MLB / Players

Bill Sowders

HandednessBats Right · Throws Right

Listed at6 ft 0 in · 155 lb

BornNovember 29, 1864 · Louisville, KY, USA

MLB debutApril 24, 1888

Final gameJune 19, 1890

Seasons3 (1888–1890)

Boston Beaneaters 1888–1889; Pittsburg Alleghenys 1889–1890

Percentile snapshot

1888 season — qualified pitchers

44.2

42.3

57.7

55.8

42.3

SHO

32.7

278

57.7

76.9

46.2

132

46.2

84.6

317.0

48.1

ERA

2.07

86.5

WHIP

1.107

61.5

K/9

3.75

46.2

FIP

2.53

84.6

FIP-

89.2

ERA+

136.6

82.7

sWAR

5.4

73.1

of 53 qualified 1888 pitchers (min 137 IP)

Career, era-adjusted

sWAR

4.4

77.9

sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1888	36	125	122	14	18	2	6	3	24	1	.148	.168	.164	.332	20.1	5.9	.157	5.4
1889	22	69	65	6	17	1	5	4	12	0	.262	.304	.277	.581	68.8	62.1	.284	-1.0
1890	17	52	50	3	9	0	4	2	7	1	.180	.212	.180	.392	27.8	14.3	.195	0.0

Pitching

Season	G	GS	W	L	SV	CG	SHO	H	ER	BB	SO	HR	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	FIP	FIP-	ERA+	sWAR
1888	36	35	19	15	0	34	2	278	73	73	132	3	317.0	2.07	1.107	3.75	2.53	89.2	136.6	5.4
1889	20	15	7	7	3	12	0	147	67	52	43	4	94.7	6.37	2.102	4.09	4.47	111.1	63.2	-1.0
1890	15	11	3	8	0	9	0	117	52	24	30	1	106.0	4.42	1.330	2.55	2.96	83.0	80.7	0.0

sWAR is the season TOTAL for a player who both hit and pitched: the record book carries one figure per season, not a split, so the same number appears on both lines rather than being counted twice.

Career totals

Batting

246

237

RBI

.1857

OBP

.2154

SLG

.1983

OPS

.4137

Pitching

G (P)

SHO

518

SO (P)

205

BB allowed

149

ERA

3.338

WHIP

1.3348

K/9

3.56

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.