William Alfred Hands, Jr. (May 6, 1940 – March 9, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1965 to 1975. His best season came in 1969 with the Chicago Cubs, when he won 20 games.
Hands, whose nickname was "Froggy," signed as an amateur free agent with the San Francisco Giants in 1959, made his major league debut with them in 1965, pitching in four games that season. After the 1965 season, Hands was traded to the Chicago Cubs with catcher Randy Hundley for outfielder Don Landrum and reliever Lindy McDaniel,[4] a trade regarded at the time as a success for the Giants,[5] and which went on to be viewed as one of the best in Cubs history.[6]
In 1966 with the Chicago Cubs, he started 26 games and relieved 15, going 8-13 with a 4.58 ERA. By 1968, at age 28, he went 16-10 with a 2.89 ERA, followed up in 1969 by his best season, as he went 20-14 with a 2.49 ERA. He threw 18 complete games and pitched 300 innings, while pitching in a rotation along with Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins.[3]
Of Hands, Ferguson Jenkins said, "Hands was an 'even-tempered guy' with a good sinking fastball and sharp slider who did his job and never complained about being underappreciated on a team full of stars."[6]
He finished his career with a record of 111-110 and an ERA of 3.35.[4]
After retiring from baseball, Hands was a salesman for an oil company on Long Island. He later opened up a service station, the Orient Service Center, in Orient, New York, where he lived for many years with his wife Sandy; his children (Heather, Billy, and Heidi) and grandchildren also lived in Orient.[8]
^Durso, Joseph. "Cubs Crush Mets, 9–3; Hands Is Winner", The New York Times, April 27, 1969. Accessed March 6, 2011. "Last season he beat the Mets four straight times without a loss, and allowed them about half a run a game. No other graduate, of Rutherford High School has harassed them more."
^Manas, Steve. "Show Of Hands Dominates Baseball Camp", Daily Record, July 9, 1975. Accessed April 22, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "That means Bill Hands, as he had done so often during the past 17 years, must once again leave his family and go on the road. The Rangers' 35-year-old righthander, born in Rutherford and a resident of Parsippany since 1965, paid a visit to the Jack Mott-Fred Leeney Baseball Camp at Smith Field yesterday and spoke to more than 130 boys, aged 7-15, and 22 instructors, former high school players, college players and coaches, about what else? baseball."
^After retiring from baseball, Hands was a salesman for an oil company on Long Island. He later opened up a service station in Orient, N.Y.
