WATCH: Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame 2016 Inductee Billy Stein Among Best Pinch Hitters In MLB History

SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME SPOTLIGHT

WATCH: Billy Stein, who played 14 seasons with four different clubs in MLB, played in all of the local leagues in Cocoa – Little League, Babe Ruth, Legion Ball, and Connie Mack before going on to play for Cocoa High.

2016 PROFESSIONAL INDUCTEE: Drafted In 1969 By the St. Louis Cardinals, Lifetime Batting Average of .267, Among the American League’s Best Pinch Hitters

COCOA HIGH GRAD: From when he was a kid in Little League until he was drafted for the second time in 1969, Billy Stein learned the game of baseball right here on the Space Coast of Florida.

Stein, who played 14 seasons with four different clubs in MLB, played in all of the local leagues in Cocoa – Little League, Babe Ruth, Legion Ball and Connie Mack before going on to play for Cocoa High.

After graduating from Cocoa in 1965, Stein attended BCC, where he interrupted his studies and baseball career for one year to serve in the U.S. Army.

When he returned from serving his country, Stein was drafted in the 33rd round of the 1968 draft by the Baltimore Orioles but elected to continue playing college ball for the Southern Illinois University Salukis.

SIU was a perennial Division I baseball champion in those days, participating in the College World Series each year. The decision to wait exactly 363 days paid off for Stein, as the St. Louis Cardinals selected him 29 rounds higher in 1969, drafting him in the fourth round.

This time, Stein signed the contract, reported to minor league ball, and a little over three years later, on September 6, 1972, made his MLB debut. Batting leadoff, Stein had five at-bats and collected his first hit, a home run off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ken Reynolds in the bottom of the ninth.

Stein’s last home run came on August 17, 1985, in the first inning of a 9-2 Rangers win. What happened in between those two long balls was a dream come true for Stein.

During those 13 years, Stein played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, and the Texas Rangers.

CLUTCH PINCH-HITTER

Sometimes numbers don’t always tell the story of a player’s value. Stein played double-digit games at every position in the field except shortstop, pitcher, and catcher, and he converted 96.5 percent of the balls hit his way in the field into an out for his team.

His lifetime batting average was .267, but he batted .285 during the final five years of his career playing in Texas.

Clutch pinch-hitting is an art in baseball, and good pinch-hitters are hard to find, but if Billy Stein could do anything in baseball, he could pinch-hit. Asked to do it 179 times, he batted .282 with 36 pivotal RBIs late in games in his career.

Stein coached and managed for a while in several independent leagues and later served as the manager for the New York Mets’ and San Francisco Giants’ Class A affiliates in the late 80s and early 90s. He also spent one season as manager of the Rockledge Raiders in 1987, leading them to a district title.

Stein moved to Palm Coast, Florida, in 2013, after residing in Texas since his retirement from the Rangers in 1985. In Palm Coast, Stein is as versatile as ever, playing all over the infield and knocking around the pitching in the Flagler (County) Senior Softball League.

BREVARD BASEBALL LEGEND

From the fields of Provost Park in Cocoa to the old baseball fields at Brevard Community College to Arlington Stadium in Texas, Brevard County’s own Billy Stein is a big part of the successful baseball history that helps make up the lore of Space Coast sports.

For more than a century, athletes from Brevard County have been considered among the finest in America, and their accomplishments are honored and immortalized by the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.

Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and has so far inducted more than 140 of Brevard’s most outstanding athletes, coaches, and sports personalities.

FOR INFORMATION about the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, or to make a nomination, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-615-8111.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

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