On December 13, 2025, Billy Byrd is one of 13 inducted into the Puerto Rico (PR) Pro Baseball Hall of Fame (HOF). Born in Canton, Georgia, 40 miles north of Atlanta, on July 15, 1907, he passed away at 83 on January 4, 1991, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He qualified for 2025 induction with three PR seasons—the minimum required for imports, for Stateside or Cuban ballplayers. Five of 13 inductees were imports (Luke Easter, Byrd, Fernando Díaz Pedroso, Roy Partlow, and Roger Freed). Some other notable people born in Canton, Georgia, include David Bottoms, Poet Laureate of Georgia from 2000 to 2012, and John Hannah, Pro Football Hall of Famer who played at the University of Alabama and for the New England Patriots.

Byrd, RHP/OF, played at 6’1” and 210 pounds. He pitched in seven East-West (Negro Leagues) All-Star Games and was the ace of the Baltimore Elite Giants staff for many years. His favorite Elite Giants catcher was a young Roy Campanella. Byrd also mentored a young Jim “Junior” Gilliam with Baltimore. His excellent SABR bio by Tom Kern is at https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bill-byrd/. This article will focus on Byrd’s three PR Winter League (PRWL) seasons with the 1939-40 Santurce Crabbers and 1940-42 Caguas Criollos. Brief mention will be made of one April 7, 1940, start for Centauros of Maracaibo, pitching to Joshua Gibson, who caught Byrd with 1939-40 Santurce.

Santurce’s Maiden 1939-40 Season

Crabbers owner Pedrín Zorrilla signed Byrd, Josh Gibson, and Dick Seay as the club’s first imports—each of eight PRWL teams was allowed three active imports on their rosters. Gibson became player-manager after his arrival on October 20, 1939. The 56-game season began on Sunday, October 1, 1939, and ended on April 7, 1940. (Byrd, Aguadilla’s Leon Day, Gibson, and others departed for Venezuela a few days before Santurce’s April 7 twin-bill versus the Aguadilla Sharks.) On Opening Day, October 1, 1939, Day blanked Santurce in Aguadilla’s Parque Colón, in the morning game, before Byrd won the p.m. contest, 8-5. Day shared some memories of this season with the author, circa 1993, in his Baltimore home:

Aguadilla paid me $20 a week. It was a lot of fun living on the beach. There were good rivalries…Ponce had [Juan] Guilbe; Guayama’s Satchel Paige, and I had a few duels; [Roy] Partlow was with San Juan (SJ)… [Luis Rafael] Cabrera and Byrd could throw the ball for Santurce.

On October 22, 1939, arch-rivals SJ Senators and Santurce split their initial twin-bill at Escambrón Stadium, in SJ’s Puerta de Tierra sector. SJ’s Raymond Brown won the morning opener, 3-2, followed by Byrd’s 3-2 win that afternoon. Some Santurce fans put it best: “They defeated us, 3-2, in the morning with Brown, and we beat them, 3-2, in the afternoon, with Byrd.” Santurce’s line-up in the opener featured: Oscar Mangual-RF, Dick Seay-SS, Tingo Daviú-3B, J. Gibson-C, Byrd-CF, Monchile Concepción-LF, Guillermo Angulo-1B, Fellito Concepción-2B, and Cabrera-P. SJ had: Millito Martínez-SS, Rafael Quintana-3B, Gene Benson-CF, Clarence Palm-C, Pepe Santana-1B, R. Brown-P, Nenene Rivera-2B, Georgie Calderón-RF, and Rafael Polanco-LF.

Byrd started 24 games for Santurce and made some relief appearances, finishing 15-10 with 158 SO, and a 1.97 ERA. Table I compares these stats to other league aces. Coincidentally, rookie Luis Rafael Cabrera (8-14 for 1939-40 Santurce) became the first PRWL hurler to win 100 games, finishing 105-99—he will be inducted into the PR Professional Baseball Hall of Fame on December 13, 2025, alongside Byrd, whose PRWL nickname was “El Maestro.” (His Elite Giants nickname was “Daddy.”)

Table I: Most Wins, SO, and Lowest ERAs, 1939-40 PRWL Season

AG: Aguadilla, GMA: Guayama; MAY: Mayagüez; PON: Ponce; SAN: Santurce; SJ: San Juan. Source: José Crescioni Benítez.

In one SJ-Santurce game, Fellé Delgado recalled an HBP courtesy of Byrd. When the pick-off throw ricocheted off his arm, Fellé zoomed toward second and continued to third when the throw hit his back. He rounded third and headed home headfirst into Josh Gibson. “Gibson tagged me in the chest as I flew over the plate,” recalled Fellé. “When I came to my senses, it was 9 p.m. and I was in the hospital. I’ll never forget that torture.”

