Billy Manual Ashley (born July 11, 1970) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Minor leagues

Ashley was drafted by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in the 3rd round of the 1988

MLB Draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

. He started his professional career with the

Gulf Coast Dodgers The Arizona Complex League Dodgers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix, Arizona. The team is compo ...

in 1988 and 1989. He played with the

Bakersfield Dodgers Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

in 1990, the

Vero Beach Dodgers Vero may refer to: Geography * Vero Beach, Florida, a city in the United States * Vero, Corse-du-Sud, a commune of France in Corsica Other * ''Véro'', a talk show on the Radio-Canada television network * Vero (app), a social media company co-found ...

in 1991, the

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded. ...

in 1992 and the

Albuquerque Dukes The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. History The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Fra ...

for most of 1992–1994. A big time home run threat in the minors, Ashley hit 24 homers with San Antonio in 1992, 26 with the Dukes in 1993 and 37 in 1994. He was a Triple-A All-Star and

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

All-Star in 1993 and 1994. Also in 1994, he was selected a

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

first team Minor League All-Star, the Pacific Coast League MVP,

Minor League Player of the Year in and Triple-A Player of the Year. He is one of three Dodgers position players to have been twice selected as the organization's Minor League Player of the Year, along with

Joc Pederson Joc Russell Pederson ( ; born April 21, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Br ...

and

Paul Konerko Paul Henry Konerko (; born March 5, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1997 to 2014, most prominently as a member of the Chicago White Sox, where he was a si ...

Major leagues

He made his major league debut on September 1, 1992, against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and recorded his first major league hit on September 6 against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Ashley made the Dodgers Opening Day roster for the 1995 season and for the next three seasons was a spot starter/pinch hitter for the Dodgers. He tied the Dodgers single-season record for pinch-hit homers in 1996. Due to his inability to hit for a high average, his high strikeout frequency, and his poor defensive play, the Dodgers released him before the beginning of the 1998 season. He was signed as a free agent by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. He spent most of the season with the Triple-A

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

but played in 13 games with the major league team. His most productive day with the Red Sox was on July 3, 1998, when went 3 for 4 and hit a grand slam home run against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. He spent 1999 with the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

in the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

farm system and then retired from baseball. Throughout his

Minor League Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

career, Ashley was a highly touted power-hitting prospect. However, his success in the minors did not transfer to the big league level, and he did not accumulate a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

higher than .237 or hit more than 9

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in a season. His career concluded with 144 total hits and 236 total

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

. He did however achieve a measure of notoriety for a time as a

pinch-hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...

Miscellaneous

He was featured in the

Fox Reality Channel Fox Reality Channel was an American pay television channel. It was launched on May 24, 2005, and was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group. It featured many shows that were originally on the Fox network (or produced by Fox). The channel also featu ...

's original series

Househusbands of Hollywood ''Househusbands of Hollywood '' was a Fox Reality Channel series that documented the lives of five househusbands and their wives and families. The Cast *Billy Ashley, a former major league baseball player who is married to a celebrity makeup art ...

. He is currently the baseball head coach for

Malibu High School Malibu High School (MHS) is a public high school in Malibu, California. The school is one of three high schools in the Santa Monica–Malibu Unified School District and serves students in the city of Malibu and surrounding communities. Location T ...

in Malibu, CA. As of 2015, Ashley is also serving as an Alumni member of the

Community Relations team.

References

External links

Baseball CubeThe Baseball GaugeVenezuela Winter League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, Billy 1970 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players Bakersfield Dodgers players Baseball players from Michigan Boston Red Sox players Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks players Gulf Coast Dodgers players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball left fielders Minor league baseball managers Newark Bears players Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Trenton, Michigan San Antonio Missions players St. George Pioneerzz players St. Paul Saints players Toledo Mud Hens players Vero Beach Dodgers players Pacific Coast League MVP award winners