William John McCool (July 14, 1944 – June 8, 2014) was an American professional baseball player. The left-handed pitcher played most of his seven-year, Major League Baseball career with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and spent a year each with the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals. He was listed as tall and . Born in Batesville, Indiana, McCool went to nearby Lawrenceburg High School in Lawrenceburg, where the McCools lived. He graduated from LHS in 1962 and was signed by the Reds as an amateur free agent in 1963. He started his pro career in 1963, playing Class-D ball for the Reds organization in Tampa, Florida and later that year made the jump to the then-Triple-A San Diego Padres. He made his major league debut at the young age of 19 on April 24, 1964. The first batter he faced was

Jesús Alou Jesús María Rojas Alou (born March 24, 1942) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the San Francisco Giants (1963–68), Houston Astros (1969–73; 1978–79), ...

(who singled) as McCool pitched two innings in relief of

Al Worthington Allan Fulton Worthington (born February 5, 1929), nicknamed "Red", is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of 14 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1953–54, 1956–59), Boston Red ...

in a 15-5 Reds loss to the San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati's

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) an ...

. That year he was named The Sporting News National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year. In 1965 and 1966 he was second in the National League in saves and in 1966 he was named a National League All-Star. He appeared in a career-high 62 games in 1965. He was among the players drafted by the San Diego Padres in the

1968 MLB expansion draft The 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft was conducted to stock up the rosters of four expansion teams in Major League Baseball created via the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion and which would begin play in the 1969 season. The expans ...

. He appeared in 54 games for the Padres in their inaugural season of 1969. Just prior to the 1970 season he was traded to the Cardinals, with whom he pitched 18 games. In the offseason after the 1970 season (which would be his last in the majors, at age 25), he was traded to the Boston Red Sox and later to the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, but he did not appear for either team in the majors. After retiring from baseball in 1970 McCool moved to Centerville, Ohio where he raised his family. He worked for three years (1972–74) as a sports anchor for

WKEF-TV WKEF (channel 22) is a television station in Dayton, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC, Fox, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Dabl affiliate WRGT-TV (channel 45) under a local ma ...

in Dayton. McCool's book, ''The Billy McCool Pitching Digest: A Guide to Effective Baseball Pitching'', was published in 1977. He lived in

Summerfield, Florida Summerfield is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Florida, United States. It is located near the intersection of US 301 and County Road 475A. The community is part of the Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a m ...

after retiring in 2004. In 2013, he was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame as a 1962 graduate of Lawrenceburg High School. McCool died in his

home on June 8, 2014.Billy McCool at Society for American Baseball Research
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCool, Billy 1944 births 2014 deaths Baseball players from Indiana Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball pitchers National League All-Stars Omaha Royals players People from Centerville, Ohio People from Batesville, Indiana People from Lawrenceburg, Indiana People from Marion County, Florida Portland Beavers players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres (minor league) players San Diego Padres players Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Television personalities from Ohio American sports announcers