Byrd started his major career in 1933 with the Columbus Blue Birds in the Negro National League. He went 3–8 that year, pitching a 4.26 ERA in thirteen games while recording one save in 95 innings pitched. He led the league in losses along with walks per nine innings with 1.1. He moved to the Cleveland Red Sox the following year and struggled with a 2–8 record to once again lead the league in losses. He pitched in eleven games in 58.2 innings of work. In 1936, he moved over to the Columbus Elite Giants. While he went 2–3 with a 5.66 ERA, he would find a home with a team that he pitched with for a majority of the rest of his career as the team played in two further cities (Washington and Baltimore). He went 9–4 in 1936 with sixteen games pitched, leading the league with two shutouts while being named to his first East–West All-Star Game. The following year, he went 4–3 with a 5.37 ERA in 53.2 innings pitched. He won seven games each in both 1938 and 1939, and he was named to both East–West games in the latter year. In that year, the Giants were invited to a four-team playoff to determine the pennant. Against the Newark Eagles, he appeared in two games (one start) and went 1–0 while allowing four runs in 11.2 innings of work as the Giants three games to one. Byrd (a career .262 batter) also helped his case by going 2-for-3 with a home run during the series. In the Championship Series against the Homestead Grays (led by Vic Harris as manager, who had won the previous two league pennants) he started two games and went 1–1 while allowing seven runs (six earned) in seventeen innings pitched as the Giants (who had Jonas Gaines win two games to go with Byrd's win) pulled off the upset in five games and beat the Grays (the team would not lose another pennant until 1946).
He took off 1940 but returned for the 1941 season and excelled. He led the league with a 2.02 ERA while going 8–3 in thirteen games pitched in 89 innings while making an East–West game. In 1942, he led the league in wins with ten while going 10–3 with a 2.91 ERA while collecting a save in 99 innings. In 1943 and 1944, he would play for both the Elite Giants and the Philadelphia Stars. He went 10–5 in 1943 while leading the league in strikeouts (94) and pitching a career high 135 innings. In 1944, he went 5–5 in 69 innings. He returned to pitch just for the Elite Giants for the remaining four seasons of his career. In 1945, he led the league in wins with eleven along with complete games (twelve), strikeouts (88) while going 11–4 with a 2.83 ERA. He went 5–8 in 1946 but made two East–West games. In 1947, he went 8–5 with a 2.61 ERA with 120.2 innings pitched. In his final major league season in 1948, he led the league in wins and innings with a 10–4 record in 123.1 innings while having a 1.68 ERA. His final game in the Negro leagues was in the postseason. The Giants were tasked against the Grays for the league pennant with the chance to go to the 1948 Negro World Series. He pitched 14.1 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) in two appearances with one start, and he threw a complete game while going 1–0, although the Giants lost the Series. He continued to play with the Giants until 1950, although by that time the league had suffered in quality. Read even more about Bill Byrd at
WikipediaTraded items with a signature of Bill Byrd
In total, we tracked 31 items since 01/01/2008. The chart below shows the trade volume over time.
The most expensive item with a signature of Bill Byrd (Bill Byrd D91 Negro League signed baseball MINT HOF PSA) was sold in March 2008 for $250.00 while the cheapest item (Bill Byrd (1907-1991) signed 3x5 (N.L.)) found a new owner for $4.25 in November 2015. The month with the most items sold (2) was March 2008 with an average selling price of $135.05 for an autographed item of Bill Byrd. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in March 2008 with $135.05 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $4.25 was November 2015. In average, an autographed item from Bill Byrd is worth $28.51.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Bill Byrd were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
Picture |
Item Title |
Price |
Store |
| Original Signature Negro League Baseball Star Pitcher BILL BYRD 3x5 Index card | $19.99 | |
| 1986 Baseball Stars Bill Byrd autographed card RARE | $9.49 | |
| 3x5 Index Card Signed by William Bill Byrd - Deceased 1991 - Negro Leagues | $28.51 | |
| Bill Byrd (1907-1991) signed 3x5 (N.L.) | $4.25 | |
| Bill Byrd (dec. 1991) Negro League Great autographed 1986 Fritsch card- JSA cert | $35.00 | |
| Bill Byrd 1986 Fritsch Negro League Stars autographed signed card | $59.99 | |
| BILL BYRD AUTOGRAPH SIGNED 3x5 NEGRO LEAGUES Died-1991 | $34.33 | |
| Bill Byrd Autographed Index Card Negro League Possible HOFer | $41.00 | |
| Bill Byrd Negro League autographed 3X5 index card | $4.99 | |
| BILL BYRD NEGRO LEAGUE AUTOGRAPHED CARD | $10.00 | |
| BILL BYRD-NEGRO LEAGUE PLAYER-TOUGH SIGNATURE-deceased-1991 | $40.00 | |
| BILL BYRD-NEGRO LEAGUES-BALTIMORE ELITE GIANTS-SIGNED COLLECTOR CARD | $4.99 | |
| BILL BYRD-SIGNED 1984 DECATHLON NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL STARS CARD #52-d.91 TOUGH | $10.50 | |
| WASHINGTON BALTIMORE ELITE GIANTS BILL BYRD HAND SIGNED CARD NEGRO LEAGUE AUTO | $51.00 | |
| William Bill Byrd (1907-1991) signed 3x5 (Negro Leagues) | $27.00 | |