William James Spiers III (born June 5, 1966) is a former infielder in

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), ...

who played primarily as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

from 1989 to 2001. He is currently an assistant football coach for Clemson. He was also a punter for

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

. He was a first round draft pick (13th overall) in the 1987 amateur draft. He debuted in the majors two years later with the Milwaukee Brewers on April 7, 1989. On September 24, 1999, while playing with the Houston Astros, Spiers was attacked by a 23-year-old man while standing in the outfield before the bottom of the 6th inning. Teammate

Mike Hampton Michael William Hampton, Jr. (born September 9, 1972) is an American former professional baseball player. Hampton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher from 1993 through 2010. He pitched for the Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, New ...

was first on the scene and delivered several kicks to the attacker. He was later quoted saying "The good thing was he didn't have a weapon... I always check right field before I deliver the first pitch. It's just a habit. I looked out there and saw the guy on Billy's back... It was a scary thing. My instincts just took over. My rage took over. I was pretty furious. I wanted to get him off my teammate." After being arrested the attacker faced two counts of battery and one count of disorderly conduct

Spiers wound up with a welt under his left eye, a bloody nose and whiplash

As of 2016, Spiers is an offensive assistant at Clemson University Football, where he is also pursuing his graduate degree. In 2020, Spiers was Clemson Football Senior Assistant, Offense & Special Teams On May 21, 2007 Spiers was inducted into the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame. He is now coaching both baseball and football

His son, Will, is a punter for the Clemson football team.

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1966 births Living people Major League Baseball infielders Milwaukee Brewers players New York Mets players Houston Astros players Baseball players from South Carolina Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Clemson Tigers baseball players Clemson Tigers football players Beloit Brewers players Denver Zephyrs players El Paso Diablos players Helena Brewers players Clemson Tigers football coaches Norfolk Tides players Stockton Ports players {{Texas-bio-stub