Bill Pertica of the 1918 Red Sox — 1918: Babe Ruth and the World Champion Boston Red Sox by Allan Wood

William Andrew Pertica Pitcher 5’9″, 165 lbs., Batted Right, Threw Right Born: March 5, 1897, Santa Barbara, California Died: December 28, 1967, Los Angeles, California Debut: August 7, 1918

Bill Pertica broke in with the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League in 1918. After the PCL shut down in July, he signed with the Red Sox. He had a good spitball and was said to resemble Cleveland’s Stan Coveleski in appearance and pitching motion.

Pertica made his major league debut on August 7, 1918, pitching three innings in relief of Joe Bush. It was his sole appearance for Boston. He went with the team to Chicago for the World Series, but pitched only batting practice. 

Pertica returned to Los Angeles for two more seasons and did not return to the big leagues until 1921, when he played three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Pitching

Year Ag Tm  Lg   W  L   G  GS  CG SHO SV   IP      H  ER  HR   BB  SO   ERA lgERAa ERA+
1918 19 BOS AL   0  0   1   0   0  0   0    3.0    3   1   0    0   1  3.00  2.70   90
1921 22 STL NL  14 10  38  31  15  2   2  208.1  212  78   9   70  67  3.37  3.67  109
1922 23 STL NL   8  8  34  14   2  0   0  117.1  153  77   5   65  30  5.91  3.85   65
1923 24 STL NL   0  0   1   1   0  0   0    2.1    2   1   0    3   0  3.86  3.86  100
 4 Yr WL% .550  22 18  74  46  17  2   2  331.0  370 157  14  138  98  4.27  3.73   87

Batting

Year Ag Tm  Lg   G   AB  R   H  2B 3B HR  RBI SB CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   TB SH HBP
1918 19 BOS AL   1    1  0   0   0  0  0   0   0      0   0  .000  .000  .000   0  0  0
1921 22 STL NL  38   70  5  10   2  0  0   2   0  0   2  16  .143  .167  .171  12  5  0
1922 23 STL NL  35   33  3   6   1  1  0   0   0  0   0  13  .182  .182  .273   9  0  0
1923 24 STL NL   1    1  0   0   0  0  0   0   0  0   0   1  .000  .000  .000   0  0  0
4 Seasons       75  105  8  16   3  1  0   2   0  0   2  30  .152  .168  .200  21  5  0

Fielding

Year Ag Tm  Lg  Pos  G     PO    A    E   DP    FP   lgFP  RnF  lgRnF  GS  Inn  
1918 19 BOS AL   P   1      0    1    0    0 1.000  .952  3.00  2.70    0    3.0
1921 22 STL NL   P  38      8   40    1    0  .980  .953  2.07  2.67   31  208.1
1922 23 STL NL   P  34      2   33    2    0  .946  .957  2.69  2.38   14  117.1
                SS   1      0    0    1    0  .000  .000  0.00  5.50           
1923 24 STL NL   P   1      1    1    0    0 1.000  .958  7.83  2.35    1    2.1
Position Total   P  74     11   75    3    0  .966  .955  2.34  2.57   46  331
                SS   1      0    0    1    0  .000  .000  0.00  5.50           
Overall Total       75     11   75    4    0  .956  .955  1.15  1.33

Minor League Pitching

Year Team         Lg   W   L    G    IP    H    ER   BB   SO   ERA
1918 Los Angeles PCL   7   6   20
1919 Los Angeles PCL  17  20   50   306   249  110  108  123   3.23
1920 Los Angeles PCL  15  13   46   297   278   93   84  117   2.82
TOTALS                39  39  116   603   527  203  192  240   3.03

Minor League: PCL - Pacific Coast League