Billy Cox

Who was Billy Cox?

William Richard Cox was a Major League Baseball third baseman.

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1940, Cox made his Major League debut with the Pirates on September 20, 1941, playing in ten games at shortstop that season before serving in the military during World War II.

After returning to the Pirates, he was the starting shortstop in 1946 and 1947 before being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers on December 8, 1947, along with Preacher Roe and Gene Mauch, for Dixie Walker, Hal Gregg and Vic Lombardi.

Cox was the third baseman of a Brooklyn Dodgers infield in the 1950s that included Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson, and Pee Wee Reese.

The book Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodgers Dugout: Extra Innings includes short stories from the former Dodger pitcher. Cox is prominent in many of them.

Billy is also featured in Roger Kahn's 1971 book The Boys of Summer, which tells the stories of the Brooklyn Dodgers from the early 1950s and then catches up with them later in life.

Billy was an infield starter and leadoff hitter for the Baltimore Orioles for the first half of 1955.