{{Short description|American baseball player (1913–1982)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography | name = Bill Zuber | image = Bill Zuber 1947.jpg | caption = Zuber in 1947 | position = Pitcher | birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|3|26}} | birth_place = Middle Amana, Iowa, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1982|11|2|1913|3|26}} | death_place = Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. | bats = Right | throws = Right |debutleague = MLB | debutdate = September 16 | debutyear = 1936 | debutteam = Cleveland Indians |finalleague = MLB | finaldate = September 23 | finalyear = 1947 | finalteam = Boston Red Sox | stat1label = Win–loss record | stat1value = 43–42 |statleague = MLB | stat2label = Earned run average | stat2value = 4.28 | stat3label = Strikeouts | stat3value = 383 | teams = *Cleveland Indians ({{Baseball year|1936}}–{{Baseball year|1940}}) *Washington Senators ({{Baseball year|1941}}–{{Baseball year|1942}}) *New York Yankees ({{Baseball year|1943}}–{{Baseball year|1946}}) *Boston Red Sox ({{Baseball year|1946}}–{{Baseball year|1947}}) |highlights= * World Series champion ({{wsy|1943}}) }} '''William Henry Zuber''' (March 26, 1913 – November 2, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He had an 11-year Major League Baseball career between 1936 and 1947. He pitched his entire career in the American League with the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Bill was born and raised in Middle Amana, Iowa, a community of German pietists who until 1932 practiced a form of communitarian living.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Change and a Parting: My Story of Amana|last=Yambura|first=Barbara|publisher=Iowa State University Press|year=1960|location=Iowa|pages=106}}</ref>
==Playing career==
=== Indians=== Zuber made his professional debut in 1932, and joined the Zanesville Greys of the Middle Atlantic League, a minor league team in the Indians' organization, in 1933. After several more seasons in the minor leagues, Zuber spent most of the 1936 season playing for the Greys, finishing with a 17–8 record and over 200 strikeouts.<ref>{{cite news|first=Russell|last=Hockenbury|title=Haley First in Effectiveness Among Mid-Atlantic Hurlers|publisher=The Sporting News|page=9|date=1936-12-17}}</ref> He made his Major League debut on September 16, 1936, with the Cleveland Indians.<ref name=br>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zuberbi01.shtml|title=Bill Zuber Statistics|publisher=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=2008-01-19}}</ref> In his first game against the Boston Red Sox, he pitched five innings and earned a win in the six-inning affair which was shortened due to rain.<ref>{{cite news|title=Highlights Of The Week|publisher=The Sporting News|page=2|date=1936-09-24}}</ref> After starting a second game and finishing the season with one win and one loss, he spent the 1937 season playing for the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association. He rejoined the Indians during the 1938 and 1939 seasons and was used as a relief pitcher. In the two seasons, he posted a 2–3 record and finished 16 games.<ref name=br/> He finished the 1940 season with a 1–1 record, and on April 21, 1941, the Washington Senators purchased his contract from the Indians.<ref name=br/>
===Senators and Yankees=== Zuber spent two seasons with the Senators, starting seven games and finishing 19 both seasons.<ref name=br/> He was classified 4-F by the military, and as a result was able to remain with the team during World War II.<ref name=bl>{{cite web|url=https://baseballbiography.com/bill-zuber-1913|title=The Ballplayers – Bill Zuber|publisher=baseballbiography.com|access-date=2007-01-19}}</ref> In 1942, he won a career high nine games.<ref name=br/> On January 29, 1943, Zuber was traded to the Yankees with cash for Jerry Priddy and Milo Candini.<ref name=br/> The 1943 New York Yankees went on to win the world series, with Zuber finishing the season with an 8–4 record over 20 games, which included 13 starts and 7 complete games.<ref name=br/> He did not pitch in the 1943 World Series. He remained an occasional starter the following two seasons, winning five games in both seasons and earning a 3.19 earned run average in 1945.<ref name=br/> Although he only posted a 5–11 record for the season, the Yankees were shutout 14 times during the season, seven when Zuber was pitching, a club record.<ref name=bl/><ref>{{cite news|first=Art|last=Flynn|title=Zinker Zuber Zunk in Zeven of 14 Blanks Against Yanks|work=The Sporting News|page=2|date=1945-09-27}}</ref>
===Boston Red Sox=== At the start of the 1946 season, Zuber pitched three games and had an ERA of over 12 before he was purchased by the Boston Red Sox on June 18.<ref name=br/> He went on to post a 5–1 record and a career-low 2.54 ERA during the remainder of the season.<ref name=br/> On September 21, Zuber won a game against the Senators, which gave the Red Sox their 100th victory of the season.<ref name=bl/> Zuber appeared in game four of the 1946 World Series, pitching two innings and allowing one run in a 12–3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=194610100BOS|title=1946 World Series Game 4 Box Score|publisher=Baseball Almanac|access-date=2008-01-20}}</ref> After pitching 20 games during the 1947 season, Zuber returned to the minor leagues for a season, pitching for the Louisville Colonels in 1948, before retiring.
==Life after baseball== After retirement, Zuber started a restaurant in Homestead, Iowa of the Amana Colonies in 1949.<ref>{{cite news|first=Dave|last=Dewitte|title=Zuber's Restaurant makes a return to its hotel past.|publisher=The Gazette (Cedar Rapids)|date=2007-05-27}}</ref> Zuber died in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on November 2, 1982.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} {{Baseballstats | br=z/zuberbi01 | fangraphs=1014460|brm=zuber-001wil}} *{{Find a Grave}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuber, Bill}} Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Cleveland Indians players Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:New York Yankees players Category:Boston Red Sox players Category:Cedar Rapids Bunnies players Category:Zanesville Greys players Category:Fargo-Moorhead Twins players Category:New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Category:Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Category:Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Category:Baseball players from Iowa Category:People from Iowa County, Iowa Category:1913 births Category:1982 deaths