Player Profile: Bill Singer

On July 20, 1970, righty Bill Singer threw what was the 18th no-hitter in Dodger history and the first since Koufax’s perfect game in 1965. In doing so he accomplished something that Dodger legends like Don Drysdale and Don Sutton never did. He threw a no-hitter in a major league game. It would be 10 more years before a Dodger pitcher, (Jerry Ruess) would throw another.

William Robert Singer was born on April 24, 1944, in Los Angeles California. His parents were Robert and Margaret Singer. He and his sister were raised in Pomona. His dad worked for General Dynamics in Pomona. Bill played basketball and baseball in high school. He was on the varsity baseball team for three years. He caught the attention of scouts as a senior at Pomona High School in 1961. He skipped a year and graduated early.

In September of 1961, the Dodgers outbid 14 teams for Singer’s services and signed him with a $50,000 dollar bonus. After signing he reported to the Dodgers team in the Arizona Winter League. In 1962 he started his career at Class-C Reno of the California League. His season started slow but he showed flashes of his potential. He threw a 9-0 shutout at Visalia on June 25 improving to 5-2 and struck out 14 in that game. He finished the year 9-3 with a 4.32 ERA, with 7 complete games, and 136 K’s in 127 innings. The kid was on his way.

After the season he returned to the Arizona Instructional League and was added to the Dodger’s 40-man roster. He was one of 9 young players added to help the Dodgers force-feed their youth movement. Singer spent 1963 with the AAA Dukes. Early in the season when he was pitching in a 4-3 win against Tulsa, a game where he fanned 14, he started a commotion.

In the seventh inning, Tulsa manager, Grover Resinger argued with Umpire Gene Haack that Singer had been pitching the entire game illegally by starting his motion before he stepped on the rubber. Haack disagreed and ejected Resinger after he continued the argument. In his next start, Singer hit Jimmy Wynn in the head. He was uninjured but taken to the hospital as a precaution.

He was sidelined in May by a sore arm for a while and finished the year 6-7 with 2 shutouts, a 5.78 ERA, and 90 Ks in 95 innings. 1964 would be a busy year for Singer with a no-hitter, a wedding, and his MLB debut.

On April 23, the day before his 20th birthday, Singer pitched a no-hitter for Spokane in the first game of a doubleheader in Dallas. He walked 2 and struck out 3 in a 3-0 win. On September 11th he married Virginia Goodson, sister-in-law of Marv Breeding, who spent most of the season with Spokane before being sold to Rochester. Two days later, on the final day of the PCL season, he was outdueled by Seattle’s Wilbur Wood. After the game, both pitchers were promoted, Wood to the Pirates and Singer to the Dodgers. For the season he was 11-10 with a 4.16 ERA.

Bill made his MLB debut in Chicago on the 24th of September. He went 6 1/3 innings allowing 1 run and got a no-decision in a 4-3 loss to the Cubs. In his first at-bat he singled off of Cub hurler Dick Elsworth. 5 days later he started against the Cubs in L.A., went 7 2/3rd innings, and got the loss in another 4-3 game.

In 1965 he started the season at Spokane. His season featured a couple of gems including losing a perfect game on a Mel Queen single with 2 out in the 8th. The low point in the season came before a game with Vancouver when Singer and teammate Larry Staab got into a dispute and teammate, Joe Moeller, who went to my high school, injured his shoulder trying to break it up. The Indians announced that Singer and Staab would be fined an undisclosed amount for each day Moeller was sidelined. Moeller returned on August 18th. For the season, Singer was 14-15 with a 4.52 ERA. Spokane was not very good finishing 57-90.

Singer came up in September but made only a couple of relief appearances as the Dodgers were on their way to the pennant. In 1966 pretty much the same scenario happened. Spokane most of the year, and up to L.A. in September. But it would be his last season in the minors. He finished 13-11 with a 3.48 ERA and 217 Ks in 233 innings.

In 1967 he made the Dodgers opening day roster for the first time. But he only pitched in relief twice in the first month of the season logging 3 2/3rd innings. He made his first start on May 14, in the second game of a doubleheader, and pitched 5 innings in a game won by the Cubs in extra innings. On May 29 he earned his first MLB win, a 7-inning effort against the Mets that the Dodgers won, 7-2. On June 24 he had his first shutout, a 2-0 win over Juan Marichal and the Giants striking out 10. He finished the season 12-8 with a 2.64 ERA in 32 games.

