Billy Pierce

Walter William Pierce was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball between 1945 and 1964 who played most of his career for the Chicago White Sox. He was the team's star pitcher in the decade from 1952 to 1961, when they posted the third best record in the major leagues, and received the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award for the American League (AL) in 1956 and 1957 after being runner-up in both 1953 and 1955. A seven-time All-Star, he led the American League (AL) in complete games three times despite his slight build, and in wins, earned run average (ERA) and strikeouts once each. He pitched four one-hitters and seven two-hitters in his career, and on June 27, 1958 came within one batter of becoming the first left-hander in 78 years to throw a perfect game.

2 April 1927

Born on the same birth date (2 April 1927): Bo Callaway • Carmen Basilio • Kenneth Tynan • Rita Gam

Born on the same birth day (2 April): Bill Romanowski • Bo Callaway • Carl Kasell • Caroline Dean • Christopher Meloni • David Robinson (horticulturist) • George MacDonald Fraser • Gregory Abbott • James Vance (comics) • Jesse Plemons • Jürgen Drews • Kenneth Tynan • Menachem Mendel Schneerson • Mike Gascoyne • Mike Hailwood • Richard Collinge • Rodrigo Riquelme (footballer, born 2000) • Shaul Ladany • Sonny Throckmorton • Tua Forsström

Born in the same month (April 1927): Ahmed Arif • Alan MacDiarmid • Alvin Sargent • Bo Callaway • Carmen Basilio • Dorothy Manley • Edie Adams • Jack Douglas (actor) • Joe Moakley • K. Alex Müller • Norma Candal • Rolf Schult • Thanin Kraivichien • Wesley A. Brown