Today
on the blog we add "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler", Hall of Famer
Billy Williams, to my future multi-series custom set "Classic Baseball":
Just a beautiful photo of the overlooked and underappreciated All-Star outfielder for the Chicago Cubs.
Williams was truly a magnificent player that gets
lost in the crowded Hall of Fame N.L. outfield of the era filled with
guys like Aaron, Mays and Clemente.
However he was a player ANY team would kill for, putting in All-Star calibre season after season through the 1960s and beyond.
He wrapped up a Hall of Fame career in
1976 with the Oakland A’s, his second season with the team after 16
years with the Chicago Cubs.
By the time he retired, he finished with 2711 hits, 1410 runs scored, 426 home runs, 1475 runs batted in and a .290 batting average over 2488 games.
He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1961, two-time runner-up to the MVP Award (thanks to Johnny Bench each time) in 1970 and 1972 and a six-time All-Star.
What a career he put together, yet always in the shadows of giants like teammate Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.
Nevertheless, though it took him six years of eligibility to make it, he was elected for a rightful place in Cooperstown in 1987 when he received 85.7% of the vote.
Just a great player all around.
By the time he retired, he finished with 2711 hits, 1410 runs scored, 426 home runs, 1475 runs batted in and a .290 batting average over 2488 games.
He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1961, two-time runner-up to the MVP Award (thanks to Johnny Bench each time) in 1970 and 1972 and a six-time All-Star.
What a career he put together, yet always in the shadows of giants like teammate Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.
Nevertheless, though it took him six years of eligibility to make it, he was elected for a rightful place in Cooperstown in 1987 when he received 85.7% of the vote.
Just a great player all around.
