Highlighted Year: Billy Williams, 1962

Outfielder, Chicago Cubs

Age: 24 (June 15)

2^nd season with Cubs

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 175 

Prior to 1962:

A native of Whistler, Alabama (hence his later nickname, “Sweet Swingin’ Billy from Whistler”), Williams was the son of a semi-pro baseball player. He and his brothers played sandlot ball. While attending a high school without a baseball team he also participated in basketball and football and ran track. Offered a football scholarship to Grambling, he instead signed with the Cubs out of high school in 1956. An infielder throughout his youth, Williams was immediately switched to the outfield when assigned to Ponca City in the Class D Sooner State League where he batted .235 in 13 games. Still with Ponca City in 1957, he hit .310 with 40 doubles, 17 home runs, 95 RBIs, and a .425 on-base percentage while struggling defensively. In 1958, with teams at the Class B and A levels although hindered by illness, he batted a combined .289 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, and a .377 OBP. Moving up to San Antonio of the Class AA Texas League in 1959, Williams was hitting .318 with 22 doubles, 7 triples, 10 home runs, and 79 RBIs when he left the club due to the overt racism he encountered. He returned and was soon promoted to the Fort Worth Cats of the Class AAA American Association from where he was called up by the Cubs, where he made just 18 plate appearances and hit .152. In 1960 he was assigned to Houston of the American Association and batted .323 with 26 home runs, and 80 RBIs, once again receiving a late call-up to the Cubs. He batted .277 and hit his first two major league home runs. Williams made it to the Cubs to stay in 1961 and, despite a slow start, was the regular left fielder by mid-June. He went on to bat .278 with 20 doubles, 7 triples, 25 home runs, 86 RBIs, a .338 OBP, and a .494 slugging percentage. He received league Rookie of the Year recognition.

1962 Season Summary

Appeared in 159 games

LF – 159

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 699 [11]

At Bats – 618 [11]

Runs – 94 [15, tied with Chuck Hiller]

Hits – 184 [10]

Doubles – 22

Triples – 8 [11, tied with Andre Rodgers, Don Hoak & Merritt Ranew]

Home Runs – 22 [18, tied with George Altman]

RBI – 91 [14]

Bases on Balls – 70 [10, tied with Norm Larker, Clay Dalrymple & Al Spangler]

Int. BB – 3

Strikeouts – 72

Stolen Bases – 9

Caught Stealing – 9 [3, tied with four others]

Average - .298 [16]

OBP - .369 [13, tied with Ken Boyer]

Slugging Pct. - .466 [20]

Total Bases – 288 [10, tied with Felipe Alou]

GDP – 11

Hit by Pitches – 4

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 7 [5, tied with four others]

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 16, 3B – 6, HR - 15, RBI - 57, AVG - .323, SLG - .533, OBP - .395

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) vs. Philadelphia 5/11, (in 4 AB) vs. Cincinnati 6/2

Longest hitting streak – 17 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 4 AB) vs. San Francisco 5/5

HR at home – 12

HR on road – 10

Multi-HR games – 1

Most RBIs, game – 4 vs. San Francisco 5/5

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 301

Put Outs – 273

Assists – 18

Errors – 10

DP – 4

Pct. – .967

Awards & Honors:

All-Star

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The Cubs went 59-103 to finish in ninth place in the newly expanded NL, 42.5 games behind the pennant-winning San Francisco Giants, while leading the league in batting strikeouts (1044). Continuing their experiment of utilizing a rotating group of coaches to guide the club, in lieu of a manager, the Cubs started poorly and stumbled through a chaotic season despite the presence of Williams and some other young talent.

Aftermath of 1962:

While the Cubs nudged a bit over .500 in 1963, Williams contributed 25 home runs, 95 RBIs, a .286 average, and a .358 OBP. A fast start in 1964 had Williams flirting with a .400 average by May, but he finished at .312 with 201 hits, 39 doubles, 33 home runs, 98 RBIs, and a .370 OBP. Off to a slower start in 1965, he still hit .315 with 203 hits, 39 doubles, 34 home runs, and 108 RBIs along with a .377 OBP. Quiet, dignified, and not inclined to seek publicity, Williams had a somewhat lesser season in 1966 in which his production dropped to .276 with 29 home runs, 91 RBIs, and a .347 OBP with a slugging percentage under .500. The Cubs were a surprise third-place club in 1967 and Williams hit .278 with 28 home runs, 84 RBIs, and a .346 OBP. In 1968 he finished eighth in league MVP voting after batting .288 with 30 home runs and 98 RBIs while leading the NL with 321 total bases. In the first year of divisional play in 1969, the Cubs led the NL East for most of the season until being overtaken by the surprising New York Mets. Williams was solid as always, hitting .293 with 33 doubles, 10 triples, 21 home runs, 95 RBIs, with a .355 OBP. He continued along impressively in 1970 by batting .322 with a league-leading 205 hits, 137 runs scored, and 373 total bases, along with 42 home runs and 129 RBIs. He placed second in National League MVP balloting. The durable Williams finished a NL record 1117-consecutive game streak in September, when he chose to sit out a game. His 1971 production was .301 with 28 home runs and 93 RBIs, which was pretty much an average year by his standards. He had an outstanding season in 1972 in which he won the NL batting title (.333) while also leading in slugging (.606) and total bases (348) while hitting 37 home runs and compiling 122 RBIs and a .398 OBP. He finished second in league MVP voting for the second time in three years and was named Major League Player of the Year by The Sporting News. Still productive with a club in transition in 1973 and ’74, his average went from .288 to .280, his home runs from 20 to 16, and his RBIs from 86 to 68. Sidelined by an ankle injury in 1974, Williams appeared in only 117 games, most of which he played at first base, an experiment that was deemed a failure. In the offseason he was traded to the Oakland Athletics. The A’s topped the AL West for the fifth straight year in 1975 and Williams, utilized as the regular Designated Hitter, batted .244 with 23 home runs and 81 RBIs. In the only postseason action of his career, he went hitless in seven at bats in the ALCS loss to the Boston Red Sox. A poor season in 1976 led to his release and retirement. For his major league career, Williams batted .290 with 2711 hits that included 434 doubles, 88 triples, and 426 home runs. He scored 1410 runs and compiled 1475 RBIs, a .361 OBP, and a .492 slugging percentage. With the Cubs he batted .296 with 1306 runs scored, 2510 hits, 402 doubles, 87 triples, 392 home runs, and 1353 RBIs with a .364 OBP and .503 slugging percentage. A six-time All-Star, Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. The Cubs retired his #26 and erected a statue of him outside Wrigley Field.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20), pitching wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10), or have been participants in the annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category will also include Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.