As a 22-year-old rookie catcher in 1934, he helped to lead the St. Louis Cardinals' fabled Gashouse Gang team to the world championship; but, after only one more full big-league season, he was stricken with tuberculosis, effectively ending his playing career.

He spent his first year in the minors playing for the Shawnee (Oklahoma) Robins in the Class C Western Association, making an impressive showing with a .297 batting average on 192 at-bats.

In 1931, he was reassigned to the Danville (Illinois) Veterans of the Class B Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, where he continued to show improvement, ending the year by playing 11 games with the Columbus (Ohio) Red Birds of the American Association.

When World War II intervened, many minor leagues suspended operations or folded entirely, and DeLancey's managerial career ended in 1942.

[4] In 1963, the elderly Rickey also likened the Cardinals' young catcher, Tim McCarver—a skilled, left-handed hitter and take-charge presence behind the plate—to DeLancey.

[5] While playing for the Danville Veterans during the 1931 season, Bill met Frances Yasaitis, a nursing student from nearby Westville, Illinois.

After Bill contracted tuberculosis and retired from play, doctors advised the couple to move to the dry desert climate of the southwest U.S., so the DeLanceys took up residence in Phoenix.

Frances' nursing experience helped Bill's condition improve somewhat over the next several years, however, his tuberculosis gradually developed into pleurisy, a painful lung disease.