Billy Werber
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William Murray Werber (born June 20, 1908 in Berwyn Heights, Maryland) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees (1930, 1933), Boston Red Sox (1933-1936), Philaldelphia Athletics (1937-1938), Cincinnati Reds (1939-1941) and New York Giants (1942). He batted and threw right-handed.
A 5'10", 170-pound infielder, Werber was at spring training with the New York Yankees in 1927. He returned to North Carolina to attend school at Duke University where he was the first Duke basketball player to earn All-America honors, officially becoming a Yankee rookie in 1930. He appeared in only four games that season, and was sent to the minors. In 1933, Frankie Crosetti was the obvious choice as the Yankees' shortstop, and with Tony Lazzeri at second base and Joe Sewell on third, Werber was expendable. Then, after play only three games he was sold to the Boston Red Sox. The rest of the year he appeared in 108 games with Boston as a utility infielder at shortstop, second and third bases.
In 1934, Werber became the starting third baseman of the Red Sox. He responded with a career-high .321 batting average, including 200 hits; led the American League with 40 stolen bases, and posted double digits in doubles (41), triples (10) and home runs (11). He led again the league in stolen bases in 1935 (29) and 1937 (35). Boston traded him to the Philadelphia Athletics for the 1937 season, and he joined the Cincinnati Reds in 1939.
In his first National League season, Werber became the first player ever to bat on television during a game between Cincinnati and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field (August 26, 1939). He ended with a .289 average in 147 games and led the league with 115 runs as Cincinnati faced the Yankees in the 1939 World Series, losing in four games. The next season belonged to Werber and the Reds, though. The 1940 World Series was the only Series in a six-year span that the Yankees did not win. Cincinnati beat the Detroit Tigers in seven games as Werber led his team with a .370 average (10-for-27). After that, he played with the New York Giants in 1941, his last major league season.
In an 11-season career, Werber was a .271 hitter with 78 home runs and 539 RBI in 1295 games. One of the most aggressive baserunners of the 1930s, probably the most aggressive next to Ben Chapman, he stole 215 bases. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1961.
As of February 2007, Werber (98) is recognized as the second-oldest living major league ballplayer behind Rollie Stiles; is the oldest living World Series player, and also is the oldest living former player both for the Yankees and the Red Sox.
[edit] Trivia
- Charlie Gehringer had one flaw in his defensive play: He always positioned himself in front of the bag to receive the catcher's throw on attempted steals of second. That meant he had to catch the ball and reach back to tag the runner, so I only gave him the toe of my shoe on the outside of the bag when I was stealing. Many times he could not reach me, so I stole more bases against Detroit than against any other team in the American League. – Billy Werber, from his book Memories of a Ballplayer
