Billy Goodman

William Dale Goodman (March 22, 1926 – October 1, 1984) was an American

Goodman was born in Concord, North Carolina, and played Textile League baseball in Concord before signing with the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association in 1944 at just eighteen years old.^[3]

Minor league

Goodman hit .336 his first season in

During his time with the Red Sox, Goodman was one of the players featured in the 1957 Norman Rockwell painting The Rookie.

Baltimore Orioles

Goodman was immediately inserted into the starting line-up in Baltimore, and hit a home run in his first game as an Oriole.^[20] He mostly played third base, filling in for an injured George Kell,^[21] but also played first, second, short, left field and right field. He batted .308 with three home runs and 33 RBIs in 73 games for the Orioles. At the end of the season, he, Tito Francona and Ray Moore were dealt to the Chicago White Sox for Larry Doby, Jack Harshman and Jim Marshall.^[22] Chicago later sent pitcher Russ Heman to Baltimore as part of this deal when it was discovered by the Orioles that Harshman was suffering from a slipped disc.^[23]

Chicago White Sox

In 1958, with Nellie Fox at second base, Goodman shifted to third with the White Sox. He was sidelined by a knee injury for most of the month of May. Upon his return, he quickly shot up among the American League leaders in batting, with his average peaking at .336 in late July.^[24]

At 33 years old at the start of the 1959 season, Goodman was used in a lefty-righty platoon with Bubba Phillips at third base. The 1959 White Sox reached the World Series for the first time since the infamous 1919 World Series. It was also the first and only World Series of Goodman's career. Goodman appeared in five of the six games of the 1959 World Series, driving in and scoring one run in the White Sox's 11–0 game one victory.^[25] He also went two-for-three in game three, and was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning to load the bases with the White Sox down by two runs (they ended up scoring one).^[26] Overall, he batted .231 (3-for-13) in Chicago's six game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Goodman was used sparingly by manager Al López in 1960. After the season, the White Sox made him available for the 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft,^[27] but he went unselected. Instead, he remained with the franchise for two more seasons, in which he batted a combined .242 with one home run and sixteen RBIs in 71 games. After holding out over a salary dispute at the start of Spring training 1962,^[28] he was released by the White Sox just as the season was set to start.^[29]

Houston Colt .45s

Goodman joined the

In 1963, he became a player-manager for the Colts' Carolina League affiliate, the Durham Bulls, and batted .354 with six home runs, the most home runs he had ever hit in any season at any level.^[31] The following season, he appeared on the mound for two games (7 innings) with Durham, leaving catcher as the only position he never played professionally. He managed the Cocoa Astros of the Florida State League in 1965. In three seasons, he had a combined 184–228 record for a .447 winning percentage.

Scout and instructor

He became a scout for the Red Sox in

Goodman retired from the game in 1976, and became an antiques dealer in Sarasota, Florida, the spring training home of the Red Sox during his decade with them. He died on October 1, 1984, after a year-long battle with cancer.^[32]

Major League stats

Goodman had five 5-hit games in his career. His best playing position according to fielding percentage was .991 at first base; in 1949, he led the AL with a .992 fielding average at first base.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball batting champions

References