Bill Duggleby

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William James Duggleby (March 16, 1874 - August 30, 1944), nicknamed "Frosty Bill," was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. He played from 1898 to 1907. He also played two games for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1902 and nine games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1907. Duggleby is most known for being the first player to hit a home run in his first major-league at-bat, on April 21, 1898, and one of three major-league players to do it with a grand slam, Jeremy Hermida and Kevin Kouzmanoff being the other two. As of 2007, he still holds the Phillies team record for hit batsmen for a career (82).

Duggleby was one of the "jumpers" who left the Phillies in 1902 for other teams, including (in Duggleby's case) Connie Mack's new American League team, the Athletics. The Phillies filed suit to prevent the "jumpers" — in particular, Nap Lajoie, Bill Bernhard, and Chick Fraser — from playing for any other team, a plea which was rejected by a lower court before being upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Duggleby was the first of the "jumpers" to return to the Phillies, on May 8, 1902, after playing only two games with the A's.

Duggleby, a native of Utica, New York, passed away in Redfield, New York at the age of 70.

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[edit] External links

(Bill Duggleby at Baseball-Reference.com