Billy Williams

Outfielder · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1959-1976)

⭐ Hall of Fame 1987
AVG .290
HR 426
RBI 1,475
H 2,711
OPS .853
PIV 44,022
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 175 lb
Born
6/15/1938 in Whistler, AL, USA
MLB Debut
1959-08-06
Last Game
1976-10-02
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1987 (BBWAA)
Awards
6× All-Star · Rookie of the Year

Full name: Billy Leo Williams

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
2,488 9,350 1,410 2,711 434 88 426 1,475 90 1,045 1,046 .290 .361 .492 .853 44,022

Career AVG .290 vs. league average .251 across their career seasons — +15.5% above league average.

Career OBP .361 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — +13.7% above league average.

Career SLG .492 vs. league average .373 across their career seasons — +31.9% above league average.

Career OPS .853 vs. league average .691 across their career seasons — +23.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1959 CHN NL 18 33 0 5 0 1 0 2 0 1 7 .152 — — — — 0.0
1960 CHN NL 12 47 4 13 0 2 2 7 0 5 12 .277 — — — — 122.9
1961 CHN NL 146 529 75 147 20 7 25 86 6 45 70 .278 .258 (+8%) .328 (+3%) .399 (+21%) .727 (+13%) 1275.6
1962 CHN NL 159 618 94 184 22 8 22 91 9 70 72 .298 .257 (+16%) .326 (+13%) .393 (+18%) .719 (+16%) 2082.7
1963 CHN NL 161 612 87 175 36 9 25 95 7 68 78 .286 .246 (+16%) .308 (+16%) .371 (+34%) .680 (+25%) 3010.8
1964 CHN NL 162 645 100 201 39 2 33 98 10 59 84 .312 .250 (+24%) .312 (+18%) .377 (+41%) .690 (+31%) 3834.8
1965 CHN NL 164 645 115 203 39 6 34 108 10 65 76 .315 .245 (+28%) .310 (+21%) .371 (+48%) .682 (+36%) 4474.8
1966 CHN NL 162 648 100 179 23 5 29 91 6 69 61 .276 .248 (+11%) .309 (+12%) .376 (+23%) .685 (+18%) 2311.3
1967 CHN NL 162 634 92 176 21 12 28 84 6 68 67 .278 .242 (+15%) .306 (+13%) .357 (+35%) .663 (+25%) 2894.6
1968 CHN NL 163 642 91 185 30 8 30 98 4 48 53 .288 .236 (+22%) .298 (+13%) .340 (+47%) .638 (+31%) 3366.3
1969 CHN NL 163 642 103 188 33 10 21 95 3 59 70 .293 .248 (+18%) .320 (+11%) .369 (+28%) .689 (+20%) 2419.2
1970 CHN NL 161 636 137 205 34 4 42 129 7 72 65 .322 .253 (+27%) .325 (+20%) .385 (+52%) .711 (+37%) 4764.3
1971 CHN NL 157 594 86 179 27 5 28 93 7 77 44 .301 .249 (+21%) .316 (+21%) .365 (+38%) .682 (+30%) 3588.7
1972 CHN NL 150 574 95 191 34 6 37 122 3 62 59 .333 .243 (+36%) .310 (+28%) .353 (+71%) .664 (+51%) 5414.9
1973 CHN NL 156 576 72 166 22 2 20 86 4 76 72 .288 .256 (+12%) .325 (+13%) .378 (+16%) .703 (+15%) 1816.0
1974 CHN NL 117 404 55 113 22 0 16 68 4 67 44 .280 .256 (+9%) .324 (+18%) .369 (+23%) .693 (+20%) 1729.4
1975 OAK AL 155 520 68 127 20 1 23 81 0 76 68 .244 .257 (-5%) .327 (+4%) .374 (+12%) .701 (+8%) 976.5
1976 OAK AL 120 351 36 74 12 0 11 41 4 58 44 .211 .255 (-17%) .320 (avg) .360 (-6%) .681 (-3%) -61.0
Career · 18 seasons 2,488 9,350 1,410 2,711 434 88 426 1,475 90 1,045 1,046 .290 — — — — 44,022

