Bill Steele

William Mitchell Steele (October 5, 1885 – October 19, 1949) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He pitched from 1910 to 1914 with the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Robins. Nicknamed "Big Bill", at , he was one of the larger players of his era. His main pitch was a spitball.

Steele grew up in Milford, Pennsylvania. He began pitching at the professional level in 1909, and after winning 25 games for the Altoona Rams in 1910, he was signed by the Cardinals. Steele appeared in nine games with the team that year, then pitched a career-high innings in 1911. He led the National League (NL) with 19 losses while posting a 3.73 earned run average (ERA). In 1912, Steele posted the worst ERA (4.69) among pitchers with enough innings to qualify for the MLB ERA title. He claimed in 1913 that he had purposefully not been trying as hard as he could have in 1912, and this impaired his relationship with the front office. Bothered by rheumatism the next couple of seasons, Steele found himself used mainly as a mopup reliever by 1914. Sold to the Robins later that year, he finished his MLB career with eight appearances in a Brooklyn uniform. Steele then played minor league baseball for a couple more seasons. A few years after he retired, he and his family moved to the St. Louis area, where he worked as a mechanic for Swift and Company and later as a maintenance man at an A&P warehouse. He was killed on October 19, 1949, when a streetcar ran into him.

Early life William Mitchell Steele was born on October 5, 1885, in Milford, Pennsylvania. His parents, Maurice and Caroline ("Carrie"), were the children of Germans who had immigrated to New York. Maurice worked at an ice business, a sawmill, and a watch-case factory, also serving at times as a constable. On top of this, the Steeles owned a farm. Growing up, Bill helped tend the farm along with three of his siblings (a fourth died at birth).

Steele started playing baseball in rural pastures around Milford. He played the positions of pitcher and outfielder for Milford's local team, which held games against local and semipro teams, including competition as notable as the New York Cuban Giants. A 1907 article in the Pike County Dispatch reported that Steele's pitches were "more of a puzzle than ever with his shoots, drops and the ‘spit ball’ which he has thoroughly mastered." In his September 10 debut, facing the Cincinnati Reds at the Palace of the Fans, Steele allowed five runs in the first inning but settled down after that, allowing seven runs in a complete game and contributing three hits, one of which was a triple, in St. Louis's 14–7 victory. He completed all eight of his starts that year and won four of his first five games, giving Cardinal fans something to cheer about in the midst of a seventh-place season.

1911

Deciding that the Cardinals needed a change of personnel, Bresnahan got rid of five of the Cardinal pitchers from the 1910 season; Steele was one of the only ones who remained on the roster through 1911. This instigated the best set of games Steele ever pitched, as he won six of seven decisions and posted a 1.95 ERA through August 3. However, he did not win another game all season, going 0–5 the rest of the way. In 40 games (25 starts), he had a 9–13 record, 67 strikeouts, 66 walks, and 245 hits allowed in 194 innings pitched, getting "hit hard" according to baseball historian Frank Russo. In 12 games (nine starts), he had a 4–4 record, a 5.00 ERA, 10 strikeouts, 18 walks, and 58 hits allowed in 54 innings. He was not the only Cardinal to struggle, as last-place St. Louis had the highest team ERA in the NL. He did not get along with Huggins, who had succeeded Bresnahan as manager. On August 7, Steele's contract was sold to the Brooklyn Robins. In his last game of the year, on October 1, he entered in the ninth inning with Brooklyn leading the Phillies 7–6 and gave up three runs, taking the loss as Philadelphia triumphed 9–7. Those were his only decisions with Brooklyn; he had a 5.51 ERA, struck out three batters, walked seven, and gave up 17 hits in innings. In 25 games (three starts) between both teams, he had a 2–3 record, a 3.36 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 14 walks, and 72 hits allowed in innings. The team released him after two weeks because he was not in as good physical shape as they had hoped he would be. Steele then played for the Gettysburg Ponies of the Class D Blue Ridge League in 1916, also playing some local and semipro baseball around Milford before retiring.

Personal life Steele met Ann Farr Doyle, a St. Louis resident, in early 1912. They were married in 1913 and had one son, Bernard, who would be born six years later. The Steeles lived in Milford until several years after Bill had retired; they then moved to 8275 Albin Street in Overland, Missouri, a St. Louis suburb. Swift and Company employed him as a mechanic, and he later worked for A&P as a maintenance man at one of their warehouses. As a side business, he raised New Zealand rabbits, which he sold to local hospitals so they could use them for experiments. Ann was the owner of a confectionery store until her death in 1945.

Death On October 19, 1949, a rainy evening, Steele was hit by a streetcar in Overland, just two blocks from his house. Taken to St. Louis County Hospital, he was declared dead when the ambulance arrived. Initially, the coroner declared that Steele's death was a homicide. Walter F. Hibler, the streetcar operator, refused to testify, and no other witnesses to the death were found. Thus, Hibler was never charged with any wrongdoing. Steele was buried in St. Louis's Memorial Park Cemetery, Section 1, Lot 373.