Brickyard Kennedy
Given Name: William P.
Nickname(s): Roaring Bill
1867-1915
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RHP 1892-1903 Dodgers, Giants, Pirates
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| IP | W-L | ERA |
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| Career |
3021 | 184-160 | 3.96 | | World Series |
7 | 0-1 | 5.14 |
A prototype of all the Daffy Dodgers to come, Roaring Bill, who conversed at the top of his lungs, was a lovable, eccentric illiterate. He once left the team, misdirected by a policeman who thought Bill wanted to go home to Ohio, rather than find his way from Brooklyn to the Polo Grounds. His restaurant misadventures became legendary, as he always waited until a teammate ordered, then asked for the same, though he wasn't always sure what he was getting. Once, when he reached the hotel dining room as the others were leaving, he asked, "Did you have a good dinner?" Told by one departing diner he had, Bill said to the waiter, "I'll have what he had." Later he complained to the player who had bequeathed him his dinner selection. "It was alright, except for that newfangled dessert." Bill had encountered his first charlotte russe, served in a cardboard cone. "It was that Charley Ross, the waiter called it, the crust was so tough I could hardly eat it." Kennedy was a winner his first four years with Brooklyn and went 26-20 in 1893. After three losing seasons, he rebounded to go 22-8 in 1900. As a spot starter with the Pirates, he pitched in the first World Series in 1903. Up 3-1 in games, Pittsburgh pitted Kennedy against Boston's Cy Young. They matched zeros for five innings until Pittsburgh fell apart, making four errors, losing 11-2. It was Kennedy's last game. Boston won the next three to become World Champions. (JK)
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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
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| » May 30, 1893:
Brooklyn's William "Brickyard" Kennedy allows a total of eight hits in a doubleheader as he beats Louisville 3–0 and 6–2.
» August 31, 1900: Brickyard Kennedy, en route to his 4th 20-win season for the Dodgers, walks six Phillies in a row in the 2nd inning of a 9–4 loss.
» May 11, 1901: The largest NL crowd of the year so far (8,500) fills Brooklyn's Washington Park to view the Boy Wonder from Bucknell, Christy Mathewson. Matty doesn't disappoint, topping Brooklyn's William Kennedy, 7-0, as Brooklyn manages just two hits off the Giants budding star. New York moves into 3rd place with the win.
» April 29, 1902: Brickyard Kennedy, a member of the Brooklyn Superbas for 10 years, makes his first start as a New York Giant and shuts out his old team, 6-0, on four hits. It will be Brickyard's only win of the year and his only win as a Giant. The loser is John McMakin. The Giants also announce the release of Jim Delahanty, who hit .231 in seven games. He'll reappear in the majors in 1904 and play another 11 years.
» May 16, 1903: A record 31,500 at the Polo Grounds see the Giants beat Pittsburgh, 7-3, behind Christy Mathewson. Matty allows eight hits in beating William Kennedy, who is bricked for 13 safeties. The first-place New Yorkers will soon fade, and the Pirates, now in 3rd place, will win their 3rd straight pennant.
» October 7, 1903: Cy Young, who will also pitch in four games, stops the Pirates 11–2 on six hits. The 36-year-old righthander drives in three runs. Pittsburgh's Brickyard Kennedy, pitching on his 35th birthday, is ahead 4–2 in the 6th when Honus Wagner makes two errors, and Boston scores six runs. After giving up another four runs in the 7th, Kennedy is gone, and will not pitch in the majors again. Patsy Dougherty has a single a two triples, while Chick Stahl and Jimmy Collins add three baggers.
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