His nickname was Wee Willie.
He was a left-handed pitcher over parts of fifteen seasons (1918–1932) with the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Braves. For his career, he compiled a 165–146 record in 514 appearances, with an 3.72 earned run average and 839 strikeouts. In Cardinals franchise history, Sherdel ranks 4th all-time in wins (153), 3rd in games pitched (465), 4th in innings pitched (2450.7), 5th in games started (242), 8th in complete games(144), 4th in losses (131), 5th in hit batsmen (51), and 8th in games finished (152). Sherdel’s 153 wins are the most ever for a Cardinal left-hander.
Sherdel was a member of two National League pennant-winning Cardinals teams, in 1926 and 1928, winning the World Series in 1926. He faced the New York Yankees both times. In World Series play, he compiled an 0–4 record in 4 appearances, with a 3.26 earned run average and 6 strikeouts.
His Cardinals career numbers show he debuted on April 22, 1918 and played his last game of his career on June 11, 1932. He was 153-131 in 14 years and started 243 games in that span with 145 complete games.
A total of 2450.3 inning pitched with a 3.64 ERA, 719 strikeouts, 545 base on balls with 11 shutouts and 25 saves for the Cardinals.