{{Short description|American baseball player (1897–1965)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Earl Webb |position=Outfielder / First baseman |image=Earl_Webb.png |bats=Left |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1897|9|17}} |birth_place=White County, Tennessee, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1965|5|23|1897|9|17}} |death_place=Jamestown, Tennessee, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate= August 13 |debutyear= 1925 |debutteam= New York Giants |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=October 1 |finalyear=1933 |finalteam=Chicago White Sox |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.306 |stat2label=Hits |stat2value=661 |stat3label=Home runs |stat3value=56 |stat4label=Runs batted in |stat4value=333 |teams= * New York Giants ({{mlby|1925}}) * Chicago Cubs ({{mlby|1927}}–{{mlby|1928}}) * Boston Red Sox ({{mlby|1930}}–{{mlby|1932}}) * Detroit Tigers (1932–{{mlby|1933}}) * Chicago White Sox (1933) |highlights= '''MLB records''' * Most doubles in a season: 67 (1931)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Most doubles by a player in a season |url=https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/most-doubles-by-a-player-in-a-season |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250625040053/https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/most-doubles-by-a-player-in-a-season |archive-date=June 25, 2025 |access-date=June 24, 2025 |website=StatMuse}}</ref> }} '''William Earl Webb''' (September 17, 1897 – May 23, 1965) was an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball, playing from 1925 to 1933. He played for five teams, including the Boston Red Sox for three years. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in White County, Tennessee.
In 1931, while playing for the Red Sox, he hit a record 67 doubles, a mark that still stands {{As of|2025|June|alt=today}}.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Single-Season Leaders & Records for Doubles |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/2B_season.shtml |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Webb set that record as the Red Sox played only 153 games that year, less than the standard 154 games or the current 162-game schedule.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Nowlin |first=Bill |title=Earl Webb |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/earl-webb/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref> That season, Webb also finished second in the American League (AL) in extra base hits (84) and seventh in batting average (.333), as well as coming in sixth in the AL Most Valuable Player voting. He had a career batting average of .306 with 56 home runs and 333 runs batted in.
Webb's professional career began with the Class D Clarksdale Cubs in 1921. He briefly reached the majors in 1925, going hitless with one walk in four plate appearances for the New York Giants. He returned to MLB with the Chicago Cubs in 1927, playing in 164 games over two seasons. He established himself as a regular with the Red Sox in 1930 before his record-setting season the following year. On June 12, 1932, Boston traded him to the Detroit Tigers for Dale Alexander and Roy Johnson. The Chicago White Sox picked Webb off waivers from the White Sox on May 9, 1933. That would be his last season in the majors, though he two seasons each for the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers and Knoxville Smokies.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Earl Webb Minor Leagues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=webb--001wil |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>
After his professional career, he worked for the Consolidated Coal Company in Kentucky and managed the company's baseball team.<ref name=":1" /> He died on May 23, 1965, at his home in Jamestown, Tennessee.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4oEwCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22earl+Webb%22+jamestown+obituary&pg=PA418 |title=The Baseball Necrology: The Post-Baseball Lives and Deaths of More Than 7,600 Major League Players and Others |date=2015-07-11 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0930-0 |page=418}}</ref>
==See also== * List of Major League Baseball doubles records * List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
==References== <references />
==External links== {{Commons}} {{Baseballstats|mlb= 124017 |br=w/webbea01|brm=webb--001wil}}
{{s-start}} {{succession box | before = George Burns | title = ''Single season doubles record holders'' | years = 1931–present | after = ''current'' }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Earl}} Category:1897 births Category:1965 deaths Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Baseball players from Tennessee Category:Boston Red Sox players Category:Chicago Cubs players Category:Chicago White Sox players Category:Detroit Tigers players Category:New York Giants (baseball) players Category:Clarksdale Cubs players Category:Knoxville Smokies players Category:Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Category:Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Category:Major League Baseball right fielders Category:Memphis Chickasaws players Category:Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Category:Pittsfield Hillies players Category:People from Cumberland County, Tennessee Category:People from Jamestown, Tennessee Category:People from White County, Tennessee Category:Toledo Mud Hens players Category:Chicago White Sox coaches