April 7, 1940, Gem for Centauros de Maracaibo

Rabid Venezuela fans saw Byrd duel Vargas’ Leon Day for 11 innings, until Vargas’ Ray Dandridge walk-off HR ended it. Day fanned 11, walked three, and allowed four hits in his 2-1 win. An equally impressive Byrd had eight SO, walked three, and gave up six hits in 10+ innings. Josh Gibson doubled for Centauros in the 2^nd frame.

Caguas 1940-41 Ace

Byrd recommended that Caguas sign catcher Roy Campanella, similar to 1939-40, when Satchel Paige alerted Guayama Witches’ executives that William Perkins—his favorite catcher—must catch him in the PRWL. Byrd’s comfort level with young Campy was similar to Paige’s chemistry with the veteran Perkins. Late that [1940-41] season, Byrd did something unprecedented. On March 2, 1941, he pitched a 12-inning CG versus Santurce’s Raymond Brown, won by the latter, 1-0. Byrd’s next (March 9) start was a 15-inning CG win, 6-5, against Guayama’s Satchel Paige. Byrd’s 27 IP in back-to-back regular season starts is the all-time PRWL mark.

Caguas-Santurce best-of-seven finals began with a March 23, 1941, twin-bill at Escambrón Stadium. Raymond Brown’s 12-inning SHO won the morning game, 1-0, over Byrd, before Rogelio Wiscovitch took Game 2, 8-1. The series shifted to Caguas on March 30, when Byrd bested Brown in the opener, prior to Cabrera outpitching Wiscovitch that afternoon. Brown outpitched Byrd in Game 5, a 9-6 Crabbers win at Escambrón, Saturday, April 5.

Campy’s grand slam off Cabrera in Game 6 of the Caguas-Santurce finals changed a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. Caguas scored 14 fifth inning runs for an eventual 16-4-win, Sunday morning, April 6, 1941. Caguas fans took up a collection for Campy and ran to the area near home plate to give him the cash before hoisting him up on their shoulders. 

Byrd then won Game 7, 6-2, over Raymond Brown, on less than 24 hours’ rest! Per Caguas batboy Héctor Barea: “After the [Sunday] morning game, I went with my dad (Salvador), and Caguas’ President Mr. Delgado Márquez, to have lunch at the home of Don Heraldo Lizardi, a family friend and brother-in-law of Luis Olmo. We were on the verge of winning a title, and we did win it.”

1941-42 Swan Song

Raymond Brown—Santurce’s first holdout—was sold to the Ponce Lions for $500 by Santurce pre-season. Brown (12-4) helped Ponce win both halves with a 30-13 overall record (.698 PCT) and bypass a final series. Byrd (10-9) remained the ace for fifth-place Caguas (21-23). George Scales—Byrd’s Baltimore Elite Giants teammate—managed Ponce to the first of four straight PRWL titles (and a fifth one in 1946-47). Scales went 5-for-15 at the plate with two HR and seven RBIs. Ponce’s offense was led by Pancho Coímbre (.372, five HR, 34 RBIs), Howard Easterling (.360, six HR, 30 RBIs), and Sammy Bankhead (.351, 35 RBIs).

Table II includes a 1938-39 to 1948-49 Caguas Criollos All-Star Team, courtesy of Héctor Barea and the author.

Table II: A 1938-39 to 1948-49 Caguas Criollos All-Star Team and Managers

Sources: Héctor Barea and Tom Van Hyning.

Byrd’s three-season PRWL pitching stats are in Table III.

Table III: Byrd’s PRWL Pitching Stats, 1939-1942

Source: https://beisbol101.com/jugador/billy-byrd/

Postscript

José “Gacho” Torres, a 44-year-old OF/1B, was a utility player for 1940-41 Caguas, with 15 hits in 56 AB, a .268 BA. In 1939-40, he was Satchel Paige’s teammate with league champ Guayama. Gacho became PR’s first “big leaguer” in 1926 by playing for the Newark Stars, Eastern Colored League, alongside 2B George Scales and SS Dick Seay. (Commissioner Rob Manfred’s December 16, 2020, decree retroactively awarded Major League Status to seven Negro Leagues, 1920-1948, including the Eastern Colored League.) Coincidentally, Scales, Raymond Brown, Josh Gibson, and Satchel Paige were inducted into the PR Pro Baseball HOF in 1996, the last ceremony before this entity was revive in 2022.

Thanks to Héctor Barea, Leon Day, Fellé Delgado, and Tom Kern. Jorge Colón Delgado did the editing and photo placements.