Bill Travers was drafted in the sixth round of the 1970 amateur baseball draft by the Milwaukee Brewers â?? a year in which Mike Ivie was the number 1 overall pick. Travers was drafted earlier than Rich Gossage, who was taken three rounds later, and Dave Parker, who was not taken until the 14th round of that draft.

Travers was a lefty with iffy control who did not strike out many batters.  He was among the league leaders in hit batsman on several occasions.  Despite a midseason bout with Legionaireâ??s Disease, his best year was 1976, when he won 16 games with a 2.81 ERA and made the all-star team (though he did not play).

All told, he pitched seven years for the Brewers and won 65 games, while losing 71.  After signing as a free agent with California in 1981, he became ineffective and did not win another game.  

In retirement, Travers, a Massachusetts native, had a brief stint as a professional candlepin bowler. In 1989, Bill Travers played for the St. Lucie Legends of the Senior Professional Baseball Association and went 4-6. In 1990, he was the pitching coach at Dean College located in Franklin, MA.

Based on similarity scores, the most similar pitcher to Travers was Jumbo Elliott, another lefty.