Billy Bates

Willie Bates, known as Billy (19 November 1855 – 8 January 1900) was an English all-round cricketer. Excellent with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field. A snappy dresser, Bates was also known as "The Duke".

Born to a humble family in Lascelles Hall, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, Bates became a professional cricketer for Rochdale in 1873 and made his first-class debut for Yorkshire four years later, taking four for 69 in Middlesex's first innings to begin a ten-year career in the first-class game. He played fifteen Test matches for England between 1881–82 and 1886–87, all of them in Australia.

At the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1882–83, Bates excelled by scoring 55 in England's only innings before taking 7 for 28 (including a hat-trick) to force Australia to follow on. He then claimed 7 for 74 in the second innings to help his team to the first-ever innings victory in Test cricket. Bates set several individual records in this game as his hat-trick was the first for England in Test cricket, and his return of 7 for 28, and his match tally of 14 wickets, were then the best-ever by a Test match bowler. In addition, no Test bowler had previously taken 10 or more wickets and scored a half-century in the same match.

Billy Bates (baseball)

William Derrick Bates (born December 7, 1963) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman and pinch runner who played for the Milwaukee Brewers and the 1990 World Series champion Cincinnati Reds. In 29 career games, Bates had a batting average of .125 with six hits, two runs batted in (RBI), 11 runs, ten strikeouts, and eight stolen bases. Though defensively he played as a second baseman, the Reds primarily used Bates as a pinch runner. After he scored the winning run in Game 2 of the 1990 World Series, Bates never played in MLB again.

Born in Houston, Bates attended the University of Texas and, in his freshman season, won the 1983 College World Series as a part of the Texas Longhorns baseball team. For the next two seasons, Bates was named to the College Baseball All-America Team, a team composed of the best collegiate baseball athletes in America. Drafted by Milwaukee in the 4th round of the 1985 MLB draft, he rose through the Brewers' farm system and teams that he played for won multiple minor league titles. He subsequently made his MLB debut in 1989, after Milwaukee's starting second baseman became injured. A trade sent Bates to Cincinnati in 1990, where the Reds used him as a pinch runner at the end of the regular season and into the postseason. Facing the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, Bates reached base on a pinch hit single against Dennis Eckersley and later scored the winning run in Game 2, as the Reds ultimately swept the Athletics, four games to none. Following the World Series championship, Bates spent two years in minor league baseball, one for the Reds and one for the Chicago Cubs, and last played exhibition baseball in 1995. After retirement, he worked as an equipment supplier in the oil and gas industry in Houston and coached his daughter's softball team.

Billy Bates (disambiguation)

Billy Bates (1855–1900) was an English all-round cricketer.

Billy Bates may also refer to:

See also