Bill Selby

Infobox MLB retired
name=Bill Selby
position=Infielder
bats=Right
throws=Left
birthdate=birthdate and age|1970|6|11
debutdate=April 19
debutyear=by|1996
debutteam=Boston Red Sox
finaldate=May 25
finalyear=by|2003|
finalteam=Cleveland Indians
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.223
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=11
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=48
teams=
*Boston Red Sox (by|1996)
*Cleveland Indians (by|2000)
*Cincinnati Reds (by|2001)
*Cleveland Indians (by|2002-by|2003)
highlights=

William Frank Selby (born June 11, 1970 in Monroeville, Alabama) was a utility player from by|1996 to by|2003 with the Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Indians. Selby played in 198 total MLB games, with a .223 career batting average. Mostly used off the bench, Selby hit a career high 6 home runs in by|2002 with the Indians. The most dramatic of those home runs came on July 14, when he hit a walk-off grand slam against Mariano Rivera to defeat the New York Yankees, 10-7, in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was the first walk-off home run that Rivera had allowed in his career.

Bill Selby became the sixth player in (Triple-A team) Buffalo Bisons club history to be inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame on August 25, by|2007. In the Bisons’ modern era, Selby ranks first in hits (378), doubles (90), RBI (245) and runs (217). He’s second in games played (370) and third in home runs (60). Selby was the team’s MVP in by|1999 (.295, 20 homers, 85 RBI) and played in the by|2000 Triple-A All-Star Game in Rochester, New York.

"Selby is God" fans

While playing minor league baseball for the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1996, during an away game in Columbus, Ohio, Selby was introduced to three Ohio State University students (and Cleveland Indians fans) who became very vocal fans. Two days later, Selby was called up to the parent Boston club, playing in Cleveland, and he had a base hit that Friday evening against Cleveland closer Jose Mesa. The three fans made the trip that weekend and debuted a large cardboard sign that read, merely, "Selby is God." (The sign is an homage to a previous "Bernie is God" sign that honored Cowboy QB (and ex-Cleveland Browns legend) Bernie Kosar.)

The "Selby is God" fans received some notoriety after Selby's grand slam off Rivera in 2002, appearing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and on television.

Nicknaming Travis Hafner

Selby is also known for bestowing Cleveland Indians DH Travis Hafner with his nickname, "Pronk". Selby explained the nickname to the Buffalo News:

“Texas came to town in 2002 and I was with [former Indian] Lee Stevens on the bench saying, ‘This dude is unbelievable. He’s a real project.’ He was hitting the ball everywhere. We got him the next spring and we called him ‘Project’ all the time. One day I passed him, and said, ‘What’s up, you big donkey?’ He said, ‘Hey, I can’t be the Project and the Donkey.’

“So we started going with ‘Pronkey’. In Spanish, we made it ‘El Pronko.’ Then it got down to ‘The Pronk’ and finally just ‘Pronk.’ It fits him. He doesn’t look like Shrek or anything else. He just looks like a Pronk.”

External links

*
* [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/147064.html Buffalo News Article about Hall of Fame 8/23/07]
* [http://www.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20020714&content_id=81808&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle Bill Selby's Walkoff Grand Slam]