Bill Bolden pitched in three games for the 1919 St. Louis
Cardinals.
William Horace Bolden was born May 9, 1893, in Dandridge,
Tennessee, in the mountains east of Knoxville, where he grew up on a farm. He
was the oldest of six children of James and Debra Jane Bolden, and was
apparently called Horace by his family, as that is how he is identified in the
1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses. He eventually went to college; by the spring of
1916, when he turned 23, he was pitching for Lincoln Memorial College (now
University) in Harrogate, Tennessee, near the Virginia border, where he was
known as “Big Bill.” On April 21 of that year he broke his ankle early in a
game against Tusculum, yet pitched a complete game. On April 26, 1917, he set a
school record by striking out 18 batters, also against Tusculum. On June 5 of
that same year he filled out his draft registration, which showed his address
as simply “R. 3, Dandridge, Tenn,” his occupation as farmer, his employer as
“J.E. Bolden on J.E. Bolden’s farm,” and his physical description as tall,
medium build, grey eyes, dark hair. He did not serve in the military.
In 1918, or thereabouts, Bill married Gertrude Viola
Jeffers. On April 7, 1919, he pitched a shutout against Washington & Lee,
hitting a solo home run in the ninth. On May 22, an article in the Sporting
News mentioned that the St. Louis Cardinals had signed two collegians:
One of them is a six-foot-four-inch pitcher from down in Tennessee named Bolden. He has been burning them up for a country college near Cumberland Gap and Scout Charley Barrett made the trip to the hill country to get his signature on a contract.
The Cardinals kept Bill on the major league roster, but he
didn’t get into a game until June 27, when he started in Chicago against the
Cubs. He was removed with the score 2-2 after walking the leadoff hitter in the
bottom of the 9th and ended up with the loss. The Rock Island
Argus reported the next day:
Opposed to Douglas was Bill Bolden, a husky native of Tennessee and an alumnus of Lincoln Memorial college, who gave the Cubs a stiff argument and demonstration that he has some pitching wares worth looking over.
It was Bolden’s first game above the semi-pro class, and he might have staved off the defeat in the ninth if he had been permitted to stick to the slab. But the inevitable tragedy appeared and three different Cards hurled in the ninth inning to three different Cubs.
Bill didn’t get into another game until July 5 in
Cincinnati, when he relieved Marv Goodwin with one out in the first, the bases
loaded, and one run in. He allowed a bases-clearing double to Larry Kopf; when
he started the second inning with a single, a sacrifice bunt, and a triple,
manager Branch Rickey took him out of the game.
Bill pitched again two days later, in Pittsburgh, when he
came in to start the bottom of the fourth inning with the Cards down 6-3. He
got through the fourth and the fifth pretty easily, but in the sixth he allowed
three runs on a triple, two singles, and a hit batter, and was pinch-hit for in
the top of the seventh. As it happened, that concluded his major league
career—5.25 ERA, .333 batting average (1 for 3).
Rickey sent Bill to the Houston Buffaloes of the Class B
Texas League, where he pitched very well, ending up with a 7-5 record and 1.81
ERA in 98 innings. On September 9 he won the second game of a doubleheader
after sitting out for eight days, as reported on in an at times indecipherable
manner in the next day’s Houston Post:
William Horace Bolden played the leading role in the final game. One might well say that it was a Horace on Billy Smith, as few expected Horace to deliver. But the ample frame of Bill had been well rested in an eight-day grace, and he appeared on the hill zipping over more genuine and surprising stuff than has been exhibited in these parts in several weeks. Bill had a broad smile in one hand and a sweeping curve in the other, and the way he worked the pair into a productive whole was something to bring tears to the eyes. Verily, Bill was as a moonshiner possessed, and the fact that he whiffed six of the guests and contributed a run and a hit to boot indicates that he was somewhere present in the goings-on…
Then came that second game. The paid admissions were more or less astonished when Bolden hauled his liberal person to the mound, the prevailing opinion being that the Tennessee mountaineer was on the discard, but once he unlimbered his heaviest artillery and began mowing the enemy down, there was no doubt but what he was the gent for the job. Bill hasn’t looked better since he became a Buff. He had everything, including a bad disposition once or twice, and exhibited as much as any hurler of the year…
During the off-season Bill reverted to the Cardinals’
roster. On January 3, 1920, the US Census found him, Gertrude, and
four-month-old William Clark Bolden renting from his parents; Bill’s occupation
is given as professional ballplayer. He went to spring training in Texas with
the Cardinals, and on March 19 the Brownsville Herald printed a story by
James M. Gould of the St. Louis Star:
Rickey’s Men Slam Way Through 13-7 Victory; Tennessee Boy a “Find”
…The win was all the more satisfactory to Manager Rickey because of the showing made by Pitcher Bill Bolden, the big Tennessee mountaineer who had a good season with Houston in the Texas League last year. After the Athletics had hit Elmer Jacobs hard and often, Bolden saved the situation to such good purpose that from the time he ascended the hill, the Mackmen were helpless.
