Willie Keeler | |||
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Right fielder | |||
Born: Brooklyn, New York |
March 3, 1872|||
Died: January 1, 1923 Brooklyn, New York |
(aged 50)|||
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MLB debut | |||
September 30, 1892, for the New York Giants | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 5, 1910, for the New York Giants | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .341 | ||
Hits | 2,932 | ||
Home runs | 33 | ||
Runs batted in | 810 | ||
Stolen bases | 495 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Member of the National | |||
Baseball Hall of Fame | |||
Inducted | 1939 | ||
Vote | 75.5% (fourth ballot) |
William Henry Keeler (March 3, 1872 – January 1, 1923), nicknamed "Wee Willie", was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1892 to 1910, primarily for the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Superbas in the National League, and the New York Highlanders in the American League. Keeler, one of the best hitters of his time, was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. One of the greatest contact hitters of all time and notoriously hard to strike out, Keeler has the highest career AB-per-strikeout ratio in MLB history: throughout his career, on average he went more than 60 AB between individual strikeouts.
William Henry O'Kelleher, Jr. (He later Americanized the name to Keeler) was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 3, 1872, the son of William O'Kelleher, Sr., a trolley switch man. He played baseball from an early age, and as a freshman served as captain of his high school team. He quit school the following year, and played semi-pro baseball in the New York City area.
In 1892, he joined the minor league team in Binghamton, New York, and he was called up to the New York Giants at the end of the season. After a trip back to the minors because of an injury at the start of the 1893 season, He returned to the Giants later that year. Initially a third baseman, he later moved to the outfield. He quickly established himself as a star, and played until retiring in 1910.
Keeler's advice to hitters was "Keep your eye clear, and hit 'em where they ain't"—"they" being the opposing fielders. His .385 career batting average after the 1898 season is the highest average in history at season's end for a player with more than 1,000 hits (1,147 hits). He compiled a .341 batting average over his career, currently 14th all time. He hit over .300 16 times in 19 seasons, and hit over .400 once. He twice led his league in batting average and three times in hits. Keeler had an amazing 206 singles during the 1898 season, a record that stood for more than 100 years until broken by Ichiro Suzuki. Additionally, Keeler had an on-base percentage of greater than .400 for seven straight seasons. When Keeler retired in 1910, he was third all-time in hits with 2,932, behind only Cap Anson and Jake Beckley.