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Bill Steen Edit Profile

baseball player

William John Steen was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played four years with the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers.

Background

He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on November 11, 1887.

Education

Steen attended Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, before playing professional baseball.

Career

He played for the Bloomington Bloomers in 1909. Steen debuted with the Cleveland Indians on April 15, 1912 and had a 23–31 record in four seasons with the team Steen was Cleveland"s #4 starter in 1912, but suffered a broken wrist in 1913.

In June 1915, the Detroit Tigers were in a tight pennant race with the Boston Red Sox, but needed pitching help.

They purchased Steen from the Indians. Steen played in 20 games for the 1915 Tigers (including seven as a starter), compiling a record of 5–1 with a 2.72 European Research Area (Adjusted European Research Area+ of 111) in 79.3 innings pitched.

Steen pitched his last major league game on August 22, 1915. Steen died in Signal Hill, California at age 91 in 1979.

Achievements

  • He won 30 games for the Portland Beavers in the Pacific Coast League in 1911 and posted a 1.55 European Research Area for the San Francisco Seals (also in the PCL) in 1915. The 1915 Tigers wound up winning 100 games (the best record in the team"s history) but finished in second place to the Red Sox who won 101 games.