William Bestick was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional baseball player in the early 1870s. He appeared in four games with the Brooklyn Eckfords, three of which as the catcher

Catcher

Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

. In 14 at bats, he collected four hits

Hit (baseball)

In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

 for a .286 batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

. It is not known when or where he was born, nor when he died. Peter Morris, a baseball historian for SABR

Society for American Baseball Research

The Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York, in August 1971 by Bob Davids of Washington, D.C. The Society's mission is to foster the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, while generating interest in the game...

, claims that the only known man by this name that has been found, died on July 28, 1911 in New York, NY.