Billy Southworth

Position: Rightfielder
Bats: Left  •  Throws: Right
5-9, 170lb (175cm, 77kg)
Born: March 9, 1893 in Harvard, NE
Died: November 15, 1969  in Columbus, OH
Buried: Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, OH
High School: Harvard HS (Harvard, NE)
Debut: August 4, 1913 (3,960th in MLB history)
vs. PHA 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: July 9, 1929
vs. PHI 3 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Full Name: William Harold Southworth
Relatives: Cousin of Bill Southworth

Played For
Cleveland Indians (1913-1915)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1918-1920)
Boston Braves (1921-1923)
New York Giants (1924-1926)
St. Louis Cardinals (1926-1929)

Managed
St. Louis Cardinals (1929-1945)
Boston Braves (1946-1951)

Post-Season Appearances
1924 World Series
1926 World Series

Hall of Fame: Inducted as Manager in 2008. (Voted by Veteran’s Committee)

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1913

Edd Roush
Wally Pipp
Billy Southworth
Wally Schang
Milt Stock
Bubbles Hargrave
Bob Shawkey
Dutch Leonard
Pep Young

All-Time Teammate Team

Coming Soon

Notable Events and Chronology

SearchSearch Events, Dates and More Date (Newest)Title (A - Z)

January 23, 1921

The Pittsburgh Pirates obtain veteran SS Rabbit Maranville from Boston. They give up OF Billy Southworth, OF Fred Nicholson, IF Walter Barbare, and $15,000.

February 23, 1921

Pittsburgh Pirates acquire future Hall of Fame shortstop Rabbit Maranville

August 4, 1921

In Chicago, Billy Southworth leads the Braves to a 13 – 5 scalping of the Cubs by belting three doubles and home run. Mule Watson coasts to the win over Percy Jones.

June 14, 1926

In what will turn out to be one of John McGraw’s worst trades, the Giants deal outfielder Billy Southworth, batting .328 at the time, to the Cardinals for Heinie Mueller, who will hit only .265 over two seasons for New York. The Redbirds’ new fly chaser, a future Hall of Famer, will play an important role in the team’s world championship this season.

September 24, 1926

1926 – At the Polo Grounds, the Cardinals clinch the pennant by beating the Giants, 6 – 4, behind Flint Rhem and Bill Sherdel. Billy Southworth homers to help beat his old teammates, negating Bill Terry’s three-run home run off Rhem. The Cards are now ahead of Cincinnati by three games with two to play. The Reds lose to the Phillies today, 9 – 2.

November 21, 1928

1928 – The St. Louis Cardinals sign Billy Southworth as their new manager, replacing Bill McKechnie who goes down to Triple-A Rochester.

July 23, 1929

1929 – The Cardinals decide they made a mistake when they sent manager Bill McKechnie to Rochester and brought up Billy Southworth; they swap them back again. Both will make the Hall of Fame for their managerial work.

September 21, 1944

The Cardinals finally clinch the National League flag with a 5 – 4 win over Boston. Twenty games ahead on September 1st, the Cards then blew 15 of the next 20 games. They will finish with 105 victories and their 3rd title under Billy Southworth, whose clubs have won 316 games in 3 years. Pittsburgh finishes 14 1/2 games behind.

February 15, 1945

Billy Southworth Jr., the son of Cards manager Billy Southworth, is killed when his B29 crashes into the water off Flushing, New York. The 27-year-old was a veteran of 25 missions in Europe, and was the first player in organized baseball to enlist in World War II. The young Southworth was a well-regarded outfielder with the Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) in 1940.

November 6, 1945

Billy Southworth leaves the St. Louis Cardinals to sign a three-year contract with the Boston Braves

September 14, 1948

“Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.”

June 20, 1951

Billy Southworth’s first win as Braves manager is a breeze as Warren Spahn shuts out the Cubs, 9 – 0, and is 3 for 4 at the plate, including a home run.

