Billy Bates | |||
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Second baseman | |||
Born: Houston, Texas |
December 7, 1963 |||
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MLB debut | |||
August 17, 1989, for the Milwaukee Brewers | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
October 2, 1990, for the Cincinnati Reds | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Games played | 29 | ||
Batting average | .125 | ||
Hits | 6 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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William Derrick Bates (born December 7, 1963) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman and pinch runner who played for the Milwaukee Brewers and the 1990 World Series champion Cincinnati Reds. In 29 career games, Bates had a batting average of .125 with six hits, two runs batted in (RBI), 11 runs, ten strikeouts, and eight stolen bases. Though defensively he played as a second baseman, the Reds primarily used Bates as a pinch runner. After he scored the winning run in Game 2 of the 1990 World Series, Bates never played in MLB again.
Born in Houston, Bates attended the University of Texas and, in his freshman season, won the 1983 College World Series as a part of the Texas Longhorns baseball team. For the next two seasons, Bates was named to the College Baseball All-America Team, a team composed of the best collegiate baseball athletes in America. Drafted by Milwaukee in the 4th round of the 1985 MLB draft, he rose through the Brewers' farm system and teams that he played for won multiple minor league titles. He subsequently made his MLB debut in 1989, after Milwaukee's starting second baseman became injured. A trade sent Bates to Cincinnati in 1990, where the Reds used him as a pinch runner at the end of the regular season and into the postseason. Facing the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, Bates reached base on a pinch hit single against Dennis Eckersley and later scored the winning run in Game 2, as the Reds ultimately swept the Athletics, four games to none. Following the World Series championship, Bates spent two years in minor league baseball, one for the Reds and one for the Chicago Cubs, and last played exhibition baseball in 1995. After retirement, he worked as an equipment supplier in the oil and gas industry in Houston and coached his daughter's softball team.