Wheezer Dell

William George Dell

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 210 lb.

• Debut April 22, 1912
• Final Game July 4, 1917
• Born June 11, 1886 in Tuscarora, NV USA
• Died August 24, 1966 in Lone Pine, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Wheezer Dell was the first major league player born in the state of Nevada. He was born in Tuscarora, a town that had once experienced a silver mining boom before Dell was born, and which gradually was becoming a ghost town. He died in Lone Pine, CA, a small town not too far from the Nevada border.

In between, he pitched in big cities, playing one year with the St. Louis Cardinals and three with the Brooklyn Robins. He was a teammate of Zack Wheat and Casey Stengel.

His lifetime major league ERA was 2.55. He pitched one inning in the 1916 World Series.

He is the only major leaguer whose last name is Dell and the only one whose nickname is Wheezer.

His professional career was said to span 24 years. He pitched in the PCL in 1918, for a team that was purchased by film star Fatty Arbuckle. In 1922 he appeared in the Buston Keaton movie My Wife's Relations. In 2008 he was elected to the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

One source is Nevada Athletes.