Bill Farmer

William Charles Farmer

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 187 lb.

• Debut May 1, 1888
• Final Game August 24, 1888
• Born February 27, 1864 in Dublin Ireland
• Died February 9, 1928 in Philadelphia, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bill Farmer was in five games in the majors in 1888, first with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys and then with the Philadelphia Athletics. Although born in Ireland, by 1888 Bill was from Philadelphia, PA.

In May 1888, the press was down on Fred Carroll's play at catcher for the Alleghenys, and there were "yells for Farmer", but the team preferred to hold Farmer in reserve and give Carroll more games. Source: Sporting Life, May 23, 1888 issue. Doggie Miller, however, ended up playing the most games at catcher for the team that year. By the May 30 issue, Sporting Life was reporting that Farmer was taking tickets because the team stated there was no room for him to be in games. The July 18 issue reported that Farmer had been given his release - the paper spoke on his behalf, saying that he wasn't given much of a chance to play, and could have been given some more chances in the outfield, but the team was perceived as thinking it had enough catchers.

He was soon signed by the Athletics, but it was reported that he injured his hand in practice. It wasn't long before the team decided to use Farmer only in emergencies as they had Wilbert Robinson and Tom Gunning ahead of him. Source: Sporting Life.

Bill also played four seasons in the minors, before and after his one year in the majors. After his playing career, he became a policeman in Philadelphia.