Bill Shettsline

{{short description|American baseball executive and manager (1863–1933)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Bill Shettsline

| image = Bill Shettsline.jpg

| image_size =

| team =

| number =

| position = Manager / President

| birth_date ={{Birth_date|1863|10|25}}

| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date={{Death_date and age|1933|02|22|1863|10|25}}

| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|teams=

As manager

• Philadelphia Phillies ({{Baseball year|1898}}–{{Baseball year|1902}})

As president

• Philadelphia Phillies ({{Baseball year|1904}}–{{Baseball year|1909}})

}}

William Joseph Shettsline (October 25, 1863 – February 22, 1933) was a baseball executive who served as the business manager of the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League from 1896 to 1926. He also served as club president from 1904 to 1909 and manager from {{by|1898}} to {{by|1902}}.

Shettsline began his career with the Phillies in 1883 as an office boy and by 1896 was the club's secretary and business manager. In 1898, upon the firing of George Stallings, he was given the managerial reins.Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 1898 In his five seasons at the helm, Shettsline posted a 367–302 record,{{cite web|url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/history/managers.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013135417/http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/history/managers.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 13, 2007|title=Phillies All-Time Manager|publisher=Philadelphia Phillies|accessdate=2008-07-23}} with his best season in {{by|1899}}. However, the team's 94–58 record that year was only good enough for third place in the National League.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/shettbi99.shtml|title=Bill Shettsline Managerial Record|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-07-23}} In 1902, Shettsline also served as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies of the National Football League, a three-team football league not related to the present-day NFL.{{cite news |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Frank |title=Phila.'s Other A's: A Short, Colorful Run |work=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=August 2, 1987}}

On February 28, 1903, the Phillies were sold to James Potter and Shettsline was moved from manager to his former position as secretary and business manager.{{cite news |title=Deal Closed: Philadelphia Club is Acquired by Syndicate |work=The Boston Daily Globe |date=March 1, 1903}} On November 30, 1904, Shettsline became team president.{{cite news |title=New Baseball Company in Philadelphia |work=The New York Times |date=December 1, 1904}} Shettsline was replaced as president when the club was sold in 1909 but stayed on as business manager until November 19, 1926.{{cite news |title=Shettsline Quits Phillies |work=The New York Times |date=November 20, 1926}} He joined the business staff of the Philadelphia Athletics the following year.{{cite news |title=Shettsline Now With Athletics |work=The New York Times |date=April 30, 1927}}

Shettsline died on February 22, 1933, in Philadelphia at the age of 69.