| Dick Billings | |
|---|---|
Billings in 1974
| |
| Catcher / Outfielder | |
| Born: (1942-12-04) December 4, 1942 (age 81) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 11, 1968, for the Washington Senators | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 27, 1975, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .227 |
| Home runs | 16 |
| Runs batted in | 142 |
| Teams | |
Richard Arlin Billings (born December 4, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player.[1] He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, outfielder and third baseman for the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers (1968–74) and St. Louis Cardinals (1974–75).[1]
Billings was born in Detroit, Michigan where his father was a factory worker.[2] His father moved the family to Troy, Michigan where Billings attended Troy High School.[2] After high school, Billings attended Michigan State University where he played as a third baseman and outfielder for the Michigan State Spartans baseball team.[2] On June 8, 1965, the Washington Senators selected Billings in the 25th round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft.[3]
Billings played as an outfielder and occasional third baseman in the Senators' minor league system for four years before making his major league debut at the age of 25 as a pinch hitter on September 11, 1968.[1][4] He had his first appearance as a starting player on September 20, 1968 as a left fielder in a game against the Detroit Tigers.[5]
Billings began the 1969 season with the Senators but, with the team experiencing a weakness at the catcher's position, he agreed to return to the minor leagues in June in order to be converted into a catcher.[2][6]In1970, he posted a .305 batting average with 15 home runs and 67 runs batted in while playing for the Denver Bears.[4] His performance earned him a late-season return to the major leagues in September 1970, where he served as a backup catcher behind Paul Casanova.[1]
Billings won the starting catcher's job in July 1971 when Senators manager Ted Williams benched Casanova for weak hitting.[7] Although he led American League catchers with 16 passed balls, he ended the season with a career-high .992 fielding percentage in 116 games.[8]
After the season, the Senators sent Billings to play for the Águilas del Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter Baseball League during the 1971–1972 season to gain additional catching experience.[2][9] When his manager, Larry Doby was fired midway through the season, the Águilas installed Billings as their player-manager.[2] He then guided the team to its first playoff appearance in team history, with Billings finishing the season as one of the top 10 hitters in the league.[2] His success earned him a return to Venezuela as the Águilas player-manager for the following winter-league season as well.[2]
In 1972 the Senators relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and were renamed the Texas Rangers. Billings started the season in a platoon role alongside left-hand hitting catcher Hal King.[10] King was sent to the minor leagues in July and Billings eventually played in a career-high 133 games.[1][11] He also posted career-highs with a .254 batting average, 15 doubles, 5 home runs, and led the Rangers with a team-leading 68 runs batted in.[1] On August 13, 1972, Billings produced 5 runs batted in on 4 hits in a 13-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.[12][13]
Williams resigned and was replaced by Whitey Herzog as the Rangers' manager, who employed Billings in a platoon role alongside Ken Suarez for the 1973 season.[14] In May, Billings went on the 15-day disabled list.[15] On July 30, 1973, Billings caught Jim Bibby's no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics.[16][17] Batting as the Rangers' cleanup hitter, Billings' average dropped to .179 with 3 home runs and 32 runs batted in.[1][18]
With the arrival of new manager Billy Martin in 1974, Billings found himself in a backup role behind defensive standout Jim Sundberg. Billings suffered an ankle injury on April 27 and was placed on the disabled list.[2] He ultimately was sidelined for most of the year with a variety of injuries.[2] In August 1974 his contract was purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals and was sent to the minor leagues to play for the Tulsa Oilers.[4][19] He was called as a back up to the major leagues late in the season where he appeared in only one game on September 11.[20] Billings began the 1975 season with the Tulsa Oilers before being promoted to the Cardinals in June.[4][21] After only 3 games with the Cardinals, he was sent back to Tulsa in order to make room on the roster for outfielder Buddy Bradford.[22] Billings retired at the end of the season at the age of 32.[1]
In an eight-year major league career, Billings played in 400 games, accumulating 280 hits in 1,231 at bats for a .227 career batting average along with 16 home runs, 142 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .281.[1] He had a .984 career fielding percentage in 248 games as a catcher, a .966 fielding percentage in 92 games as an outfielder and, a .906 fielding percentage in 14 games as a third baseman.
After his playing career Billings obtained his real-estate license and worked as a real-estate broker in Texas and Michigan.[2]
