The Giants retired Terry's uniform number 3 in 1984; it is posted on the facade of the upper deck in the left field corner of Oracle Park.

Nicknamed "Memphis Bill", he is most remembered for being the last National League player to hit .400, a feat he accomplished by batting .401 in 1930.

After starting 1916 with Newnan, by the end of the year he had moved up to the class-B Shreveport Gassers of the Texas League.

He again compiled impressive statistics for his new team, putting up a record of 6–2 with a 1.07 earned run average in 11 games with Shreveport.

After spending several years playing semi-professionally, Terry was picked up by the Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association in 1922.

This gained the notice of the major league New York Giants, and on September 18 they purchased his contract from the Mud Hens.

In an interesting coincidence, Freddie Lindstrom, another future Hall of Fame player, was also purchased by the Giants from the Mud Hens on the same day.

Terry made his major league debut with the Giants on September 24, 1923 in a game against the Cincinnati Reds.

Terry played all of 1924 with the Giants, backing up fellow future Hall of Famer George Kelly at first base for the pennant-winning team.

In the World Series against the Washington Senators, he batted .429, including a Game 1 home run off Walter Johnson.

[4] In 1925, Giants starting third baseman Heinie Groh suffered an injury early in the season, forcing the team to juggle its lineup a bit.

Starting second baseman Frankie Frisch was tried at third but wound up spending most of the season shifting around the infield when Lindstrom was made the starter.

On December 20, 1926, they traded Frisch and pitcher Jimmy Ring to the St. Louis Cardinals for Rogers Hornsby.

Then, on February 9, they traded Kelly to the Reds for outfielder Edd Roush, opening a spot once more for Terry in the starting lineup.

He finished 13th in the voting for the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, and his days of being a backup were behind him for good.

Terry also led the league with 254 hits, which is tied for the most in NL history with the Phillies' Lefty O'Doul's 254 in 1929.

In 1933, Terry's first full season as manager, the team won the National League pennant and the World Series.

As manager, Terry became an advocate of platooning, as Hank Leiber and Jimmy Ripple split playing time in center field.

Bill Terry is mentioned in the 1949 poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash: T is for TerryThe Giant from MemphisWhose .400 averageYou can't overemphis.