#220 Billy Williams - Chicago Cubs

Billy Leo Williams
Chicago Cubs
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  175
Born:  June 15, 1938, Whistler, AL
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1959-1974; Oakland Athletics 1975-1976
Hall of Fame Induction:  1987

Billy Williams was as automatic, consistent and reliable as any outfielder of his era.  For 16 seasons with the Cubs, Williams batted third and played left field (except for a two-year detour to right field), appearing in at least 150 games or more in 12 straight seasons.  He was called an Iron Man before Cal Ripken, Jr. came along, as he played in 1,117 consecutive games between 1963 and 1970.  Williams was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1961, and in 1962 he went to the first of his six All-Star Games.  He batted over .300 in five seasons, and collected at least 25 home runs in 10 seasons.  He enjoyed a career year in 1970, batting .322 with 42 home runs and 129 RBIs, finishing second in the league's MVP voting behind Johnny Bench.  Williams led the league that season in runs scored (137) and hits (205).  He won the league's batting crown in 1972 with a .333 average, again finishing as the MVP runner-up behind Bench.  Williams was dealt to the Athletics after the 1974 season for Manny Trillo, Darold Knowles (#577) and Bob Locker (#541).  He spent the final two seasons of his career as the designated hitter for Oakland, finally reaching the postseason in 1975 with the club.

Williams retired with a .290 average, 2,711 hits, 426 home runs and 1,475 RBIs.  He served as a long-time coach for the Cubs (1980-1982, 1986-1987, 1992-2001) with another brief tenure as a coach for the Athletics (1983-1985).  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and his #26 was retired by the Cubs that same year.  In 1999, Williams was selected to the Cubs All-Century Team and a statute of the long-time outfielder was installed outside Wrigley Field in 2010.

July 28, 2021 - On the Ocean City beach

Building the Set
July 28, 2021 from Johnson City, TN - Card #339
By late July, we were down to needing 18 more cards to complete our set's third series, including three big star cards - Pete Rose (#207), this Williams card and Willie Mays (#250).  We had spent an enjoyable day on the beach in Ocean City, New Jersey, staying at the condo my in-laws rent once a summer during the last week of July.  After a dinner of Mike's Seafood and ice cream from A La Mode, we settled in to watch that night's Phillies game, and as has been the case for a lot of games this season, it was not an enjoyable game.  In fact, the Braves blew them out 15-3 and infielder Ronald Torreyes was called upon to finish out the game for the Phillies on the mound.  The Phillies poor play gave me some extra time to browse eBay, searching specifically for some of the remaining cards needed for the third series.  I won an auction for this Williams card (or maybe I hit Buy It Now?) from seller halftime43, located in Johnson City, Tennessee.  I bid on a bunch (20 or so) of cards up for auction from Greg Morris Cards, winning only three of them, and I'll feature those three cards in my next three posts.

The Card / Cubs Team Set
This is Williams' second appearance in the set, as he appeared on the National League Home Run Leaders card (#4).  I don't have much to say here, other than this is a fantastic looking baseball card.  Williams' Rookie of the Year win is highlighted on the back.  Williams, at card #40, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Cubs in the set.  He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.

1965 Season
The opening day center fielder for the Cubs, Williams would move around during the season to all three outfield spots as the Cubs struggled to find a set line-up.  He started 106 games in right, 29 games in center and 29 games in left.  Williams appeared in a league-leading 164 games, batting .315 with 203 hits, 34 home runs and 108 RBIs, winning the Cubs' triple crown.

1961 Topps #141

1968 Topps #37

1970 Topps #170

1972 Topps #439

1976 Topps #525

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1961 Topps #141
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1961-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2021 Topps Allen & Ginter #224

821 - Williams non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/20/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #219 Bob Meyer - Kansas City Athletics

Next Card:  #221 John Tsitouris - Cincinnati Reds

#4 1964 N.L. Home Run Leaders - Mays, Williams, Callison, Cepeda & Hart

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1965 Topps set.

Building the Set
April 29, 2020 from Huntington, WV - Card #93

In the middle of the sixth week of the coronavirus lockdown, I decided I needed some cardboard therapy.  The last card I had added for our set was back in the beginning of April when I went searching for the Al Kaline (#130) card upon his passing.  With no clear direction in mind, I went out to eBay and decided I'd pool my budget together for a few of the bigger cards in the set.  I browsed aimlessly until deciding on a reasonable strategy for my search - I'd look for cards in the order we needed them.  We already have cards #1 and #2, so I started looking for cards #3 and #4.  If I use this strategy again, I might start going backwards too, looking for cards #598, #597, etc.  I realize I'm lucky I can still buy baseball cards at this time and I don't take it for granted that I'm able to do so.  I'd like to think that buying these few cards is also helping the sellers in some small way.

I bought this from a seller in Huntington, WV on a Sunday and the card arrived at our house on Wednesday.  Both this card and card #3, the A.L. Home Run Leaders card, arrived on the same day.  The price I paid for it was fair and the happiness it brought me upon its arrival was immediate and much needed.

At the end of April, the end of the lockdown was still no where in sight, although some states had started to (most likely prematurely) ease restrictions.  My family was safe and healthy and we had settled into our new routine, only leaving the house for walks, to play outside or to venture to the grocery store.  What a strange, stressful and scary time.

The Card
This is one of two league leaders cards featuring five players, with the other being the A.L. Pitching Leaders (#9) card.  Seven of the top eight N.L. home run leaders in 1964 were from the Giants (3), Cubs (2) or Phillies (2).  There's an uncorrected error on the back as Willie Mays (#250) is given a team designation of "N.Y." even though the Giants had moved to San Francisco seven years earlier.

Mays ran away with this title, his third to date, and he'd add one more home run title to his resume in 1965 when he hit a career high 52 home runs.  Billy Williams (#220) never led the league in home runs, although he did finish twice in both 1964 and 1970 and he finished in the top ten in the league nine times.

Orlando Cepeda (#360) had led the league in home runs in 1961 with 46.  Johnny Callison (#310) made the cut with his three home run performance on September 25th in a game against the Braves.  Jim Ray Hart (#395) snuck onto the front of this card with his 31st home run on October 2nd, the penultimate game of the season for the Giants.

Flipping to the back, and similar to what Topps did with the A.L. home run leaders card, every N.L. player to have hit a grand slam during the 1964 season is listed.

Giants Team Set / Cubs Team Set / Phillies Team Set

Previous Card:  #3 1964 A.L. Home Run Leaders

Next Card:  #5 1964 A.L. RBI Leaders