Billy Ed Smith (born July 14, 1953) is an American former
professional baseball player and former
Major League Baseball second baseman. He played all or part of six seasons in the Majors between and .
Smith was originally drafted in the 3rd round (61st overall) by the
California Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
in out of
John Jay High School in
San Antonio, TX. He played in their farm system for several years until making his debut early in the 1975 season. That year, he mainly played shortstop, batting just .203 in 59 games. After a brief stint in the majors in , he was let go by the Angels.
Smith was signed by the
Baltimore Orioles prior to the season, and in spring training he was chosen to replace
Bobby Grich
Robert Anthony Grich (born January 15, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles (–) and the California Angels (–). In 1981, Grich led the ...
as the Orioles' starting second baseman. As the year went on, however, he lost playing time to rookie
Rich Dauer, and he finished 1977 with a batting average of .215 with just 29 RBI in 367 at bats. In , Smith split time with Dauer again, and he boosted his average to .260. After backing up Dauer again during the Orioles' pennant-winning season in , Smith was released by the Orioles the following spring.
In June, Smith signed a minor league contract with the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
, but never made it to the majors for them. He was purchased from the Phillies by the
San Francisco Giants in March 1981, but after hitting .180 in 36 games for the Giants his major league career was over.
References
External links
Billy Smithat SABR (Baseball BioProject)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Billy
Major League Baseball second basemen
California Angels players
Baltimore Orioles players
San Francisco Giants players
Idaho Falls Angels players
Stockton Ports players
Salinas Packers players
El Paso Sun Kings players
Salt Lake City Angels players
El Paso Diablos players
Salt Lake City Gulls players
Oklahoma City 89ers players
Baseball players from Louisiana
1953 births
Living people