© Bill Streicher-USA TODAY NETWORK
Phillies Legends: Cy Williams
Cy Williams was born in December 1887 and grew up in a small town in rural Indiana. He grew to be a tall, athletic man and excelled in college athletics at Notre Dame. He played as a part of the football, track, and of course, baseball teams during his time in South Bend, and attracted many professional scouts, but gave his word to sign with the Chicago Cubs once he was ready to play in the majors.
Williams stuck to that promise, and after he graduated from Notre Dame in 1912 with a degree in architecture, he went straight to the big leagues to play for the Cubs. Interestingly enough, he even turned down an offer to compete as a broad jumper and a hurdler in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.
Williams was a dead-pull hitter and as a lefty, he very rarely hit the ball to left field (think of him as the early 20th century version of Joey Gallo). Because of his massive power and inability to hit to all fields, NL managers drew up the first versions of the defensive shift where they would push the outfielders multiple steps toward the right field foul line and have the second baseman play shallow right field instead of the common second base spot.
The shift never hurt Williams too badly as he batted .306/.380/.500 in his 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1918-1930. Here are some of Williams’ most notable achievements:
- Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame
- Led the league in homers four times
- 151 assists from centerfield - 10th all time
- 251 career home runs
- 1,005 career RBI
- 1,024 career runs scored
In 1923, Cy hit an incredible 41 homers. That was not only good for the most in the league, he nearly doubled up Jack Fournier’s 22 home runs that was good for second place in the league. Most astonishingly, Williams hit more home runs in that season than the entire Boston Braves organization, who combined for just 32 blasts.
Williams had a very successful career in Philadelphia and hit 217 of his 251 career home runs with the Phillies. He may not have been a super star, but his greatness deserves to be recognized. As a matter of fact, Williams held the National League all-time home run record of 251 until Rogers Hornsby passed that mark in 1929.
He had a wild career with several up and down seasons. He may have only played for two teams, but he is the only player in MLB history to play under 14 different managers in their first 14 seasons, a record that will likely never be touched again.
Williams retired after the 1930 season. He then moved full-time to Wisconsin where he already owned a dairy farm. He utilized his architecture degree and started a construction business. A very casual yet rewarding way to live out his days until his passing in 1974 at age 86.
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