Billy Cox Marquee

b. August 29, 1919 · Pittsburgh Pirates 1941, 1946–1947, Brooklyn Dodgers 1948–1954, Baltimore Orioles 1955

Billy Cox played third base for Brooklyn in the years the club went to four World Series, and the consensus among people who watched him — including a good many who played against him — was that nobody had ever fielded the position better. Roger Kahn built part of The Boys of Summer around him.

He came from Pittsburgh in the 1948 trade for Preacher Roe and Dixie Walker, having lost three seasons to army service in the Pacific during the war. The bat was ordinary, .262 with modest power, and it never mattered much.

Born in Newport, Pennsylvania in 1919, Cox collected 974 hits across 1,058 games and finished with Baltimore in 1955. Cox was fifty-eight when he died, in March 1978.

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1941	PIT	10	37	4	10	3	1	0	2	3	2	1	.270
1946	PIT	121	411	32	119	22	6	2	36	26	15	4	.290
1947	PIT	132	529	75	145	30	7	15	54	29	28	5	.274
1948	BRO	88	237	36	59	13	2	3	15	38	19	3	.249
1949	BRO	100	390	48	91	18	2	8	40	30	18	5	.233
1950	BRO	119	451	62	116	17	2	8	44	35	24	6	.257
1951	BRO	142	455	62	127	25	4	9	51	37	30	5	.279
1952	BRO	116	455	56	118	12	3	6	34	25	32	10	.259
1953	BRO	100	327	44	95	18	1	10	44	37	21	2	.291
1954	BRO	77	226	26	53	9	2	2	17	21	13	0	.235
1955	BAL	53	194	25	41	7	2	3	14	17	16	1	.211
Career	—	1058	3712	470	974	174	32	66	351	298	218	42	.262

On this day & linked events

1919

Born August 29, 1919

Newport, PA, USA

1978

Died March 30, 1978

1941

Major-league debut: Billy Cox

Billy Cox made a major-league debut on September 20, 1941.

1955

Final major-league game: Billy Cox

Billy Cox played a final major-league game on June 11, 1955.

Image: Bowman Gum, public domain