Bolden’s work was really superb. He went to the mound to start the fourth inning. Strunk, the first man to face him, combed out a single. He died on the bases and the next Philadelphian to see first was Dugan, in the eighth inning, he being the recipient of a free walk. Bolden showed the best form of any pitcher Rickey has trotted out this spring and, if he can keep up the good work and show that yesterday’s game was not a mere flash in the pan, he has just about assured himself of a big league job this year.
It didn’t happen that way, though, and on April 9 Rickey
sent Bill to the Kansas City Blues of the Class AA American Association. The
June 24 issue of the Sporting News included the following anecdote:
One day pitcher Rip Collins of the Yankees was telling the other players about a pitcher in Texas, Bill Bolden by name, who “had more speed than Walter Johnson.”
“How do you know?” somebody put in. “You never saw Johnson pitch.”
“No,” replied Collins, “and you never saw Bolden pitch.”
The Blues used Bill as both a starter and a reliever, but he
didn’t pitch well, and had a 4-13 record and a 6.09 ERA when, on July 22, the
team returned him to the Cardinals. He didn’t make it to St. Louis, though, as
the Houston Buffaloes made a request to have his services again and Branch
Rickey obliged them. Houston seemed to agree with Bill, as he pitched well for
them again, with a 2.22 ERA in 69 innings in seven games. It was possible for
him to pitch almost ten innings per game because he won a 13 inning game on
August 28, driving in the winning run, and a 12 inning shutout on September 12,
the last day of the season. In December, as a result of some unspecified
transaction, the Buffaloes acquired ownership of his contract from the
Cardinals.
A report from a Houston correspondent, dated March 20, in the
March 24, 1921, Sporting News, included the following:
Big Bill Bolden, bigger than ever, blew in on Wednesday. He reported rather late, for a man carrying so much surplus, but by consistent training has enough time to take off the 20 or so pounds excess.
In the first week of April, the Rip Collins/Walter Johnson
story appeared in many newspapers. Bill got off to a decent start as a pitcher,
but an excellent one as a hitter. In the weekly stats that appeared in the
papers on May 22, he was listed at the top of the hitters with a .632 batting
average, 12 for 19. On June 26 he was still at the top of the list at .415, 17
for 41, though with much fewer at-bats than the regular players. At that point
he had appeared in 16 games, 13 of them as a pitcher, with 100 innings pitched
and a 6-6 record. He spent the whole season in Houston, and ended up with a
15-14 record and a 2.71 ERA in 259 innings in 31 games as a pitcher; thanks to
a number of pinch-hitting appearances he played in 45 games total, hitting .339
with a .440 slugging percentage.
In August, Gertrude had given birth to a daughter, Kathleen,
but she and Bill may not have still been together by that point. Sometime in
1922 Bill married his second wife, Hazel Rucker.
During spring training 1922 the Houston correspondent to the
Sporting News commented on Bill’s enthusiasm. He pitched a shutout in
his first start of the season, but faltered after that; the May 11 Sporting
News mentioned that:
One pitcher in the Texas League who is a disappointment this season is Bill Bolden of Houston. He generally gets an awful hammering when he goes to the mound.
On May 31 the Buffaloes released Bill; three days later he
was signed by the San Antonio Bears, also of the Texas League, and he came into
the game in relief that same day, against Houston. He lost the game, but hit a
home run and a double. The June 15 Sporting News reported:
SHOWING YOU NEVER CAN TELL ABOUT IT
WHO’D A THOUGHT BOLDEN AND PEARSON WOULD FAIL?
