Billy Williams

Billy Williams

Billy Leo Williams (born June 15, 1938) is a retired American baseball left fielder who played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs and two seasons for the Oakland Athletics. Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1999, he was named a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Williams was one of the best Cubs players. He was the 1961 National League (NL) Rookie of the Year and was an NL All-Star for six seasons with the Cubs. In 1970, he had a .322 batting average with 42 home runs and 129 runs batted in (RBIs), led the NL with 205 hits, and was the NL Most Valuable Player runner-up. In 1972, he won the NL batting title, hitting .333. Williams hit over 400 home runs in his career, including 30 or more in five seasons. He also hit over .300 in five seasons and had over 100 RBIs in three seasons. Williams was a highly competitive player on Cubs teams that never reached the postseason. When he finally played in the postseason during the second to the last year of his career with the Athletics, the "A's" did not get to the World Series. In 1999, he was selected as a member of the Cubs All-Century Team.

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