Simply, Bill Pettus could hit.
He was excellent offensively, perhaps even better than that, hitting for power and average in a time where very few batters did either. Only a solid, but not exceptional, eye for the strike zone keeps Pettus from the truly elite offensive forces, and I could be convinced we are underestimating him in these projections.
He debuts as a C, and while he was fine behind the plate, it only took a few years for him to move to his permanent position, 1B, where he was a surprisingly good fielder. Pettus was useful on the basepaths, a constant threat to reach double digits in steals, but never among the league leaders.
He was, especially in the mid 1910s, a constant threat to the leaderboards in H, 2B, and HRs, although unlikely to ever lead the league fully–more of a grey ink than black ink player.
We have followed his historical record in full, with Pettus becoming a full time player in 1911 and his playing time beginning to tail off in 1918 through the end of his career in 1923. He would be a star performer in 1911, 1914, 1917 and 1918, and then in more limited appearances, 1920 and 1922.
Future revisions are likely to nudge Pettus’ playing time and performance up slightly, increasing his career numbers, and probably moving his career BA over .300 and his OPS over .800. Just a very strong offensive player who would not hurt you at 1B.
| Name | Bill Pettus (Zack) |
| ID / Status | pettus000bil / Draft |
| Pos | 1B |
| DOB / i9s Career | 08/13/1884 / 1909 - 1923 |
| Birthplace | Goliad County, TX (USA) |
| Height / Weight | 5'11" / 176 |
| B / T | L / R |
Batting Projections
| Year | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1909 | 246 | 65 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 37 | 4 | 3 | 0.264 | 0.296 | 0.394 | 0.690 |
| 1910 | 343 | 102 | 25 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 40 | 7 | 6 | 0.297 | 0.364 | 0.484 | 0.848 |
| 1911 | 517 | 152 | 40 | 8 | 10 | 51 | 54 | 19 | 8 | 0.294 | 0.357 | 0.460 | 0.818 |
| 1912 | 451 | 99 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 43 | 65 | 18 | 6 | 0.220 | 0.287 | 0.384 | 0.671 |
| 1913 | 510 | 147 | 36 | 7 | 10 | 47 | 55 | 19 | 9 | 0.288 | 0.348 | 0.445 | 0.793 |
| 1914 | 496 | 163 | 26 | 5 | 7 | 47 | 49 | 22 | 8 | 0.329 | 0.387 | 0.444 | 0.830 |
| 1915 | 578 | 144 | 37 | 7 | 12 | 35 | 48 | 14 | 8 | 0.249 | 0.292 | 0.400 | 0.692 |
| 1916 | 623 | 187 | 41 | 6 | 5 | 74 | 66 | 33 | 8 | 0.300 | 0.374 | 0.409 | 0.784 |
| 1917 | 579 | 179 | 38 | 6 | 11 | 57 | 53 | 19 | 8 | 0.309 | 0.371 | 0.453 | 0.824 |
| 1918 | 489 | 165 | 26 | 5 | 7 | 48 | 35 | 18 | 7 | 0.337 | 0.397 | 0.454 | 0.851 |
| 1919 | 391 | 117 | 20 | 2 | 5 | 38 | 35 | 12 | 5 | 0.299 | 0.361 | 0.399 | 0.760 |
| 1920 | 326 | 120 | 25 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 29 | 10 | 6 | 0.368 | 0.403 | 0.518 | 0.921 |
| 1921 | 428 | 133 | 21 | 4 | 10 | 36 | 33 | 9 | 6 | 0.311 | 0.364 | 0.449 | 0.813 |
| 1922 | 353 | 120 | 19 | 1 | 8 | 39 | 36 | 8 | 5 | 0.340 | 0.406 | 0.467 | 0.873 |
| 1923 | 246 | 63 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0.256 | 0.344 | 0.325 | 0.669 |