Bill Drake (baseball)

Bill Drake
Bill Drake
	Drake at the 1924 Colored World Series
	Pitcher
	Born: June 8, 1895; Sedalia, Missouri
	Died: October 30, 1977 (aged 82); St. Louis, Missouri
	Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
	1920, for the St. Louis Giants
Last appearance
	1927, for the Detroit Stars
Negro National League statistics
Win–loss record	68-58
Run average	4.71
Strikeouts	485
Teams
	All Nations (1915) ; St. Louis Giants (1916); All Nations (1917); Brinsmade, North Dakota (1917) ; St. Louis Giants (1919–1922) ; Kansas City Monarchs (1922–1925); Indianapolis ABCs (1926); Detroit Stars (1927);

William P. "Plunk" Drake (June 8, 1895 – October 30, 1977) was a Negro league baseball pitcher.

Drake pitched for top Negro league teams between 1920 and 1927, primarily remembered for his time with the Kansas City Monarchs, participating in two Colored World Series in 1924 and 1925. He gained his nickname from his propensity for pitching inside to batters and his willingness to hit batters who crowded the plate. He claimed to have taught Satchel Paige his famous hesitation pitch, though credit is usually given to Bill Gatewood.

References[edit]

Notes

^ "Bancroft Wins Ball Game" Upper Des Moines Republican, Algona, IA, September 1, 1915, Page 8, Column 4
^ "Three Games to be Played Here by Gill's Nine" Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks, North Dakota, Tuesday, July 3, 1917, Page 5, Column 2
^ "St. Louis Giants Win From Nashville, 9-1" St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, Missouri, Sunday, August 8, 1920, Page 9, Column 2

Sources

Peterson, Robert (1984). Only the Ball Was White. McGraw-Hill Book Company. ISBN 0-07-049599-8.
Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
Holway, John B. (2001). The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History. Fern Park, FL: Hastings House Publishers. ISBN 0-8038-2007-0.
University of Missouri-St Louis Negro Baseball Project: Oral History Interview with Bill Drake

External links[edit]

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference and Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats and Seamheads
Bill Drake at Find a Grave

This biographical article relating to an American baseball pitcher born in the 1890s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Bancroft Wins Ball Game" Upper Des Moines Republican, Algona, IA, September 1, 1915, Page 8, Column 4

[brinsmade1917-2] "Three Games to be Played Here by Gill's Nine" Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks, North Dakota, Tuesday, July 3, 1917, Page 5, Column 2

[giants1920-3] "St. Louis Giants Win From Nashville, 9-1" St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, Missouri, Sunday, August 8, 1920, Page 9, Column 2

[1]

[2]

[3]