Bill Abstein

William Henry Abstein
(Big Bill)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• Debut September 25, 1906
• Final Game June 2, 1910
• Born February 2, 1883 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died April 8, 1940 in St. Louis, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Abstein in 1909

The 1904 Class C South Texas League Houston Wanderers were the first stop for Bill Abstein in his baseball career. "Big Bill" was a first baseman who played in 125 games and batted .310 (168-for-542). 1905 saw him in the Southern Association with the Shreveport Pirates, where he hit .280. He hit .311 in 489 at bats for Shreveport in 1906 and was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates, going 4-for-20 for them.

"Big Bill" spent the next two seasons (1907 and 1908) with the Eastern League Providence Grays, hitting .279 in 1907 and .272 in 1908. This was enough to get him back to the majors with the 1909 Bucs, where he batted .260 and helped them to the World Series. He played all seven games, getting six hits and contributed to the Pirates' win over Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. On January 6, 1910 he was selected off waivers by the St. Louis Browns and played in 25 games before winding up with the Eastern League Jersey City Skeeters, where he finished the season hitting .261. "Big Bill" never got another shot at the majors and finished his career with the next six years being spent in five different minor leagues with six different clubs. Altogether, he played 13 seasons of professional baseball (1904-1916).

Abstein's major league totals showed him appearing in 170 games and hitting .242 (150-for-619). His minor league stats had him batting .266 (1,532-for-5,509) in 1,501 games.

Sources

The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: Third Edition
SABR Minor League Database
baseball-reference.com

Related Sites

• Bill Abstei at the SABR Bio Project
• Find-A-Grave Memorial for Bill Abstein
• Baseball History Daily story on Bill Abstein