When Such Old Reliables Go Wrong It’s No Wonder Houston’s Manager Worries Himself Sick
HOUSTON, Tex., June 11.—Starting the season with a club that he expected to prove a winner, it is hardly necessary in the light of things that have come to pass, to admit that George Whiteman has been disappointed…
It is entirely reasonable that Whitey should have depended on such pitchers as Ike Pearson and Bill Bolden, two of last year’s regulars. What have they done?
Big Bill, he with the broad shoulders and much avoirdupois, who hails from the Tennessee mountains, is no longer on the local roster—due to a mixture of “good, bad and indifferent” work, mostly indifferent…
Bill did a lot of relief pitching for San Antonio, as well
as pinch-hitting, and on July 9 he came into the game in right field and went
two-for-two with a home run, “one of the longest drives ever made at Gulfview
Park” in Galveston. The next day, as reported in the San Antonio Light,
Bolden, the mountainous moundsman who has been making a name for himself as relief pitcher lately, was the hero again Monday. Big Bill relieved Couchman in the second inning after the fifth run had scored, and retired the side, then held the slugging Exporters to one more run for the rest of the distance.
The same edition included this item:
Bolden’s Bat Turned Down; Too Light and Little Says Edington
The illusion that it takes a spar off a ship to knock the ball a “fur piece” is dispelled again.
“Stump” Edington, clean-up hitter on the Beaumont team, wandered to the Bears’ bench before Monday [sic] game looking for “trading timber.” Many ball players like to swap bats, especially if they have broken their favorite stick or can’t find one that exactly suits them.
“How about this one?” asked the Bruin boss, Hub Northen, grinning and picking up the bat that belongs to Bill Bolden.
Edington weighed it in his big hands, swung it a couple of times and threw it down.
“Too little and too light for me,” he said.
Within two hours after that remark, Bolden had used that little “match stick” to paste out a double and a triple. The day before, he put a homer in the clubhouse door at Galveston with it. You never can tell.
On July 16 the San Antonio Express and the Light
both ran photos of Bill. The Light said:
A Pitcher Who Hits
When Bill Bolden, giant pitcher, loses his stuff—he doesn’t show any signs of it right now, by the way—he ought to be able to stay in the Texas League anyway as an outfielder. For Bill can crash the apple, the chief asset of an outfielder. His timely and long distance hitting has been a feature of the Bears’ winning attack lately. Bolden has been making a reputation as a relief pitcher, also.
From the Express:
Bill Bolden Aiding Bears Win Games by Hard and Consistent Hitting
President Benson and Manager Northen used their baseball knowledge when the Houston Buffs placed Bill Bolden on the market a few weeks ago by purchasing the big pitcher outright for the purpose of bolstering up the local staff. Since joining San Antonio, Bolden has not only pitched bang-up ball, but has proven that he is one of the most consistent and hard-slugging batsmen in the Texas League.
Among the features performed by the big boy during the present race was his record hit at Galveston during the double bill on July 9, when Bolden was given credit for making the longest drive ever recorded on a ball lot in the Gulf City. These hits have not been spasmodic as local fans will testify, as several of his wallops out at League Park have stamped him a keen rival of Clarence Kraft of the Panthers and Hank Elbel of the Sandcrabs, who bear the labels of premier four-base clouters of the Roberts circuit.
Bolden’s home is in Dandridge, Tenn., a few miles out of Knoxville, and it was on the lots of his home town that he adopted the national sport as a “bread-maker.” His professional engagement was in 1919, when he became a member of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League…
I don’t know what changed between then and August 9 (based on later stories, I'm guessing it had something to do with "ambition"), but on
that date it was announced that Bill was being sent on option to the
Bloomington Bloomers of the Class B Three-I League, the Bears retaining ownership.
I know that he pitched for Bloomington on August 14 and 15, then, somehow, he
ended up back in the Texas League with the Beaumont Exporters, his fourth team
of the season, where on the 27th he played right field and batted
third in the lineup. He seems to have been mainly, or even exclusively, an
outfielder for Beaumont. I didn’t find any stats for his time at Bloomington,
but his Texas League numbers for the year were pitching: 4.95 ERA in 132
innings in 28 games, and hitting: .299/.325/.494 in 154 at-bats in 69 games. He
played 23 games in the outfield.
