Bill Werber played his first big league game June 25, 1930 with the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth, & Lou Gehrig. In 1934 he had his best season with the Boston Red Sox when he batted .321, 200 hits, 129 runs scored, 41 doubles, 10 triples, and a league leading 40 stolen bases, he also led the league in stolen bases with 29 in 1935 & 35 in 1937. Bill was the league leader in runs scored in 1939 with 115. Werber was the fastest man in baseball.
Werber graduated from college, was Duke’s first All American basketball player, and was coached by Eddie Cameron, for which Cameron Indoor Stadium was named. He couldn’t get into the batting cage with the 1927 Yankees, Murderer’s Row didn’t have time for a college kid.
“He was a kindly man,” Werber said of Ruth. “He didn’t shove these little kids along. They crawled all over his white shoes and his tan pants. He’d go to hospitals, but he’d never take a newspaper man with him and he’d never take a photographer with him.”
Bill Werber was sharp until the last month of his life and enjoyed talking about his baseball playing days nearly until the end of his long life. Thanks for the memories Mr. Werber, you will be missed.