| Billy Sample | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: (1955-04-02)April 2, 1955 (age 70) Roanoke, Virginia, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 2, 1978, for the Texas Rangers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 5, 1986, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .272 |
| Home runs | 46 |
| Runs batted in | 230 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
William Amos Sample (born April 2, 1955), is a formeroutfielder inMajor League Baseball who played for theTexas Rangers,New York Yankees, andAtlanta Braves in parts of nine seasons spanning 1978–1986.
A native ofRoanoke, Virginia, Sample grew up inSalem, Virginia and graduated from Salem'sAndrew Lewis High School in 1973. While at school, Sample was a three-sport standout in football, basketball, and baseball. As a junior wide receiver on the football team, Sample scored the winning touchdown in a 1971 state AAA quarterfinal game. A victory later, Andrew Lewis advanced to the state championship, where Sample's team lost toT. C. Williams High School - a game dramatized with historical liberties in the motion pictureRemember The Titans. After that, Sample attended Madison College (nowJames Madison University) for three years, before being drafted by the Rangers in 1976.[1]
Sample singled on his first major league pitch in 1978, made the Topps All Rookie Team in 1979, had his longest hitting streak (19 games) in 1981, reached base in 37 consecutive games in 1983, was fifth in the American League in steals (44 of 52) in 1983, sixth in power-speed numbers and was the 10th toughest to strike out in the league, with only teammate Buddy Bell having hit more home runs of the preceding nine. Sample finished with a career .272 average. He retired in 1986 with theAtlanta Braves.[1]
Primarily a broadcaster/writer after his playing days, Sample has broadcast for the Braves,Seattle Mariners, andCalifornia Angels, as well as contributing toNPR,CBS Radio,ESPN, andMLB.com. As a writer, Sample has been published inSports Illustrated andThe New York Times, and was one of the columnists at the inception ofUSA Today'sBaseball Weekly (nowSports Weekly). Sample was also the baseball consultant forShowtime's productionJoe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way, which chronicled the Yankees' 1996 season.
Billy Sample most recently added filmmaker to his résumé, producing his award-winning screenplay (Hoboken Film Festival 2011) into the movie "Reunion 108," an edgy, satirical comedy with a baseball backdrop directed by filmmakerJames Suttles released in October 2013.
In June 2016, Sample self-published on Amazon his first book, A Year in Pinstripes ... And Then Some, which highlighted his 1985 season with the New York Yankees that included anecdotes from his childhood, as well as his seasons with the Texas Rangers and the Atlanta Braves.
On October 18, 2019, the stadium in which Sample played American Legion baseball and high school home football games known as Municipal Field when he was growing up, later known as Kiwanis Park was renamed Billy Sample Field at Kiwanis Park.[2] It was also the Single-A minor league home of thePittsburgh Pirates,Salem Buccaneers; and where Sample watched many future major leaguers in the earlier stages of their professional careers including future teammateMario Mendoza.