0
1912	DET	P	3	0	0	1	0	0
1915	NYA	P	9	0	1	7	0	0
1916	NYA	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1918	DET	P	2	0	0	1	0	0