Billy Connors

Who is Billy Connors?

William Joseph Connors is an American former player, coach and front office official in professional baseball. A pitcher, he threw and batted right-handed, stood 6' tall and weighed 220 pounds in his playing days.

When he was 12, Connors was a member of the Schenectady All-Star team that won the 1954 Little League World Championship, beating the team from Colton, California, 7–5. He graduated from Linton High School in Schenectady in 1959 and attended Syracuse University for two years. He signed with the Chicago Cubs as a pitcher-infielder in 1961. During a season split between the Class B Northwest League and the Class D Sophomore League, Connors batted only .226 with no home runs and 32 runs batted in while hurling 29 innings as a pitcher. In 1962 in the Class D Florida State League, Connors was converted to pitcher-catcher, and improved his batting mark to .296 with two homers and 35 RBI. He also increased his pitching load to 64 innings and posted a sparkling 2.64 earned run average. In 1963, back in the Northwest League, he became a full-time pitcher, winning 12 games and notching 138 strike outs.