Bill Duggleby

Who was Bill Duggleby?

William James Duggleby, nicknamed "Frosty Bill," was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. He played from 1898 to 1907. He also played two games for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1902 and nine games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1907. Duggleby is the first of four major league players to hit a grand slam in his first major league at-bat; Jeremy Hermida, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Daniel Nava are the other three. As of 2011, he still holds the Phillies team record for hit batsmen for a career.

Duggleby was one of the "jumpers" who left the Phillies in 1902 for other teams, including Connie Mack's new American League team, the Athletics. The Phillies filed suit to prevent the "jumpers" — in particular, Nap Lajoie, Bill Bernhard, and Chick Fraser — from playing for any other team, a plea which was rejected by a lower court before being upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Duggleby was the first of the "jumpers" to return to the Phillies, on May 8, 1902, after playing only two games with the A's.

He was the manager of the Minor League Baseball team, the Albany Babies, in 1912.

Duggleby, a native of Utica, New York, died in Redfield, New York in 1944.