- Billy Butler (baseball)
Infobox MLB player
width = 150
name=Billy Butler
position=Designated hitter
team=Kansas City Royals
number=16
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1986|4|18
debutdate=May 1
debutyear=2007
debutteam=Kansas City Royals
statyear=July 16, 2008
stat1label=Batting Average
stat1value=.374
stat2label=Home Runs | stat2value=10
stat3label=Runs Batted In
stat3value=71
teams=
*Kansas City Royals (by|2007-present)Billy Ray Butler (born
April 18 ,1986 inOrange Park, Florida ) is aMajor League baseball designated hitter for theKansas City Royals . He has also played first base, left field, and right field.Butler was selected by the Royals in the first round (14th overall) of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of
high school and signed for a $1.45 million bonus, $250,000 below the recommended slot value for that pick. He attended Wolfson High School inJacksonville ,Florida , where he was teammates with fellow first round draft pick Eric Hurley who is a pitcher selected by the Texas Rangers. He turned down a scholarship to play for theUniversity of Florida to go pro. [cite web|url=http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/features/04top10s/royals.html|title=Top 10 Prospects: Kansas City Royals|author=Kimmey, Will|publisher="Baseball America "|date=November 19 ,2004 |accessdate=2006-10-21]In 2006 Butler led the
Texas League with a .331 batting average. Despite taking time out to play forTeam USA Butler ammased 96 RBIs while playing right field for the Double-AWichita Wranglers . A third baseman in high school, Butler played right field and left field for Wichita in 2006. He was also selected to play for theUnited States squad in the 2006All-Star Futures Game , where he hit the go ahead home run and was selected gameMVP . [cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/futures_game.jsp|title=Futures Game History: All-Time Roster (1999-2006)|accessdate=2006-10-21|publisher=MLB.com ] [cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060709&content_id=1549647&vkey=allstar2006&fext=.jsp|title=Butler Selected MVP of 2006 Futures Game|accessdate=2007-03-09|publisher=MLB.com ] He made his major league debut onMay 1 ,2007 , singling in his firstat bat , but was sent to minors after playing 10 games. He was recalled on June 19th after the Royals put sluggerMike Sweeney on the Disabled List. [cite web|url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/156878.html|title=Royals recall Butler after putting Sweeney on disabled list|accessdate=2007-06-19|publisher=kansascity.com ]Awards
* 2004 Kansas City Royals Minor League Player of the Year
* 2004 Pioneer League All-Star 3B
* 2004 Rookie League All-Star 3B
* 2005California League Rookie of the Year
* 2005 High A All-Star DH
* 2005 "Baseball America " 1st team Minor League All-Star DH
* 2005 Kansas City Royals Minor League Player of the Year
* 2005 California League All-Star DH
* 2005 California/Carolina League All-Star Game MVP
* 2006 Futures Game MVPReferences
External links
* Official website : http://www.billybutler.com/
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