Billy Cox (baseball)

Billy Cox
File:Billy Cox 1953.jpg Cox in 1953
Third baseman / Shortstop
Born: (1919-08-29)August 29, 1919 Newport, Pennsylvania
Died: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 20, 1941, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
June 11, 1955, for the Baltimore Orioles
MLB statistics
Batting average	.262
Home runs	66
Runs batted in	351
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1941, 1946–1947) Brooklyn Dodgers (1948–1954) Baltimore Orioles (1955)

William Richard Cox (August 29, 1919 – March 30, 1978) was a Major League Baseball third baseman.

He played for the Newport Buffaloes high school team. Signed as an amateur free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1940, Cox made his Major League debut with the Pirates on September 20, 1941, playing in ten games at shortstop that season before serving in the military during World War II.

After returning to the Pirates, he was the starting shortstop in 1946 and 1947 before being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers on December 8, 1947, along with Preacher Roe and Gene Mauch, for Dixie Walker, Hal Gregg and Vic Lombardi.

Cox was the third baseman of a Dodgers infield in the 1950s that included Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese.

In the 1953 World Series, Cox had a two-run double in Game 2 and a three-run homer in Game 5 against the New York Yankees. He batted .304 for the Series and led Brooklyn in runs batted in with six.

The book Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodgers Dugout: Extra Innings (2004) includes short stories from the former Dodger pitcher. Cox is prominent in many of them.

Cox is also featured in Roger Kahn's 1971 book The Boys of Summer, which tells the stories of the Brooklyn Dodgers from the early 1950s, then catches up with them later in life.

Cox was an infield starter (principally at third base) and leadoff hitter for the Baltimore Orioles for the first half of 1955, but after being pulled for a pinch runner on June 11, was traded at the trading deadline, June 16. Cox, however, would not report to his new team, the Cleveland Indians, reigning American League champions. Even after a meeting with Indians' manager Al López, Cox resolved to retire and did so on June 17. After Cox retired, the Orioles never settled on a starting third baseman until Brooks Robinson won the job in 1957. The Orioles used 13 third basemen in 1955.

The youth baseball park on North Second Street in Newport, Pennsylvania, is named after Cox, and hosts River League games (independent Little League) as well as an annual Pete Howell Memorial tournament during the second week of July. Howell was the local district justice and long-time president of the Newport Baseball Association.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Billy Cox at Find a Grave