Bill Cristall

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name=Bill Cristall

| position=Pitcher

| image=Bill Cristall 1902.jpg

| birth_date={{birth date|1875|09|12|mf=y}}

| birth_place=Odessa, Ukraine

| death_date={{death date and age|1939|01|28|1875|09|12}}

| death_place=Buffalo, New York

| bats=Left

| throws=Left

|debutleague = MLB

| debutdate=September 3

| debutyear=1901

| debutteam=Cleveland Blues

|finalleague = MLB

| finaldate=September 28

| finalyear=1901

| finalteam=Cleveland Blues

|statleague = MLB

| stat1label=Win–loss record

| stat1value=1–5

| stat2label=Earned run average

| stat2value=4.84

| stat3label=Strikeouts

| stat3value=12

| teams=

Cleveland Blues (1901)

}}

William Arthur Cristall (September 12, 1875 - January 28, 1939) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played with the Cleveland Blues in 1901. Cristall batted and threw left-handed. His playing height and weight were listed as 5 foot 7 inches and 145 lbs. He was Jewish.{{cite journal |title=Big League Jews|journal=Jewish Sports Review |date=January–February 2020 |volume=12 |issue=137 |page=18}}

Baseball career

Cristall made his major league debut on September 3, 1901. His time in the major leagues was short, as he only started and pitched in six career games. His career numbers were not so impressive, as his win-loss record would be 1–5, although he did pitch 5 complete games and his one win was a shutout. Although he had very few at bats, he was a respectable hitter, especially for a pitcher, as he had 7 hits in 20 at-bats, including two hits for triples, and finished with a career .350 batting average.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cristbi01.shtml |title=Bill Cristall Stats |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |date= |accessdate=2020-02-04}}

Cristall finished his career with a fielding percentage of .957, making only one error in his six starts. His last game would be on September 28, 1901. He was the first professional baseball player to be born in Ukraine, and is one of only three players in Major League history, (the other two being Reuben Ewing and Izzy Goldstein) to have been born in Ukraine. He is also the only Ukrainian baseball player to record a victory, a strikeout, a walk, a win, a loss, a complete game, a shutout, and a hit batter in major league history. He died on January 28, 1939, in Buffalo, New York.