Walter William Pierce (April 2, 1927 – July 31, 2015) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball between 1945 and 1964 who played most of his career for the Chicago White Sox. He was the team's star pitcher in the decade from 1952 to 1961, when they posted the third best record in the major leagues, and received the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award for the American League (AL) in 1956 and 1957 after being runner-up in both 1953 and 1955. A seven-time All-Star, he led the AL in complete games three times despite his slight build, and in wins, earned run average (ERA) and strikeouts once each. He pitched four one-hitters and seven two-hitters in his career, and on June 27, 1958 came within one batter of becoming the first left-hander in 78 years to throw a perfect game.
He was one of the principal figures in Chicago's fierce rivalry with the New York Yankees; particularly notable were his matchups with Whitey Ford, with the two left-handers opposing one another as starters 14 times from 1955 to 1960. Pierce's record suffered from pitching so much against New York – who he faced more often than any other team – when the Yankees dynasty was at its peak; but although his career record against New York was only 25–37, that was still slightly better than the 27–41 mark compiled by National League (NL) championship teams over 11 World Series against the Yankees during the same period.
After joining the San Francisco Giants in 1962, Pierce played a pivotal role in helping them win the NL pennant, going 12–0 in home games and getting a three-hit shutout and a save in a three-game playoff against the Los Angeles Dodgers to clinch the title. His 1,999 career strikeouts were the fifth most by a left-hander when he retired, and his AL total of 1,842 ranked ninth in league history. He also ranked tenth among left-handers in career wins (211), sixth in games started (432) and games pitched (585), eighth in shutouts (38) and ninth in innings pitched (3,306+2⁄3). He holds the White Sox franchise record for career strikeouts (1,796), and his club marks of 186 wins, 2,931 innings and 390 starts are team records for a left-hander. The White Sox retired his number 19 in 1987, and unveiled a statue in his honor at U.S. Cellular Field in 2007; he was selected to the White Sox All-Century Team in 2000.
Pierce was born in Detroit, Michigan, to pharmacist Walter Pierce and his wife Julia, and grew up in Highland Park. He showed his first interest in baseball at age ten. He recalled: "I refused to have my tonsils removed. My folks offered me a major league baseball and a good glove if I'd have the operation. I took the payola. It really was a thrill to throw around that 'league' ball."
After starting out as a first baseman, he switched to pitching to emulate his hero, Detroit Tigers star Tommy Bridges, who like Pierce had a slight build. He attended Highland Park Community High School, where his teammates included future major league pitcher Ted Gray, and pitched six shutouts as a junior in 1944, earning the nickname "Mr. Zero". He was the starting and winning pitcher in an East-West All-American Boys' Game sponsored by Esquire magazine, held on August 7, 1944, at the Polo Grounds in New York, with Connie Mack managing Pierce's East All-Stars; one reporter wrote, "His fast ball was amazing when one considers that he only weighs 140 pounds. In civilian attire he seemed very slender."
The West team included catcher and future Hall of Fame center fielder Richie Ashburn, who was hitless in two at bats against Pierce. The game was held as a benefit for World War II community memorials, and two days prior to the event the participating players were guests of Babe Ruth on his weekly radio program. Pierce was voted the game's outstanding player, winning a four-year scholarship to the college of his choice. Detroit Free Press sports editor Dale Stafford, who chaperoned him to New York, later told a fellow writer, "I never saw such a clean-living youngster. On our trip to New York for the East-West game, Billy kept a diary. One morning I found it open to this entry: 'Here it is ten o'clock and Mr. Stafford still hasn't gone to bed.'"
Pierce downplayed the experience of pitching in a major league stadium, stating, "I was not nervous at the Polo Grounds, as I've pitched several games in Briggs Stadium back home. I've worked out there with the Tigers, and they, the Red Sox and the Phillies have been interested in me. But my folks and I decided that I'd make up my mind about playing pro ball after I graduated from high school."
After considering studying medicine at the University of Michigan, he signed with his hometown Tigers for a bonus of $15,000.
He made the Tigers team in spring training 1945 before finishing high school and without having played in the minor leagues, but sat on the bench before making his major league debut in June 1945, just a few weeks after his 18th birthday. He made three relief appearances that month and two more in September after a two-month stint with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League under manager Bucky Harris, and was on the Detroit roster for the team's victory in the 1945 World Series although he did not appear in any games. He had a remarkably unassuming presence; Paul Richards, then a catcher for the Tigers, later recalled occasionally going to his neighborhood drugstore. One day, Pierce went up to him at practice and asked why Richards never talked to him at the store, with Richards replying that he didn't know what Pierce was talking about; Pierce answered that the drugstore was his family's, and Richards slowly realized that Pierce had been the clerk behind the counter each time he went in.
Pierce was sent back to Buffalo for the 1946 season, now with Gabby Hartnett as his manager (Harris having moved to the team's front office), but missed most of the year with a back injury which was attributed to overwork. After the 1947 season in Buffalo, where Richards was now his manager, he returned to Detroit in 1948, spending most of the season in the bullpen but making five starts and posting a 3–0 record; he had yet added very little weight since his high school days, being still at 148 pounds. He made his first start, and earned his first major league victory, on August 8 against the Washington Senators, pitching 7+2⁄3 innings and striking out six in a 6–5 victory in which he also drove in a run with a triple and scored. However, Pierce also issued 51 walks in 55+1⁄3 innings that year, and concerns about his pitching control led the Tigers to trade him to the White Sox on November 10 for catcher Aaron Robinson and $10,000, in what most baseball historians consider to be one of the most one-sided trades in baseball history. Talks had initially centered on Chicago acquiring Pierce's high school teammate Ted Gray, although sources differ as to whether it was White Sox general manager Frank Lane or his Detroit counterpart Billy Evans who switched the focus to Pierce; the Tigers tried to call off the deal one day after it was completed upon fully realizing what they had given up, even offering $50,000 to get Pierce back, but Lane had no intention of giving up the steal he had accomplished in his first trade as general manager.
In his first seasons with White Sox, Pierce's control problems continued; his 137 walks in 1950 tied him for the fourth most ever by an AL left-hander. But those seasons also included indications of his developing excellence, as well as the struggles he would face in gaining run support. On May 29, 1949, in just his sixth start with Chicago (and the 11th of his career), the 22-year-old Pierce was matched against 42-year-old Negro league legend Satchel Paige in a road game against the defending World Series champion Cleveland Indians. The pitchers' duel went into the 11th inning, when Pierce walked leadoff hitter Ken Keltner, followed by two bunt singles. After Pierce was replaced by a reliever and the next batter lined to shortstop Luke Appling, Lou Boudreau singled to give Cleveland a 2–1 win; Pierce had himself scored Chicago's only run after singling in the eighth inning. And on June 15, 1950, against the World Series champion Yankees, Pierce got his first career shutout – a 5–0 one-hitter, interrupted by rain delays in the second, fourth and fifth innings totaling over an hour and a half, with the only hit being Billy Johnson's single in the fifth inning.