On February 17, 1923, the San Antonio Light reported:
Word also arrives that the Bears are likely to have a “new” pitcher who was on the staff for a time last season. The gentleman under discussion is Bill Bolden, the big, unambitious right-hander who can also hit the ball far and wide. Bill had no pepper last year; he didn’t care and he didn’t keep in shape. Now it is learned that Dan Cupid has formed an alliance with the Bruins. Bill has married a girl in Dandruff, Tennessee—that’s the way the town seems to be spelled on the postmark—and he has decided he will make good in baseball. Bill knows how to pitch and has the natural ability, and his stick, with ambition helping his swing, should break up many a ball game.
On the other hand, the Sporting News reported on
March 15:
Nothing has been heard from Pitchers Bolden and Henderson, and it is supposed they will not play ball this year. Bolden, a giant in stature, has everything needed to make a pitcher except ambition. It is possible this same lack of ambition is the reason for not hearing from him. He may not have enough of it to take his pen in hand and write a few lines.
The May 31 Sporting News included Bill in a list of
San Antonio players who were either on the voluntary retired list or the suspended
list. Then, on June 9, the Knoxville News reported:
A NEW HURLER
He’s Big Righthander From Texas.
A new pitcher has been signed by Manager Moffet of the Pioneers.
He is William Bolden, big righthander from San Antonio of the Texas League, and is already in Knoxville ready for action. The new twirler has a good record having played with San Antonio for the past four years.
Well, no, he played in the Texas League the past four years,
but most of that was with Houston. And it’s interesting that the reporter
apparently has no idea that Bill is a local boy.
The Sporting News weighed in on June 21:
Big Bill Bolden, who a couple of years ago was one of the best pitchers in the Texas League, but who last year could not get started, has been placed with the Knoxville Club in the Appalachian League. Bolden has everything that it takes to make a major league pitcher except ambition. And now that Bill has taken to himself a wife, and there are two mouths to feed and four feet to shoe, he may take things seriously, and get in there and show some of his old time form.
Meanwhile, Bill had made a pinch-hitting appearance, and
then, from the June 15 Knoxville News:
“Big” Bolden, former Lincoln Memorial university pitcher, who went to the majors and then back to San Antonio, made his debut with the Pioneers.
Bolden’s debut wasn’t much of a success, in as far as the Pioneers were concerned, for the Soldiers found him and landed on his deliveries for ten safeties, which, coupled with an error by Hall, gave them their seven runs.
The next day he entered the game as a replacement for the
left fielder, and three days after that he came in as a replacement right
fielder; on the 19th the News reported “’Big’ Bolden, pitcher, has
been turned back to San Antonio.” Apparently he didn’t go, and that was the end
of his professional career. Each fall for the next four years, when the professional teams announced their reserve lists, Bill appeared on San Antonio's list under "voluntarily retired."
In 1929 and 1930 there were reports of “Big” Bolden playing
for an independent amateur team in Newport, near Dandridge. In the 1930 census William,
Hazel, six-year-old Betty and not-quite-two-year-old William H. Jr. are living
and farming with James and Debra Jane. In the 1940 census Bill, again
identified as Horace, is living on his own farm with Betty and Horace Jr. He is
listed as married, but Hazel, also listed as married, is a resident nurse in a
hospital in nearby Jefferson City and is counted by the census there. His
children with Gertrude, now 20 and 18, live with her, her second husband, and
their half-sister. James and Debra Jane, now 72 and 68, live on their farm with
teenage grandsons Frank Jr., Arthur and Donald.
That’s the last I know of Bill until his death at age 73, on
December 8, 1966, in a hospital in Jefferson City, of “pulmonia bilateral.” His
occupation was given as farmer, and his address was R #3, Dandridge, same as on
his 1917 draft card, but I don’t know if that means he took over his parents’
farm or just that he was in the same area. In any case, it seems as if his life,
other than the 1916-23 period, was extremely constant. His
obituary did not appear in the Sporting News, nor did I find one
anywhere else. Hazel passed away in
1972.
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