White, in the words of baseball historian Lee Allen, was “one of the game’s greats who never received his due.” He was the first ML player to wear glasses on the field. Will’s brother Deacon was already a star player when Will arrived in the ML in 1877. For a few games they formed a brother battery in Boston, but all except two of Will’s 229 career victories came in a Cincinnati uniform. In 1878, he won 30 games for the NL Reds and followed with 43 the next year. In both seasons his ERA was under 2.00. When it rose to 2.14 in 1880, he led the NL in losses with 42. In eight of the losses the weak-hitting Reds were shut out. He returned with Cincinnati’s American Association team in 1882 and posted consecutive seasons of 40, 43, 34, and 18 wins. Upon his retirement, he became a successful businessman in Buffalo, New York.