In 1968-1969 he would earn the nickname, “The Singer Throwing Machine“. He made 36 starts in 1968, 4th in the league, and had six shutouts. His 13-17 record was more of a reflection of the Dodger’s lack of offense than deficiencies in his pitching. He had a 2.88 ERA. In 1969, he was outstanding. On opening day, he made his only relief appearance of the season and pitched 3 shutout innings in relief of Don Drysdale. The first save of his career was also the first official save in major league history. The save had just become an official statistic. Singer made the All-Star squad and pitched a couple of innings in the NL’s 9-3 win in DC.

For the season Singer was 20-12 with a career-best 2.34 ERA. He had 16 complete games and 2 shutouts. For the most part, 1970 was not kind to Singer. He got off to a slow start. He was 1-2 when on April 22 he was diagnosed with hepatitis and spent 3 weeks in the hospital. He returned to the mound and earned his second win of the year with a 5 scoreless inning stint in a 6-1 win over the Reds. In his next start, he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Clete Boyer broke it up with a single.

On July 20th, Singer no-hit the Phillies 5-0 at Dodger Stadium not walking anyone and striking out 10. He was overjoyed with the outcome. His season came to an abrupt end when he was struck in the finger by a Bob Moose pitch breaking his finger. He finished with an 8-5 record and a 3.13 ERA.

The next two seasons were a struggle for Singer. He was 10-17 in 1971. In 197,2 he was a tough-luck pitcher. He suffered another broken finger and finished the season 6-16. On the 28th of November, the Dodgers packaged, Singer, Frank Robinson, Mike Strahler, Bobby Valentine, and Billy Grabarkewitz and sent them to the Angels for Ken McMullen and Andy Messersmith.

Singer rebounded with the Angels going 20-14 with a 3.22 ERA and a team-high 40 starts. He made the All-Star team. In 1974 he took a 7-3 record into his start on June 4th. He pitched 8 innings and took the 4-3 loss. It was his last decision of the year. He had complained of lower back pain earlier in the year. The Angels went to Detroit for a three-game series but Singer returned to LA to have his back examined. On June 9 he was placed in traction and had surgery to repair a ruptured lumbar disc and was out for the year.

He returned to the Angel rotation in 1975. The season started off with promise. He earned the second and final save of his career on April 30 and then on May 22 he pitched a complete-game win. He told reporters after the game that he pitched the entire game with pain in his shoulder. He thought he had tendinitis which was a relief to him. He had issues on and off for the rest of the season and finished with a 7-15 4.98 ERA. He had surgery on his elbow and was mentioned in many Angel trade rumors. On December 10th they sent Singer to the Rangers for Jim Spencer and $100,000 dollars. The Angels then sent Spencer and Morris Nettles to the White Sox for Bill Melton and Steve Dunning.

Singer was healthy again in 1976 making 36 starts for two teams. He was 4-1 for the Rangers, then on June 1, he would be traded to the Twins. A controversy arose because Singer started and went 5 1/3 innings of a 16-inning Texas win then after he left the game he was traded to the Twins with Jim Gideon, Roy Smalley, and Mike Cubbage for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. The White Sox played the second game under protest claiming the Rangers had used an ineligible player. It was not allowed, but AL president Lee McPhail criticized the Rangers for the way they handled the deal. Bill would go 9-9 for the Twins. making him 13-10 on the season with a 3.69 ERA. For Singer, it was the last hurrah.

He was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was picked up by Toronto in the draft. Singer was expected to be the leader of the Jays staff, but back and shoulder problems popped up again and he was 2-8 for the season. He spent 1968 on the DL and then on Dec 2 the Jays released him. For his career Singer was 118-127 with a 3.39 ERA. For sure injuries and playing on bad teams is reflected in his final stats.

Singer went into real estate after he retired, first working for Coldwell Banker and then formed Singer and Associates, an industrial and commercial real estate company. He also was very involved in youth baseball. He also worked with the AL on opportunities for youth to play baseball. He has consulted and scouted for various teams also. Bill Singer, had a ton of talent, too bad he never got to be as good as we all hoped he would. Sometimes your body just betrays you.

Future Dodgers Down on the Farm by MT

• Miguel Vargas hit his 12th HR in a 2-1 OKC win.
• Mike Busch was 1-3.
• Yadier Alvarez pitched 2.1 scoreless innings and struck out 3. His ERA sits at 2.25.
• Tulsa lost 5-3 as Andy Pages hit his 12th HR.
• James Outman also hit his 16th HR, a 2-run shot.
• Landon Knack went 6 , did not walk a batter, allowing 9 hits and striking out 10. He gave up 2 ER.
• Emmitt Sheehan went 4 innings and allowed 3 hits and 0 ER while striking out 7. He got the win for Great Lakes.
• Jose Ramos hit a 2-run HR, his 8th.
• Diego Cartaya was 1-4.
• Alex DeJesus was 2-5 as he played 3B.
• Rancho C lost 8-7.