{{Short description|American baseball player (1847–1899)}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Cal Hawk |image= |position=Pitcher |birth_date =October 20, 1847<ref>Baptism record for William Clarence Hawk, birth 20 Oct 1847, place Leechburg, Armstrong, Pennsylvania, USA, father George Hawk , mother Elcia Hawk, denomination Presbyterian, Greystone United Presbyterian Church. Source Citation: Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 421. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 [database on-line].</ref><ref>1850 U.S. Census entry for George and Eliza Hawk. Son William, age 3, residing in Allegheny, Armstrong, Pennsylvania. Source Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: Allegheny, Armstrong, Pennsylvania; Roll: M432_749; Page: 140B; Image: 286. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line].</ref> |birth_place= Leechburg, Pennsylvania |death_date ={{death date and age|1899|12|16|1847|10|20}} |death_place=Freeport, Pennsylvania |bats= |throws= |debutleague = MLB |debutdate= |debutyear= |debutteam= |finalleague = MLB |finaldate= |finalyear= |finalteam= |statleague = MLB |stat1label= |stat1value= |stat2label= |stat2value= |stat3label= |stat3value= |teams= * |highlights= *First baseball pitcher to receive a stated salary }}
'''William Clarence "Cal" Hawk''' (October 20, 1847 – December 16, 1899) was an American professional baseball player in the 1870s.
== Career == He played as a pitcher for the Oil City Senecas, the New Castle Neshannocks and the Bradford team. In 1873, he became the first pitcher to receive a stated salary, being paid $62 per month.<ref>{{cite news|title=Squibs of the Diamond|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=September 2, 1917|page=8 (sports)|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19170902&id=q0UbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aUkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2703,391958}}</ref> He has been called "the first real professional hurler the game ever had."<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Morris|title=Catcher: The Evolution of an American Folk Hero|page=82|publisher=Government Institutes|year=2009 |isbn=978-1615780037 }}</ref> In 1899, the ''Sporting Life'' reported that he was "one of the first twirlers to pitch a curve ball, which in his time was considered a wonderful feat."<ref name="Obit" />
=== Retirement === Hawk retired from professional baseball in 1877, though he continued to participate in games at Freeport, Pennsylvania.<ref name=Obit/>
== Later life and death == Hawk was employed by Guckenheimer & Bros. distillery in Freeeport after retiring from baseball. While at work, he fell on his head onto a cement floor from a height of approximately 12 feet. The concussion from the fall led to traumatic meningitis, and Hawk died at his Freeport home, in December 1899 at age 52.<ref name="Obit">{{cite news|title=A Veteran Dead: Cal Hawk, a Noted Player of the '70's, Called Out by the Great Umpire|newspaper=The Sporting Life|date=December 30, 1899|page=11|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1899/VOL_34_NO_15/SL3415011.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=W. C. Hawk|newspaper=Greensburg Daily Tribune|date=December 19, 1899|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=54804547&PIpi=97946744}}</ref> He was buried at the Freeport Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|title=William Clarence Hawk|publisher=Find A Grave|access-date=July 11, 2014|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54804547&ref=acom}}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawk, Cal}} Category:1847 births Category:1899 deaths Category:19th-century baseball players Category:19th-century American sportsmen Category:Bradford (minor league baseball) players Category:Oil City (minor league baseball) players Category:New Castle Neshannocks players Category:People from Freeport, Pennsylvania Category:Baseball players from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania