William Joseph Sullivan, Sr. (February 1, 1875 – January 28, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball, most notably as a member of the Chicago White Sox with whom he won a World Series championship in 1906. Although he was a relatively weak hitter, he sustained a sixteen-year playing career by being one of the best defensive catchers of his era. Sullivan's reputation as a defensive standout is enhanced because of the era in which he played. In the Deadball Era, catchers played a huge defensive role, given the large number of bunts and stolen base attempts, as well as the difficulty of handling the spitball pitchers who dominated pitching staffs. He had to catch every type of pitch imaginable, such as shine balls, spitballs, knuckleballs, and emory balls. Early life William Joseph Sullivan was born on February 1, 1875, in the town of Oakland, Wisconsin, to Irish immigrant farmers. He attended Fort Atkinson High School, where he played mainly as an infielder until their regular catcher could not play due to an injury. Sullivan substituted and excelled; so much so that he began being scouted by a local amateur team. After his graduation from high school, Sullivan played for an independent team located in Edgewater, Wisconsin. He played on his first professional team in 1896 for the Cedar Rapids Bunnies of the Western Association, a Class-B minor league. He stayed in the Western Association for the 1897 season, playing for the Dubuque, Iowa, representative. In 124 games played that season, he batted just .216, but did hit seven home runs and stole 27 bases. Sullivan then transferred to the Class-A Western League in 1898 to play for the Columbus Buckeyes, also referred to as the Senators, and had a .276 batting average in 68 games played. He stayed with the Buckeyes to begin the 1899 season, though he later moved with the team to Grand Rapids, Michigan; they then became known as the Furniture Makers. He was hitting .306 after 83 games when he was sold to the Boston Beaneaters of the National League for $1000. Major-league career Sullivan made his major league debut with the Beaneaters on September 13, 1899, at the age of 24, and became their regular catcher, appearing in 22 games the rest of season. On September 27, against the Washington Senators, he hit