Bill Everitt

William Lee Everitt (Wild Bill)

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

• Debut April 18, 1895
• Final Game June 24, 1901
• Born December 13, 1868 in Fort Wayne, IN USA
• Died January 19, 1938 in Denver, CO USA

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Biographical Information

Wild Bill Everitt was a high-average leadoff man in the waning days of Cap Anson's Chicago teams, and in the years before Frank Selee re-shaped the Chicago Cubs into a behemoth.

His lifetime major league average of .317 is # 61 of all time.

His highest average was as a rookie in 1895 when he hit .358. It was a lively ball era, however, and he missed being in the top ten in the league. He led the Chicago Colts that year in runs scored and hits, but Bill Lange had the highest batting average and the most doubles, triples, and home runs.

The next season, 1896, he was second on the team with 130 runs, as Bill Dahlen scored 137. His .320 average was fourth among the regulars.

In 1898, Cap Anson was no longer the player/manager, and Everitt took over for him at first base, with the team now called the Chicago Orphans. The team average was now .274, and so Bill's .319 was pretty good, although only second among the regulars.

He hit .310 in 1899, second on the team behind Bill Lange again.

After 23 games in 1900 with Chicago, he finished out his career playing 33 games for the Washington Senators in 1901 at the age of 32.

He had originally been a third baseman, but moved to first base after Anson left. He made copious errors at both positions - as a rookie in 1895 he made 75 errors in 130 games at third base (out of around 500 chances).

The similarity scores method shows as similar players to Everitt a bunch of high-average short-career players, but none have averages as high as .317. Only one is a current player who is still active - Juan Pierre, whose career will almost certainly look much different once he is finished. Although Pierre's liftime average of .305 is much lower than Everitt's lifetime average of .317, Pierre has been in the top ten in the league twice, while Everitt never was.