Billy Werber Biography
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- Born June 20, 1908
William Murray Werber (June 20, 1908 – January 22, 2009) was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees (1930, 1933), Boston Red Sox (1933–1936), Philadelphia Athletics (1937–1938), Cincinnati Reds (1939–1941) and New York Giants (1942). He led American League third basemen in putouts and assists once each, and also led National League third basemen in assists, double plays and fielding percentage once each. A strong baserunner, he led the AL in stolen bases three times and led the NL in runs in 1939 as the Reds won the pennant. He was born in Berwyn Heights, Maryland and batted and threw right-handed.\n', '
A 5\'10", 170-pound infielder, Werber was at spring training and toured for several weeks in July with the Yankees in 1927. He returned to North Carolina to attend school at Duke University, where he was the first Duke basketball player to earn All-America honors and also earned All-America honors in baseball. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and a recipient of the Significant Sig Award. After the spring season, he briefly played semiprofessionally until 1930 when he officially became a Yankee rookie in 1930. He appeared in only four games that season, and was sent to the minors. In his first professional game, he reached base five times, including his first at bat where, according to Ford Frick, then a sportswriter, and later commissioner of baseball, "Werber, in his first time at bat in big league competition, with two strikes on him, watched the next four balls with the coolness of a veteran." Decades later, Werber enjoyed admitting that he was so frozen by fear that he was unable to move his arms to make a swing at the ball. In 1933, Frankie Crosetti was chosen as the Yankees\' shortstop, and with Tony Lazzeri at second base and Joe Sewell on third, Werber was traded to the Boston Red Sox. In that season, he appeared in 108 games with Boston as a utility infielder at shortstop, second, and third base.\n', '
In 1934, Werber became the starting third baseman of the Red Sox. He responded with a career-high .321 batting average, including 200 hits; led the American League with 40 stolen bases, and posted double digits in doubles (41), triples (10) and home runs (11). He led the league in stolen bases in 1935 (29) and 1937 (35). Boston traded him to the Philadelphia Athletics for the 1937 season, and he joined the Cincinnati Reds in 1939.\n', '
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