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
3 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1975 ALCS OAK 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2488 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home124846757611413245792.302
Away124046756491298181682.278

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1976-10-02 OAKLAAW 201000000
1976-09-15 OAKMINW 000000000
1976-09-14 OAKMINL 101000100
1976-09-12 OAKTEXW 400000000
1976-09-10 OAKTEXL 200000000
1976-09-09 OAKCHWW 100000000
1976-09-07 OAKCHWW 100000000
1976-09-06 OAKLAAW 000000010
1976-09-03 OAKLAAW 100000000
1976-08-31 OAKNYYL 400000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 96 93 805 76 12 72
OF 2088 2068 3562 143 101 24

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1959 CHN OF 10 7 18 0 0 0
1960 CHN OF 12 12 25 0 1 0
1961 CHN OF 135 133 220 9 11 3
1962 CHN OF 159 159 273 18 10 4
1963 CHN OF 160 160 298 13 4 2
1964 CHN OF 162 161 233 14 13 0
1965 CHN OF 164 164 296 10 10 2
1966 CHN OF 162 162 319 9 8 3
1967 CHN OF 162 162 271 3 3 1
1968 CHN OF 163 163 261 4 9 0
1969 CHN OF 159 159 250 15 12 2
1970 CHN OF 160 159 259 13 3 1
1971 CHN OF 154 152 284 8 7 3
1972 CHN 1B 5 5 42 4 0 5
1972 CHN OF 144 142 233 9 4 0
1973 CHN 1B 19 19 167 20 2 14
1973 CHN OF 138 132 253 14 4 1
1974 CHN 1B 65 64 566 49 9 48
1974 CHN OF 43 41 69 4 2 2
1975 OAK 1B 7 5 30 3 1 5
1976 OAK OF 1 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
First Base 96
Left Field 1738
Center Field 31
Right Field 381
Designated Hitter 251

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1974 Player of the Week Week of 1974-06-14
1973 Player of the Week Week of 1973-09-07
1972 TSN All-Star OF
1972 TSN Major League Player of the Year
1972 TSN Player of the Year
1970 TSN All-Star OF
1968 TSN All-Star OF
1964 TSN All-Star OF
1961 Rookie of the Year
1961 TSN Rookie of the Year non-Pitcher

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1973 Most Valuable Player NL 29th 2.0 336 0
1972 Most Valuable Player NL 2nd 211.0 336 5
1971 Most Valuable Player NL 21th 10.0 336 0
1970 Most Valuable Player NL 2nd 218.0 336 2
1969 Most Valuable Player NL 23th 6.0 336 0
1968 Most Valuable Player NL 8th 48.0 280 0
1965 Most Valuable Player NL 12th 21.0 280 0
1964 Most Valuable Player NL 18th 6.0 280 0
1961 Rookie of the Year NL 1st 10.0 16 10

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Billy Williams (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Al Kaline HOF
    .297 avg, 399 HR
  2. 94
    Luis Gonzalez
    .283 avg, 354 HR
  3. 90
    Jim Rice HOF
    .298 avg, 382 HR
  4. 83
    Dwight Evans
    .272 avg, 385 HR
  5. 78
    Ellis Burks
    .291 avg, 352 HR
  6. 78
    Dave Parker HOF
    .290 avg, 339 HR

Compare Billy Williams

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Williams's closest peers by position and era.

vs Hank Aaron
vs Willie Mays
vs Mickey Mantle
vs Frank Robinson
vs Carl Yastrzemski
vs Al Kaline

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

See Billy Williams in Another Era

What would Williams's 1972 season look like in a different era's run environment? Try the cross-era translation with a live slider.

Translate Billy Williams's peak season across eras →

Frequently Asked Questions about Billy Williams

What years did Billy Williams play?
Billy Williams played in Major League Baseball from 1959 to 1976.
Was Billy Williams a pitcher?
No. Billy Williams was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Billy Williams hit?
Billy Williams hit 426 career home runs with 2711 hits.
Is Billy Williams in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Billy Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.