Billy Smith

Who is Billy Smith?

Billy Franklin Smith is a retired American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, manager and coach. He threw and batted left-handed, stood 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds during his active career. Smith compiled a lifetime batting average of .312 in minor league baseball but he never climbed higher than the Double-A level.

Smith graduated from Jamestown, North Carolina, High School and attended North Carolina State University. He played in the Boston/Milwaukee Braves' farm system from 1950–1954 and 1956–1960, spending his last three seasons as the playing manager of the Boise Braves of the Class C Pioneer League. In 1959, he managed Boise to an 81–47 record and a runaway Pioneer League regular-season title, and led the league in hitting with a .390 mark. But his club fell in the first round of the playoffs to the Idaho Falls Russets.

Smith scouted for the Braves from 1961 through 1966, then switched to the Houston Astros' organization as a scout and minor league manager at the Rookie and Short Season-A levels from 1967–1979.