William Frank Selby (born June 11, 1970) is an American former

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

from to with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. He also played one season in Japan for the

Yokohama BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

in . Selby played in 198 total

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

games, with a .223 career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. Mostly used off the bench, Selby hit a career high 6

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in with the Indians. The most dramatic of those home runs came on July 14, when he hit a walk-off

grand slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

against

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and " ...

to defeat the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, 10–7, in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was the first walk-off home run that Rivera had allowed in his career. Bill Selby became the sixth player in (Triple-A team)

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

club history to be inducted into the

Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame The Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame was started by the Buffalo Bisons organization in 1985 to honor former members of the Buffalo Bisons (1878, 1887–1888), Buffalo Bisons (1879–1885), Buffalo Bisons (1886–1970), Buffalo Bisons (1890), B ...

on August 25, 2007. In the Bisons' modern era, Selby ranks first in

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

(378), doubles (90), RBI (245) and runs (217). He's second in

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

(370) and third in home runs (60). Selby was the team's

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

in (.295, 20 homers, 85 RBI) and played in the

Triple-A All-Star Game The Triple-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1988 to 2019 between professional players from the affiliated Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball. These leagues were the International League (IL) and Pacific Coast League (P ...

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"Selby is God" fans

While playing minor league baseball for the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

in 1996, during an away game in

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, Selby was introduced to three

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

students (and Cleveland Indians fans) who became very vocal fans. Two days later, Selby was called up to the parent Boston club, playing in Cleveland, and he had a base hit that Friday evening against Cleveland closer

José Mesa José Ramón Nova Mesa (; born May 22, 1966) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1987 through 2007. He played for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, ...

. The three fans made the trip that weekend and debuted a large cardboard sign that read, merely, "Selby is God." (The sign is an homage to a previous "Bernie is God" sign that honored Cowboy QB (and ex-

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

legend)

Bernie Kosar Bernard Joseph Kosar Jr. (born November 25, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, leading the team to a natio ...

.) The "Selby is God" fans received some notoriety after Selby's grand slam off Rivera in 2002, appearing in ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'' and on television.

Nicknaming Travis Hafner

Selby is also known for bestowing Cleveland Indians DH

Travis Hafner Travis Lee Hafner (; born June 3, 1977) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a designated hitter and first baseman. A left-handed hitter, Hafner played for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indian ...

with his nickname, "Pronk". Selby explained the nickname to the Buffalo News:

Texas came to town in 2002 and I was with ormer Indian
Lee Stevens DeWain Lee Stevens (born July 10, 1967) is an American former first baseman and designated hitter drafted by the California Angels in 1986. A highly regarded prospect, Stevens batted .314 with 19 home runs for the Triple A Edmonton Trappers in 19 ...
on the bench saying, 'This dude is unbelievable. He's a real project.' He was hitting the ball everywhere. We got him the next spring and we called him 'Project' all the time. One day I passed him, and said, 'What's up, you big donkey?' He said, 'Hey, I can't be the Project and the Donkey.'
So we started going with 'Pronkey'. In Spanish, we made it 'El Pronko.' Then it got down to 'The Pronk' and finally just 'Pronk.' It fits him. He doesn't look like Shrek or anything else. He just looks like a Pronk.

References

External links

Article regarding Selby’s Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame induction, on August 25, 2007
(as published at Desoto Times-Tribune (Desoto, Mississippi), on April 26, 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Selby, Bill 1970 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Akron Aeros players American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Alabama Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cleveland Indians players Cincinnati Reds players Elmira Pioneers players Iowa Cubs players Louisville RiverBats players Lynchburg Red Sox players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Memphis Redbirds players Nippon Professional Baseball center fielders Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Nippon Professional Baseball right fielders New Britain Red Sox players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Nippon Professional Baseball third basemen Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Monroeville, Alabama Piratas de Campeche players Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball players Trenton Thunder players Yokohama BayStars players