Rip Williams

Alva Mitchel Williams
(Buff)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 187 lb.

• Debut April 12, 1911
• Final Game June 9, 1918
• Born January 31, 1882 in Carthage, IL USA
• Died July 23, 1933 in Keokuk, IA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Catcher-first baseman Rip Williams played seven years in the majors, starting at age 29. Most of his games were for the Washington Senators under Clark Griffith, when the team was pretty good.

Williams' best year was in 1912 when he hit .318. It was the highest batting average on the team, which finished second in the American League with 91 wins.

With the Senators, he caught 29 of Walter Johnson's starts.

He is the only major leaguer (through 2007) born in Carthage, IL, a town near the borders of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

He is one of more than a dozen major leaguers given the first name "Rip". It was a fairly popular nickname in the first decades of the 20th Century, with his contemporary Rip Jordan also bearing the name.

Early in his career he played for a team in Ursa, near his birth town of Carthage. In 1910 he was with the Buffalo Bisons, catching in spite of having two broken fingers.

In the minors he was known as Alva Williams.

Related Sites

• Rip Williams at the SABR Bio Project