William Christopher Koch (born December 14, 1974) is an American former
Major League Baseball
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 ...
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...
. He was born in Rockville Centre, New York and went to
West Babylon High School.
He debuted in the majors with the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
and last pitched in MLB with the
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park.
The ...
in 2004.
Baseball career
Koch played college baseball for
Clemson University
Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...
from 1994 to 1996. He was drafted by the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
in the first round (fourth pick) of the 1996 amateur draft and made his debut in 1999. He made an instant impression by regularly hitting 100 MPH with his fastball.
Koch won a bronze medal with the
United States national baseball team
The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA, represents the United States in international level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United S ...
at the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in Atlanta.
He was groomed for the role of
closer, and had mixed success at the role over the next three seasons. While he was regarded as one of the most dominating pitchers in the league when he was at his best, at times he battled with his control and composure on the mound. Nevertheless, he continued to post improving save numbers (31, 33 and 36) from 1999 to 2001.
On December 7, 2001, the Blue Jays, now under new management, traded Koch to the
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
for
Eric Hinske and
Justin Miller. The trade ended up working out for both teams, as Eric Hinske statistically outperformed Koch in his first season with the Jays while Oakland proved to be a good fit for closer Koch. He saved 44 games in 2002 while posting a 3.27 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 93 innings as well as earning 11 wins, becoming the first pitcher in major league history to earn 10 wins and 40 saves in one season. He won the
Rolaids Relief Man Award based on his statistical performance that year. Koch, however, gave up a critical ninth-inning home run to Minnesota's
A. J. Pierzynski in the deciding game of the A's first-round playoff series. That outing would turn out to be the turning point in Koch's career.
On December 3, 2002, he was once again traded, this time to the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
along with two minor leaguers for
Keith Foulke
Keith Charles Foulke ( ; born October 19, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. A graduate of Hargrave High School in Huffman, Texas, Foulke attended Galveston College and Lewis–Clark State College. Between 1997 an ...
, Mark Johnson, Joe Valentine and cash, but was unable to replicate the successes he had experienced with Toronto or Oakland. Due to wild inconsistency on the mound,
Jerry Manuel removed Koch from the role of closer, relegating him to middle relief. Koch finished the season with a disappointing 11 saves and a high 5.77 ERA.
His troubles continued in 2004. He was once again tried in the role of closer, but saved only 8 games in 24 games played, compiling an ERA of 5.40. He was traded to the
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park.
The ...
in June for
Wilson Valdez, a minor-league second baseman who it was assumed would replace
Luis Castillo before the latter signed a four-year contract to remain with Florida. Koch fared better in Florida than he did in Chicago, with a 1–2 record and a 3.51 ERA in 23 games as a setup man for
Armando Benítez.
Following the 2004 season he was signed to a 1-year contract by his original team, the Toronto Blue Jays, though the team released him during spring training and an angry Koch announced he would not attempt to sign with another team, so that the Blue Jays would be on the hook for 'every penny' of his $950,000 salary. He has not played baseball professionally since then.
Billy Koch Statistics – The Baseball Cube
Koch was featured in the film ''Moneyball Moneyball or money ball may refer to:
* '' Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game'', 2003 book by Michael Lewis
** ''Moneyball'' (film), 2011 film adaptation of the book
* ''Moneyball'' (album), 2025 album by Dutch Interior
* Sabermetrics
...
'' in 2011 as the A's primary closer for their record breaking 20 game winning streak.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Billy
1974 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Charlotte Knights players
Chicago White Sox players
Dunedin Blue Jays players
Florida Marlins players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Oakland Athletics players
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in baseball
Sportspeople from Rockville Centre, New York
Baseball players from Nassau County, New York
Syracuse SkyChiefs players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Clemson Tigers baseball players