Billy North
Encyclopedia
William Alex North is a former center fielder
in Major League Baseball
. From 1971 to 1981, he played for the Chicago Cubs
(1971–72), Oakland Athletics
(1973–78), Los Angeles Dodgers
(1978) and San Francisco Giants
(1979–81). He was a switch hitter
and threw right-handed.
In an 11-year career, North compiled a career batting average
of .261 with 20 home run
s and 230 runs batted in
. One of the fastest men in the game, he also recorded 395 stolen base
s.
In 1969 North was drafted by the Cubs in the 12th round of the amateur draft. The speedy outfielder was traded to the Athletics after the 1972 season and started in center field on Oakland’s 1973 World Series
champions. Batting leadoff, he posted career highs in batting average (.285) and runs scored
(98). However, on September 20, in a loss to the Minnesota Twins
, North tripped over first base; the resulting ankle sprain not only cost him the American League
stolen base title (his 53 steals placed him second, only one behind Tommy Harper
), it also sidelined him for the remainder of the season and cost him the chance to play in the post-season.
In 1974 North did lead the league in steals, with 54, on an Athletics team that won its third consecutive World Series
title. He was also involved in a not-so-memorable moment on June 5 of that season. He and Reggie Jackson
engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit
’s Tiger Stadium that resulted in Jackson injuring his shoulder. Ray Fosse
, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him the next three months on the disabled list
.
North also led the American League in steals in 1976 with 75, at the time the second-highest in a season in franchise history, trailing only Eddie Collins
' 81 in 1910 with what were then the Philadelphia Athletics. In the franchise's Oakland history, this single-season record would be broken by Rickey Henderson
's 100 in 1980.
Injuries limited North to only 56 games in 1977, and after a slow start in 1978, the Athletics traded him to the Dodgers for Glenn Burke
. His Dodgers won the National League
pennant, but lost to the New York Yankees
in the World Series
. After the season, the San Francisco Giants signed him as a free agent; in 1979 he returned to form with 58 stolen bases, a San Francisco Giant record. Injuries, however, kept him out of 20 games and prevented him from breaking the overall franchise record of 62. After a similar season in 1980, he tailed off in 1981.
In addition to stealing bases, North also utilized his speed in the field to lead American League outfielders three times in total chances
per game, twice in putout
s, and once each in assists
and double play
s. In the second game of a July 28, 1974 doubleheader
, he accomplished an unassisted double play against the Chicago White Sox
. North caught Brian Downing
's fly ball and continued to the second-base bag to double up Dick Allen
, who had been running on the play.
North was the first player in Oakland Athletic history to serve as a designated hitter
. He went 2-for-5 in the Athletics's 1973 season opener, an 8-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
Center fielder
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball fielding position between left field and right field...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. From 1971 to 1981, he played for the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
(1971–72), Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
(1973–78), Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
(1978) and San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
(1979–81). He was a switch hitter
Switch hitter
In baseball, a switch-hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed.-Baseball:Usually, right-handed batters hit better against left-handed pitchers and vice-versa. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher. Such pitches are often...
and threw right-handed.
In an 11-year career, North compiled a career batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
of .261 with 20 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 230 runs batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
. One of the fastest men in the game, he also recorded 395 stolen base
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...
s.
In 1969 North was drafted by the Cubs in the 12th round of the amateur draft. The speedy outfielder was traded to the Athletics after the 1972 season and started in center field on Oakland’s 1973 World Series
1973 World Series
The 1973 World Series matched the defending champion Oakland Athletics against the New York Mets, with the A's winning in seven games to repeat as World Champions....
champions. Batting leadoff, he posted career highs in batting average (.285) and runs scored
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
(98). However, on September 20, in a loss to the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
, North tripped over first base; the resulting ankle sprain not only cost him the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
stolen base title (his 53 steals placed him second, only one behind Tommy Harper
Tommy Harper
Tommy Harper is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder and third baseman. He played with the Cincinnati Reds , Cleveland Indians , Seattle Pilots , Milwaukee Brewers , Boston Red Sox , California Angels , Oakland Athletics , and the Baltimore Orioles .-High School...
), it also sidelined him for the remainder of the season and cost him the chance to play in the post-season.
In 1974 North did lead the league in steals, with 54, on an Athletics team that won its third consecutive World Series
1974 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 12, 1974 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaReggie Jackson put the A's on the board first with a solo homer in the top of the second off 20-game winner Andy Messersmith...
title. He was also involved in a not-so-memorable moment on June 5 of that season. He and Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
’s Tiger Stadium that resulted in Jackson injuring his shoulder. Ray Fosse
Ray Fosse
Raymond Earl Fosse is a former professional baseball player who was a catcher in the Major Leagues. He was drafted in the first round of the 1965 amateur draft by the Cleveland Indians. Fosse also holds the distinction of being the Indians' first ever draft pick, as 1965 was the first year of the...
, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him the next three months on the disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...
.
North also led the American League in steals in 1976 with 75, at the time the second-highest in a season in franchise history, trailing only Eddie Collins
Eddie Collins
Edward Trowbridge Collins, Sr. , nicknamed "Cocky", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman, manager and executive...
' 81 in 1910 with what were then the Philadelphia Athletics. In the franchise's Oakland history, this single-season record would be broken by Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henley Henderson is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed The Man of Steal, he is widely regarded as the sport's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner...
's 100 in 1980.
Injuries limited North to only 56 games in 1977, and after a slow start in 1978, the Athletics traded him to the Dodgers for Glenn Burke
Glenn Burke
Glenn Lawrence Burke was a Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979....
. His Dodgers won the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
pennant, but lost to the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
in the World Series
1978 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 10, 1978 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaWith Yankee ace Ron Guidry unavailable at least until Game 3, the Dodgers pounded twenty-game winner Ed Figueroa. Figueroa left after two innings, allowing home runs to Dusty Baker and Davey Lopes. Lopes would add a...
. After the season, the San Francisco Giants signed him as a free agent; in 1979 he returned to form with 58 stolen bases, a San Francisco Giant record. Injuries, however, kept him out of 20 games and prevented him from breaking the overall franchise record of 62. After a similar season in 1980, he tailed off in 1981.
In addition to stealing bases, North also utilized his speed in the field to lead American League outfielders three times in total chances
Total chances
In baseball statistics, total chances , also called chances offered, represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is calculated as follows: Total Chances = assists + putouts + errors. Chances accepted refers to the total of putouts and assists only. Fielding...
per game, twice in putout
Putout
In baseball statistics, a putout is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods:* Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base...
s, and once each in assists
Assist (baseball)
In baseball, an assist is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is awarded to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional...
and double play
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
s. In the second game of a July 28, 1974 doubleheader
Doubleheader (baseball)
A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...
, he accomplished an unassisted double play against the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
. North caught Brian Downing
Brian Downing
Brian Jay Downing is a former professional baseball player who had a 20-year MLB career with the Chicago White Sox, California Angels and Texas Rangers.- Chicago Years :...
's fly ball and continued to the second-base bag to double up Dick Allen
Dick Allen
Richard Anthony Allen is a former Major League Baseball player and R&B singer. He played first and third base and outfield in Major League Baseball and ranked among his sport's top offensive producers of the 1960s and early 1970s...
, who had been running on the play.
North was the first player in Oakland Athletic history to serve as a designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
. He went 2-for-5 in the Athletics's 1973 season opener, an 8-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
- List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions