Billy Bates (baseball)
Billy Bates | |
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Houston, Texas, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
MLB debut | |
August 17, 1989, for the Milwaukee Brewers | |
Last MLB appearance | |
October 2, 1990, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
MLB statistics | |
Games played | 29 |
Batting average | .125 |
Hits | 6 |
Teams | |
| |
Career highlights and awards | |
|
William Derrick Bates (born December 7, 1963) is an American former professional baseball
Born in
Early life
William Derrick Bates was born on December 7, 1963, in
Collegiate career
External images | |
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Bates, right, with teammate Mike Brumley, 1983 | |
Bates playing second base with the Longhorns in 1985 | |
Bates with a baseball bat, 1985 |
Bates enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, and started at second base in his first year.
During his sophomore season, Bates was named an
Texas head coach Cliff Gustafson called Bates the best second baseman who played under him up to and including 1985.[3] In 1996, a panel of sixty coaches, Division I Baseball Committee chairs, and media who covered the CWS named Bates to their all-decade team for the 1980s.[24] As of 2018[update], Bates held the Texas Longhorns record for most career triples, with 20, most triples in a single season, with 13, and most runs scored in a single season, with 100.[25] On June 3, the Milwaukee Brewers drafted Bates in the 4th round of the 1985 MLB draft.[1] An anonymous scout outside the Brewers organization called Bates "confusing", and said "if you just put the stats on, and forget he's 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm), 155 pounds (70 kg), he's done remarkable things. But we go on percentages."[26]
Professional career
Rise to the majors
Bates began playing professionally for the
In 1986, the Brewers promoted Bates to the Double-A El Paso Diablos. Bates' eight home runs and 75 runs batted in (RBI) became the highest of his career at any professional level.[1][32] The Diablos finished the regular season with an 85–50 record as Bates led the club with 23 stolen bases but was caught stealing 10 times, also a team high.[33] In the playoffs, the Diablos defeated the Jackson Mets four games to none to win the Texas League championship.[34] Bates set a league record with three stolen bases in a single postseason game.[35]
Before the 1987 season, Bates attempted to make the Brewers'
"He's still going to come to camp and be looked at. He has been impressive there once (1987) and not so impressive once (1988). He needs to go out this year and have a good season– do the things he's capable of doing offensively. He needs to re-establish himself."
Brewers' assistant general manager Bruce Manno on Bates' future[40]
Before the 1988 season, a prediction in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram stated that Bates might make the Brewers if Paul Molitor ended up as a third baseman or a designated hitter.[44] In a Brewers' spring training game in early March, Bates committed two errors against the Chicago Cubs in the 11th inning, as the Cubs scored the winning run without recording a hit, but his 4th or 5th-inning single scored two runs.[45][46] Bates was again cut from the MLB roster before the start of the 1988 season, as Milwaukee manager Tom Trebelhorn named Molitor as the Brewers' starting second baseman.[47] Now in Triple-A, Bates had a five-RBI game against the Iowa Cubs on April 12 in a Zephyrs victory.[48] In a June game against the Toledo Mud Hens, Bates hit a single and a double, with two walks and two runs scored, in a 5–1 Zephyrs win.[49] Hindered throughout the season by a leg injury, Bates hit .258 with 29 stolen bases, a loss of 22 from a season ago, as the Zephyrs finished 72–62.[40][50]
Milwaukee Brewers
After the 1988 season, the Brewers invited Bates to their spring training camp as a non-roster invitee as the 1989 season approached.
Dalton said that Bates was expected to join Milwaukee by the start of the game on August 16, adding "he won't be in the starting lineup, but he could play if necessary".