October 22, 1953

The Milwaukee Braves turn a profit their first year

December 3, 2007

Dick Williams is elected into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee

July 27, 2008

Goose Gossage is inducted into the Hall of Fame. The reliever credits Dick Allen and Chuck Tanner for their support early in his career. He is the fifth relief pitcher enshrined in Cooperstown. Also inducted are Dick Williams, Walter O’Malley, Barney Dreyfuss, Bowie Kuhn and Billy Southworth; all but Williams are deceased. Larry Whiteside is honored with the J.G. Taylor Spink Award and Dave Niehaus with the Ford Frick Award.

Biography

A boyish Nebraskan, Southworth entered professional baseball against his father’s wishes and spent four decades in the game as a player and manager. As a lefthanded-hitting outfielder, he displayed consistency at the plate, speed on the bases, and sure-handedness a field. 

Billy Southworth, outfielder for the Pirates from 1918-1920, and a Hall of Fame manager

He started his minor league career in 1912 at the age of 19 and just one year later he made his debut for the Cleveland Naps. After one big league game, he returned to the minors until 1915, when he played 20 more games for the Naps. He next trip to the majors came three years later for the Pirates. After hitting .314 in 67 games for Birmingham of the Southern Association, the Pirates called him up and watched him hit .341 with 43 RBIs in 64 games. The next season the 26-year-old outfielder hit .280 with 61 RBIs, 23 steals and a league leading 14 triples. After hitting .284 in 146 games in 1920, the Pirates traded him on January 23, 1921, and with Walter Barbare, Fred Nicholson, and $15,000 to the Boston Braves for future Hall of Famer Rabbit Maranville.

He was again traded on November 12, 1923: Traded by the Boston Braves with Joe Oeschger to the New York Giants for Dave Bancroft, Bill Cunningham and Casey Stengel. His best all-around season was with the World Champion Cardinals in 1926, batting .320 with 16 HR and 99 RBI. His three-run homer in Game Two of the ’26 Series secured the victory for Grover Cleveland Alexander. He was a .297 career hitter in 1,192 games.

Southworth managed Rochester to the 1928 International League pennant and was promoted to the Cardinals the following year. Attempts to force his methods on former teammates led to dissension, and he was dismissed in July. Returning to Rochester, he won three successive pennants from 1929 to 1931, but because of bitterness and personal difficulties, he continued to incur the disfavor of the Cardinals organization. He coached the Giants in 1933 but was soon out of baseball.

Offered another chance by the Cardinals in 1935, Southworth worked his way back to the majors. Taking over in July of 1940 with St. Louis in sixth place, he guided the club to third. Under his direction, the Cardinals finished second in 1941 and then captured three successive NL pennants (1942-44) and two World Championships. He was a strict taskmaster but displayed great skill with young players. A $50,000 offer lured him to the Braves in 1946, and two years later he led them to their first pennant since 1914.

In 13 years as a ML manager, Southworth only once finished in the second division. TSN named him Manager of the Year in 1941 and 1942. His .593 won-lost percentage places him sixth among ML pilots.

Southworth was elected to the Hall of Fame as a manager by the Veteran’s Committee in 2008. 

Notes
On August 16, 1949, Southworth left the Boston club due to exhaustion and dissension in the clubhouse. His coach, Johhny Cooney, managed the team the remainder of the season. Southworth was back at the helm in 1950.

Quotes About Southworth
“Southworth takes all the credit when the Braves win and blames the players when they lose. I think he’ll quit the team and Tommy Holmes will get the job. It could happen sooner than you think.” — former Braves’ pitcher Bobby Hogue, early in 1951, predicting (correctly) that Billy Southworth would step down as Boston manager.

“Billy did a fine job for the Braves. He came to us when we were nothing and by wise decisions and smart trading ability, brought us up into the first division and then to a pennant in 1948.” — Boston Braves General Manager John Quinn

@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiTGVhcm4gTW9yZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdGVhbXMsIHBsYXllcnMsIGJhbGwgcGFya3MgYW5kIGV2ZW50cyB0aGF0IGhhcHBlbmVkIG9uIHRoaXMgZGF0ZSBpbiBoaXN0b3J5IC0gLSAtIC0gLSAtIC0gIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@

Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

Coming soon

View Billy Southworth’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).

Read more: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/billy-southworth/

If you would like to add a link or add information for player pages, please contact us here.