Billy Geer

Billy Geer
Shortstop
Born: New York
Died: (1928-09-30)September 30, 1928
Chicago, Illinois
Batted: Unknown
Threw: Right
MLB debut
October 15, 1874, for the New York Mutuals
Last MLB appearance
May 10, 1885, for the Louisville Colonels
MLB statistics
Batting average.214
Home runs0
Runs batted in33
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

William H. Geer[1] (died September 30, 1928),[1] was an American Major League Baseball player who played most of his career as a shortstop for five seasons and a total of seven teams. He is most notable for his status as possibly the youngest player in Major League history.

Career

Geer made his professional baseball debut for the New York Mutuals of the National Association. The following season, while playing for the New Haven Elm Citys, he was arrested along with his roommate, Henry Luff, for burglary of several hotel rooms.[2]

Age controversy

At age 15 years 63 days, he is credited as the youngest player to ever appear in a Major League Baseball game. There is controversy about his age, or the fact that the National Association has not been officially credited as a "major league". Assuming the veracity of his date of birth, he didn't actually make his Major League debut until the age of 18 years, 3 months, when he played for the Cincinnati Reds of the National League in 1878.

References

  1. ^ a b "Billy Geer's career statistics". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
  2. ^ Nemec, David; Dave Zeman (2004). The Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia. Brassey's. p. 8. ISBN 1-57488-670-3. Retrieved November 14, 2008.