Player Profile: Billy Bates

I have four cards of Billy Bates. This one is from 1990 Score.

Playing career: Second baseman Billy Bates played in 29 major league games, 22 for the Brewers. He played in just 8 regular season games for the Reds, plus another three in the postseason, but is best remembered as a Red. In his last major league game, he got a tenth-inning single off of Dennis Eckersley in Game 2 of the 1990 World Series, and eventually scored the walk-off winning run.

Interesting stories: Bates is also remembered in Cincinnati for a highlight from the regular season, in which he outran a cheetah in a pregame stunt, with the cheetah losing as it got distracted when Bates’s hat fell off and he tried to eat the hat.

Where he is now: Works for an oil and gas equipment supplier and coaches his daughter’s softball team.

My memories: I remember he came up with the Brewers the same time as another infielder named Billy Spiers, and I tend to get the two of them confused.

Google Autocomplete results: He is first when you type Billy Bate, ahead of Bill Bates, American Football Player, referring to the former Cowboys safety. The first entry when you google Billy Bates is an artist.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Eric Bates.