In late March, Bates was listed as the starting second baseman on Milwaukee's
After batting .327 in 25 games with the Zephyrs, he was acquired along with
Cincinnati Reds
When he arrived with the Reds organization, Bates was assigned to the Triple-A
In the 1990 NL Championship Series, the Reds faced the Pittsburgh Pirates in a best-of-seven game series.[85] In Game 1, with the Reds down 4–3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, manager Lou Piniella put Bates in the game as a pinch runner for Ron Oester on first base. Eric Davis, at second, tried to steal third, and Bates followed to second; while Davis was safe, Pirates catcher Mike LaValliere threw Bates out by three feet.[86] The Reds failed to score that inning and lost the game. Bates' next postseason appearance came in Game 3, when he pinch ran for Joe Oliver and scored a run as the Reds won 6–3.[87] Cincinnati ultimately defeated the Pirates and moved on to the World Series, where they would play the Oakland Athletics for the league championship.[88]
"Piniella sent Bates up to pinch-hit in the 10th. The little man promptly chopped a single off the concrete-hard turf and soon scored the winning run. In this old river town, Billy Bates was now a man for the ages, like Cookie Lavagetto, who hit that double off Bill Bevens, and Al Gionfriddo, who made that catch off DiMaggio, both in the 1947 Series for Brooklyn. Neither Lavagetto nor Gionfriddo ever played in the majors again. Nobody mentioned that to Billy Bates on Wednesday night."
George Vecsey on Bates' legacy[89]
In Game 1, the Reds defeated the Athletics 7–0.[90][91] Bates did not play.[91][92] In Game 2, after nine innings, the game remained tied, 4–4.[93] Dennis Eckersley pitched for the Athletics for the bottom of the tenth,[93] when Bates entered the game to pinch hit. Hitting coach Tony Pérez told him to "put the ball in play" and "run like Hell".[94] Eckersley pitched Bates to an 0–2 ball–strike count when he hit the ball weakly to the third baseman and beat out an infield single; it was Bates' first hit against a right-handed pitcher in his MLB career.[95][96] Chris Sabo advanced Bates to second on a single, and Oliver scored Bates on another single to win the game.[95] Bates called the situation a "dream come true".[96] The Reds defeated the Athletics four games to none and became World Series champions.[97] Bates did not play in either of the last two games.[97][98] As with all players on the World Series champion Reds, Bates received a World Series ring and visited the White House.[94]
Later career
In January, Bates signed a one-year contract to stay with the Reds.
Personal life
In 1984, Bates was on the preliminary roster for baseball at the Olympic games, but did not make its final roster.[13] He was a physical education major at the University of Texas in 1985.[3] His teammates taunted him about his height: in Bates' first Milwaukee spring training camp, players threw a cap on the ground and addressed it as if it were Bates.[107] During the MLB off-season, he worked as a substitute school teacher in Houston.[107] Before the 1990 World Series, Bates raced against an unchained cheetah in a promotional event for the Cincinnati Zoo at Riverfront Stadium. The premise of the event was to show that a cheetah could defeat a human (with a five-second head start) in a 100-yard (91 m) race.[107] The cheetah was supposed to chase a toy, but about halfway through the race, Bates' hat fell off, and instead, it went after the hat; Bates won the race.[94][107] In 1991, Bates participated in the University of Texas' Varsity–Alumni game, a game between varsity baseball players and alumni players.[108] In 2000, the University of Texas inducted him into their Men's Athletics Hall of Honor.[109] As of 2010[update], Bates lived in Houston and worked for an equipment supplier in the oil and gas industry.[94]
References
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- ^ Holtz, Randy (May 12, 1992). "Cubs Batter Zephyrs in Bates' Homecoming". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013 – via NewsBank.
- ^ "1992 Iowa Cubs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
- ^ a b Haudricourt, Tom (February 27, 1995). "Brewers Bring back Bates for Spring Training". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- ^ Olson, Drew (April 3, 1995). "Replacements Ready to Rejoin the Real World". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- ^ a b c d Plaschke, Bill (October 19, 1990). "In a Pinch, Bates Is One Cool Cat; Designated Hitters Enter the Scene". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020.
- ISSN 1535-993X.
- ^ "Men's Athletics Hall of Honor Inductees". TexasSports.com. University of Texas. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Video of Bates scoring the winning run in Game Two of the 1990 World Series