Bill Jurges started his baseball career at the age of 19 with the Manchester Club of the New England League, in 1927. He played for Manchester for two years, then going to Reading of the International League for two years and Louisville of the American Association for one year. He joined the Chicago Cubs in 1931 and played with them until the end of the 1938 season, when he was traded to the New York Giants along with Frank Demaree and Jimmy O'Dea for Dick Bartell, Hank Leiber, and Gus Mancuso. While with Chicago Jurges played in three World Series, batting .364 in the 1932 World Series. His major-league batting average for 976 games is .256, while his World Series batting average for 13 games is .275. Bill Jurges ranked third in fielding for National League shortstops last year.