Private William E. Stearns, US Army. (March 20, 1853-December 30, 1898)
As an 18-year-old boy, Bill Stearns was a charter player on the brand new Washington Olympians of the National Association, the predecessor of the National League. A hometown kid, Stearns made his debut on June 26, 1871, the 98th player in MLB history. Although the game record does not exist, Stearns started two games for the Olympians winning both while going the distance.
That would mark the high point of his baseball career. During his five seasons with Washington and the Hartford Dark Blues, Stearns amassed a record of 13-64 with an ERA of 4.28, a high number for the period. In 1873 starting 32 of the Washington Blue Legs 39 games, Stearns went 7-25. In 283 innings, he allowed 481 hits and a league-high eight home runs. He pitched every inning of his starts—one of two pitchers on his team—walking 16 and striking out five. Yes, five.
At 22, after the 1875 season with the Washington Nationals where he went 1-14 in 16 starts, Stearns was done as a big league pitcher.
When the Spanish-American War broke out, as Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifices tells us, Stearns volunteered for service in the Army and assigned to Company H, the First District of Columbia Volunteers. A logistical engineering unit, they trained for naval battle.
Part of the first wave of US Army troops landing in Puerto Rico on July 25, Stearns and his company helped build roads and piers after the Spanish Army fled the town of Guanica.
During his tour of duty there, Stearns contracted “poisoning of the stomach” and became too ill to fulfill his duties. After three weeks in Puerto Rico, Stearns and his mates sailed home to Washington. His condition, aggravated by a rough trip back to the United States, never improved.
Stearns died at his Washington home on December 30, 1898 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery as the first Major League Baseball player to die in wartime service.
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