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
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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")
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, 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 Smithat 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