Josh Billings (catcher)

John Augustus "Josh" Billings (November 30, 1891 – December 30, 1981) was a backup catcher in Major League Baseball who played for three different teams between the 1913 and 1923 seasons. Listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 165 lb., Billings batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Grantville, Kansas.

Josh Billings
Catcher
Born: (1891-11-30)November 30, 1891 Grantville, Kansas
Died: December 30, 1981(1981-12-30) (aged 90) Santa Monica, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 9, 1913, for the Cleveland Naps
Last MLB appearance
June 16, 1923, for the St. Louis Browns
MLB statistics
Batting average	.217
Home runs	0
Runs batted in	29
Teams
Cleveland Naps/Indians (1913–1918) St. Louis Browns (1919–1923)

Before playing professional baseball, Billings was a star player at Kansas State University (1910) and Oklahoma State University (1911–12).^[1][2]

Billings played from 1913 to 1918 for the Cleveland Naps (renamed the Indians in 1915). In 1919, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns in exchange for Les Nunamaker. In St. Louis he received considerably more playing time than he had in Cleveland. His most productive season came in 1920, when he posted career-numbers in batting average (.277), runs (19) and RBI (11), while matching a career-high 66 games played and finishing seventh in the American League in hit by pitches (7). He was a career .217 hitter in 243 games.^[3]

In 1943 Billings managed the Kenosha Comets, one of the four original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and led his team to the playoffs in that season.^[4]

Billings died in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 90.

References

1. Evans, Harold (1940). "Baseball in Kansas, 1867–1940". Kansas Historical Quarterly. Archived from the original on October 19, 2003. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
2. Oklahoma State alums in major leagues
3. Baseball-Reference.com – major league statistics
4. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League history