| Bill Bergen | |
|---|---|
 Bergen in 1903 with Cincinnati Reds | |
| Catcher | |
| Born:(1878-06-13)June 13, 1878 North Brookfield, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| Died: December 19, 1943(1943-12-19) (aged 65) Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 6, 1901, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 20, 1911, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .170 |
| Home runs | 2 |
| Runs batted in | 193 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
William Aloysius Bergen (June 13, 1878 – December 19, 1943) was an American professionalbaseballcatcher. He played eleven seasons inMajor League Baseball (MLB) from 1901 to 1911 for theCincinnati Reds andBrooklyn Superbas/Dodgers.[1] He was one of the worst-hitting position players in the history of the Major Leagues, but was also one of the best defensive catchers of all time. His -6.9 careerWAR (according toBaseball Reference) is the second worst among every MLB position player in history.
Bergen was a fine defensive catcher whose dubious claim to fame was his offensive ineptitude. No one played in the major leagues as long as Bill Bergen and hit so poorly. Bergen had 3,028 careerat-bats, during which he compiled abatting average of .170 (516/3028), a record low for players with more than 2,500plate appearances. Pitchers are traditionally the weakest-hitting player in the lineup, yet three hurlers with more than 2,500 plate appearances accrued higher career batting averages than Bergen:Pud Galvin with .201,Bobby Mathews with .203, andCy Young with .210. Among position players (non-pitchers), the next lowest career batting average isBilly Sullivan with .213[2] (a remarkable .043 differential). Bergen's careeron-base percentage (OBP) was .194—he is the only player with at least 500 at-bats who tallied an OBP under .200. During five of his major league seasons, both his OBP andslugging percentage were under .200. He hit only twohome runs in his career—and both wereinside-the-park. In 1909, Bergen hit .139, the lowest average in history for a player with the minimum number of plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.[3] From 1904 to 1911, Dodger pitchers as a group outhit Bergen, .169 to .162.[4]
Per 150 games played (extended to an average MLB season), Bergen averaged only 11 extra-base hits and 15 walks. Throughout his 3,229 career plate appearances, Bergen was neverhit by a pitch, a major league record that stood for over 85 years until broken byMark Lemke in 1997.
In 1909, Bergen set another record for futility with a span of 45 consecutive at-bats without a base hit, which at the time was the longest streak ever by a position player (non-pitcher). The record stood for 102 years, and was broken in 2011 byEugenio Vélez,[5] who also played for the Dodgers. Baseball historian Craig Wright wrote, "Forgotten today is how close Bergen came to extending his record. He ended his streak with what was described as a 'lucky hit,' an infield hit he beat out after his grounder 'caromed off [pitcher Ed Reulbach]'s glove.”[6]
Despite his lack of batting skills, Bergen remained an active major leaguer for so long because he played inan era when pitching dominated and he was a first-rate defensive catcher. In 1908,The Sporting News called him one of the best catchers in the game. Charles Faber, in his bookBaseball Ratings, called Bergen the third-best defensive catcher in history, behindGabby Hartnett andPop Snyder, and ahead ofJohnny Edwards andRoy Campanella.Total Baseball ranks Bergen the fifth-best defensive catcher of all-time.[7] By the measure ofwin shares, Bergen was the second best defensive catcher in the majors during his career, trailing onlyOssee Schreckengost of thePhiladelphia Athletics.
Bergen ranks ninth on the all-time list forassists[8] by a catcher with 1,444, despite never being a full-time player. His .989fielding percentage in 1908 set a record (since broken) for catchers.[9] On August 23, 1909, he threw out six St. Louis Cardinals who attempted tosteal bases, which tied the record.[4] (Bergen's record was in question for years due to inconsistent contemporary reporting, but is now acknowledged to be six.[10]) That year Bergen threw out 138 attempted steals in only 112 games behind the plate.[11] His career percentage for throwing out base-stealers was 47.3%, as compared to a league average of 45% in that timeframe.[12] He led the league in Caught Steals in 1906 and 1909.
Bergen tallied 100 assists as a catcher in nine seasons (in seven of which he caught less than 100 games), leading the league in 1904, 1906, and 1909. By comparison, the following Hall of Fame catchers reached 100 assists in a season the following number of times (despite in most cases playing far more games each season than Bergen):Johnny Bench (1);Yogi Berra (0);Mickey Cochrane (0);Ray Schalk (10);Roger Bresnahan (6);Roy Campanella (0);Gary Carter (4);Bill Dickey (4);Carlton Fisk (0);Gabby Hartnett (2);Ernie Lombardi (0);Rick Ferrell (0); andBuck Ewing (4).
Most of the teams for which Bergen played were not very good, which could partly explain his being retained on rosters year after year. The Dodgers had a losing record every year Bergen was on the team, including a dismal 48–104 record in 1905. (The 1903 Cincinnati Reds were the only team he played on that finished with a winning record.[13]) After he was released from the big leagues, Bergen played in theminor leagues until 1914. He coached and managed in minor league ball until 1920, at which point he retired from the game.[7]
Bergen died inWorcester, Massachusetts, on December 19, 1943, ofheart disease. He is buried at St. John Cemetery, in Worcester.
His brother,Marty Bergen, was a big-league catcher for theBoston Beaneaters, and suffered from severe mental illness. Marty Bergen brutally murdered his family and committed suicide in 1900.[14]
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