- Billy Myers
William Harrison Myers (
August 14 ,1910 -April 10 ,1995 ) was ashortstop inMajor League Baseball who played from by|1935 through by|1941 for theCincinnati Reds (1935-1940) andChicago Cubs (1941). Listed at 5' 8", 168 lb., Myers batted and threwright-handed . He was born inEnola, Pennsylvania . His younger brother,Lynn Myers , also was a major leaguer.Myers hit .313 for Triple-A Columbus in 1934 before joining Cincinnati in 1935, to become the Reds starting shortstop for the next six seasons and served as their team captain. A valuable defensive player, he was recognized as a master of reading baserunners intents and picking up hit-and-run and
stolen base signs from opposing teams.In his rookie season, Myers hit .267 with 30 extrabases and a .315
on-base percentage in 117 games. In 1937 was considered in the National League MVP vote, after hitting .251 and slugging .370 with a .328 OBP in 124 games. His most productive season came in 1939, when he posted career-numbers in games (130), runs (79),home run s (12) and RBI (56), while hitting .281, also a career-high. He was included in the MVP vote for the second time and also appeared in the World Series against the Yankees. But Myers is best remembered for his game-winningsacrifice fly in Game 7 of the1940 World Series against Detroit.In a seven-season career, Myers was a .257 hitter with 45 home runs and 243 RBI in 738 games, including 319 runs, 88 doubles, 33 triples, 23
stolen base s and a .328 OBP. He collected a .946fielding percentage in 712 games at shortstop and hit .200 (7-for-35) in 11 World Series games.Following his playing retirement, Myers scouted for various teams for several years. In 1966 he gained induction into the
Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame .Myers died at the agew of 84 in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania .External links
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Billy_Myers_1910&page=chronology Baseball Library]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/myersbi01.shtml Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/Pmyerb101.htm Retrosheet]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
