Lelivelt was born in Amsterdam on 21 October 1884 as Willem Johan Lelivelt. His father Franciscus Zacharias Lelivelt (later: Frank) came from Groessen, his mother Theodora Mattijssen (later: Dora) from Renkum. They married in Amsterdam on 19 June 1884, and emigrated in 1887 to the USA. At the time of the 1900 U.S. Census, the family was living at 586 S. Spaulding Avenue in Chicago.\n', '

Lelivelt began his professional baseball career playing for the Davenport Riversides of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League (Three-I League) from 1905 to 1906. He began the 1907 season with the Clinton Infants of the Three-I League and next played for the Decatur Commodores in the same Three-I League from 1907 to 1908. He compiled a 16–8 record for Decatur in 1908.\n', '

Lelivelt began the 1909 season with the Mobile Sea Gulls of the Southern Association. On July 13, 1909, he was traded by Mobile to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Frank Allen, George Suggs and $2,800. He made his major league debut in Detroit on July 19, 1909, a 5–3 loss to New York. He appeared in four games for the 1909 Tigers, two as a starter, and compiled an 0–1 record and 4.50 ERA. Although the Tigers won the American League pennant in 1909, there is no record of Lelivelt having appeared in the 1909 World Series.\n', '

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