Bill Phillips

William B. Phillips (April 30, 1857 – October 7, 1900), also known as "Silver Bill", was a Canadian professional baseball first baseman from the mid-1870s until the late 1880s. From 1879 to 1888, he played for three major league teams; the Cleveland Blues of the National League (NL) from 1879 to 1884, the Brooklyn Grays of the American Association (AA) from 1885 to 1887, and the Kansas City Cowboys of the AA in 1888. A native of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, he has the distinction of being the first Canadian to play in the major leagues.

As a batter, Phillips finished in the top-ten among league leaders on multiple occasions, including triples four times, and games played, at bats, doubles, runs batted in (RBIs), and extra base hits three times each. Additionally, as a fielder, he finished among the defensive leaders for the league's first baseman in double plays for three consecutive years, and twice finished first in putouts and fielding percentage. He died in Chicago at the age of 43. He was later enshrined into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988 for his accomplishments, and is considered by some to be greatest Canadian first baseman in baseball history.

Early years Phillips, born on April 30, 1857, came from a large family of English heritage. He had nine siblings, consisting of two brothers and seven sisters, and his father worked as a cooper. However, according to Alfred Henry Spink, founder of the Sporting News, Phillips was playing baseball in the Chicago area at earlier date.

It is certain the family settled in Chicago in the mid to late-1870s as Phillips was playing for a top amateur team of the area called the Pastime club He played with the Browns into mid-August, then joined another LA club, the Janesville Mutual, later that month for a four-day stretch. In his first NL season, he led the league's first basemen in games played with 75, was sixth in the league with 365 at bats, while leading the Blues in runs scored, and hits. In the 1880 season, his batting average dropped from .271 in 1879, to .256; however, he finished in the top-ten among the league leaders in games played with 85, which was first among first basemen, was fifth in the league with 10 triples, and led the league in double plays. In that game, Phillips hit what appeared to be a single to right field, only to be thrown out at first base by the shallow-playing right fielder Lon Knight. The seventh-place finish by the Blues, along with the decline of fan support, resulted in the financial instability of the franchise, and it folded after the season.

He continued his success for Grays 1886, establishing his highest seasonal career totals in games played with 141, which led the AA, and hits with 160, which was fifth among the league leaders. Phillips was enshrined into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

Career statistics Bill Phillips' career totals as recognized by Baseball-Reference.com.

' * ' denotes statistics that were not officially recognized during parts or all of his career, and are incomplete.