Player #22: William P. "Bill" Coughlin. "Scranton Bill". "Rowdy Bill". Third baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1899 (NL) and Senators in 1901-1904 (AL). 972 hits and 159 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. He was known as a master of the hidden-ball trick. He was a key figure on the Detroit Tiger team that won AL pennants in 1907 and 1908. But his most productive season was 1902 with Washington as he posted an OBP of .348 with 84 runs scored and 71 RBIs in 506 plate appearances. His final seasons were with Detroit in 1904-1908.
In 1919, Coughlin was involved in the occupation of Germany after World War I. Coughlin conceived and operated a school for umpires run by the Knights of Columbus in occupied Coblenz, Germany. Coughlin taught the umpire candidates to officiate baseball games for the occupying servicemen. Coughlin taught his umpires to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" if fights erupted among the players, causing "rocks held ready to avenge an unpopular decision" to fall from "reverent hands."
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