Billy Ed Smith (born July 14, 1953) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

and 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), ...

second baseman. He played all or part of six seasons in the Majors between and . Smith was originally drafted in the 3rd round (61st overall) by the California Angels in out of John Jay High School in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, TX. He played in their farm system for several years until making his debut early in the 1975 season. That year, he mainly played shortstop, batting just .203 in 59 games. After a brief stint in the majors in , he was let go by the Angels. Smith was signed by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

prior to the season, and in spring training he was chosen to replace Bobby Grich as the Orioles' starting second baseman. As the year went on, however, he lost playing time to rookie

Rich Dauer Richard Fremont Dauer (born July 27, 1952) is an American baseball former infielder and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent his entire 10-year MLB playing career with the Baltimore Orioles, winning the 1983 World Series. He was primar ...

, and he finished 1977 with a batting average of .215 with just 29 RBI in 367 at bats. In , Smith split time with Dauer again, and he boosted his average to .260. After backing up Dauer again during the Orioles' pennant-winning season in , Smith was released by the Orioles the following spring. In June, Smith signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, but never made it to the majors for them. He was purchased from the Phillies by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in March 1981, but after hitting .180 in 36 games for the Giants his major league career was over.

References

External links

Billy Smith
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Billy Major League Baseball second basemen California Angels players Baltimore Orioles players San Francisco Giants players Idaho Falls Angels players Stockton Ports players Salinas Packers players El Paso Sun Kings players Salt Lake City Angels players El Paso Diablos players Salt Lake City Gulls players Oklahoma City 89ers players Baseball players from Louisiana 1953 births Living people