St. Louis Browns LHP Billy Bayne, was born on April 18, 1899 in Pittsburgh, Pensylvania. Bayne woud play his first six professional baseball seasons within the St. Louis Browns organization. He was not the physical dominating pitcher as most were in his era. He stood 5'9" and only weighed 160 pounds throughout his MLB career.
Billy Bayne
St. Louis Browns LHP Billy Bayne, was born on April 18, 1899 in Pittsburgh, Pensylvania. Bayne woud play his first six professional baseball seasons within the St. Louis Browns organization. He was not the physical dominating pitcher as most were in his era. He stood 5'9" and only weighed 160 pounds throughout his MLB career.
Billy Bayne began his baseball career in 1919 with the Tulsa Oilers of the Western League. The 20-year old was a huge surprise as he reached an 18-8 record in 38 games with Tulsa. His statistics with Tulsa earned him a late season call up to join the Browns.
Billy Bayne would make his MLB debut on September 20, 1919, in the second game of a double header against the Philadelphia Athletics. He would only last three innings, allowing seven hits and three runs in the Browns' 7-2 loss. Seven days later he would pitch a complete game vs Cleveland, where he would scatter nine hits, and five runs in the 8-5 win. Bayne failed to record a strikeout in either games. Over the next five seasons (1919-24) Bill Bayne would appear in 134 games for St. Louis, primarily out of the bull pen. He would start 43 games, and finish 44, while earning just five saves.
Bayne's best game as a Browns would come on May 5, 1922 against the Detroit Tigers at Nevin Field. He would carry a no-hitter in to the bottom of the ninth inning, when pinch hitter, Larry Woodall, would single to center field. Woodall would later score in the inning, breaking up his shutout.
In his time with the Browns he earned a 24-22 record, with 193 strikeouts, 224 walks, 32 hit batters, and an ERA of 4.43. After a slow start to the 1924 season, where he allowed 32 runs in 50.2 innings, Bayne would be traded with RHP Tony Lyons and 1B Dutch Schliebner to the Toledo Mud Hens for LHP Joe Giard.
Bayne would play in the minors for four teams (Toledo, Tulsa, Atlanta Crackers, Greenville Spinners) over the next three years (1925-27) before returning to the Majors with the Cleveland Indians (1928) and Boston Red Sox (1929-30). After just one game with Boston in 1930, the Red Sox would release Bayne to the Chattanooga Lookouts, before finishing his career with the Kansas City Blues (1931-32), Memphis Chickasaws (1933-34), Williamsport Grays (1936-37), and Atlanta Crackers (1936).
After he retired from baseball, Bayne would return to St. Louis and work for the U.S. Army Transportation Material Command. There is little known about his life after baseball, except that he succumb to a long illness in 1981.
HEADLINE
"BROWNS SET THE TONE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON WITH OPENING DAY WIN"
FEATURED GAME
OPENING DAY - 1944 - Browns open their Championship season with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Jack Kramer would pitch 8 innings for the win, and George Caster would pick up the save. SS Vern Stephens would hit a home run in his first at bat i
HEADLINE
"BROWNS SET THE TONE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON WITH OPENING DAY WIN"
FEATURED GAME
OPENING DAY - 1944 - Browns open their Championship season with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Jack Kramer would pitch 8 innings for the win, and George Caster would pick up the save. SS Vern Stephens would hit a home run in his first at bat in the first inning. 1B George McQuinn would drive in 2B Don Gutteridge in the nineth inning to guarantee the win. RF Gene Moore would go 2-for-4.
BROWNS' ALL-TIME RECORD ON THIS DAY
15 WINS, 24 LOSES
1902-09: 1-4
1910-19: 3-6
1920-29: 3-6
1930-39: 3-2
1940-49: 1-6
1950-53: 4-0
DOUBLE-HEADERS
1-0
THERE WERE NO TRANSACTIONS ON THIS DATE IN BROWNS HISTORY
DEBUTS
1906- 1B Lou Nordyke, 0-for-4, Loss to Cleveland Naps 4-0
1908 - LHP Bill Grahame, 8.1 innings, two hits, three runs, three walks, three strikeouts, 1-for-3 at the plate, 3-0 Loss to the Chicago White Sox
1912 - TWO debuts in 12-7 Loss to Chicago White Sox - PH Tom Tennant, 0-for-1, one run, reached base on error, would later score the only run of his MLB career RHP Hack Spencer, Only MLB game, 1.2 IP giving up two hits, reached on error in only at bat
1923 - FOUR debuts in 9-6 Loss to Detroit Tigers. PR Harry Rice, would run for Elam Vangilder in the eighth innings, RHP Charlie Root, pitch a shutout nineth inning, PH Bill Whaley, single, replaced 1B Cedric Durst in nineth inning, 1B Johnny Schulte, nineth inning replacement for Bill Whaley
1925 - RHP Joe Giard, pitched the eighth and nineth innings, two hits, two runs, two walks, in the loss to Chicago White Sox, 14-6
1932 - TWO debuts in 14-7 Loss to Detroit Tigers, 3B Jim McLaughlin, replaces 3B Red Kress in 9th inning, 0-for-1, RBI, RHP Lou Polli, pitches the eighth inning, giving up two hits, a run, a walk, and a strikeout
1936- Catcher Tony Giuliani, 1-for-3, run, walk, strikeout in 7-2 Loss to Cleveland Indians
1944-Catcher Frank Mancuso, 1-for-3, walk, in a 2-1 win over Detroit Tigers
1950 - 1B Don Lenhardt, 2-for-4, double, two runs in a 5-3 Win over the Chicago White Sox
1953 - FOUR Debuts in 8-7 Win over Detroit Tigers in 11 innings, PH Dixie Upright, replaces Billy Hunter, struck out, PH Frank Kellert, replaces Hal White, 0-for-1, RHP Bobo Holloman, 1.1 IP, three hits, two runs, strikeout, RHP Don Larsen, started the game, goes 5.1 innings, giving up nine hits, three earned runs, three strikeouts, walk
BROWNS' BIRTHDAYS ON THIS DAY
1899 - LHP Bill Bayne (1919-24)
The 1941 were entering an era of success during the World War II era. They finished in 6th place with a 70-84 record. After 44 games, the Browns had a 19-25 record under manager Fred Haney.
The Browns would bring in Luke Sewell who guided the team to a 55-55-3 record. He slowly began to turn the team around. Sewell would remain for the ne
The 1941 were entering an era of success during the World War II era. They finished in 6th place with a 70-84 record. After 44 games, the Browns had a 19-25 record under manager Fred Haney.
The Browns would bring in Luke Sewell who guided the team to a 55-55-3 record. He slowly began to turn the team around. Sewell would remain for the next five season, finishing with a 432-410 record in that time.
The 1941 Browns were made up of talented players that were more used to building personal stats than working as a team. The Browns best hitter was outfielder Roy Cullenbine, who led the team in seven major offensive categories. He would often ignore signals from new manager Sewell, which led to his trade in 1942. The Browns pitching staff was led by several veteran pitchers who shared the workload. Elden Auker, Bob Muncrief, and Johnny Niggeling anchored the staff. George Caster, Bill Trotter, and Jack Kramer shared the duty of closing out games.
This team would later go on to win 82 games in 1942, and 89 games in their American League winning season of 1944. They would serve as the backbone of a team that had to contend with the challenges of wartime baseball and American League powers.