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Billy Leo Williams (born June 15, 1938) is a retired American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played sixteen seasons for the Chicago Cubs and two seasons for the Oakland Athletics. Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.〔National Baseball Hall of Fame () Retrieved May 5, 2015〕 In 1999, he was named a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Williams was one of the best Cubs players. He was the 1961 NL Rookie of the Year and was a National League (NL) and Cubs All-Star for six seasons. In 1970, he had a .322 batting average with 42 home runs and 129 runs batted in (RBI), led the NL with 205 hits, and was the NL Most Valuable Player runner-up. In 1972, he won the NL batting title hitting .333. Williams hit over 400 home runs in his career including 30 or more for five seasons. He also hit over .300 for five seasons and had over 100 RBI for ten seasons. Williams was a highly competitive player on Chicago Cubs teams that never reached the post-season. When he finally played in the post-season during the next to final year of his career with the Oakland Athletics, the "A's" did not play in the World Series. In 1999, he was selected as a member of the Cubs All-Century Team. ==Early life== Williams was born in Whistler, Alabama. His father Frank was a stevedore who had also played first base for the semipro Whistler Stars. Williams grew up in an integrated neighborhood.〔Williams, p. 1.〕 He attended Whistler High School.〔 Entering professional baseball in 1956, Williams started his minor league career with the Ponca City Cubs of the Sooner State League. After returning to Ponca City in 1957 and hitting 17 home runs, Williams split 1958 between the Burlington Bees and Pueblo Bruins.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=willia004bil )〕 In his autobiography, Williams recalled that had never experienced overt racial discrimination until his 1959 promotion to the Class AA San Antonio Missions in San Antonio, Texas. He was so discouraged that he left the team and went home. Buck O'Neil, the Cubs scout who had originally discovered Williams, was dispatched to Whistler and he persuaded Williams to return to the team.〔Williams, p. 8-11.〕 During the 1959 season, he advanced to the Class AAA Fort Worth Cats and even played 18 games for the Cubs.〔〔 In 1960, he hit 26 home runs for the Class AAA Houston Buffs and played in 12 major league games.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Billy Williams (left fielder)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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