Billy O'Dell Stats

Billy O'Dell was born on Wednesday, February 10, 1932, in Whitmire, South Carolina. O'Dell was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on June 20, 1954, with the Baltimore Orioles. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Billy O'Dell baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I had a pretty good lineup to face in that game (1958 All-Star Game) when I came in to pitch. I had to face guys like Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, among others. I really didn't think that much about who I was facing." - Billy O'Dell in Baseball Digest (July 1986)

Billy O'Dell

Billy 'Digger' O'Dell Autograph on a 1966 Topps Baseball Card (#237 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1966top01' title='1966 Topps Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

Billy 'Digger' O'Dell Autograph on a 1966 Topps Baseball Card (#237 | Checklist)

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Birth Name:   William Oliver O'Dell
Nickname:   Billy or Digger
Born On:   02-10-1932  (Aquarius)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Whitmire, South Carolina
Year of Death Data Died On:   09-12-2018 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Newberry, South Carolina
Cemetery:   Newberry Memorial Gardens, Newberry, South Carolina
High School:   Whitmire High School (Whitmire, SC)
College:   Clemson Agricultural College
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Both   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Left
Player Height Chart Height:   5-11   Player Weight Chart Weight:   170
First Game:   06-20-1954 (Age 22)
Last Game:   09-12-1967
Draft:   Not Applicable / $24,000 Bonus Baby

Billy O'Dell

Billy O'Dell Pitching Stats

1954 22 Orioles 7 2 4 1 1 .500 2.76 1 0 0 16.1 67 15 5 7 0 5 0 6 0 0 0 -
1956 24 Orioles 4 1 2 0 0 .000 1.13 0 0 0 8.0 34 6 1 1 0 6 1 6 0 0 0 -
1957 25 Orioles 35 15 6 4 10 .286 2.69 2 1 4 140.1 560 107 42 48 12 39 2 97 0 5 0 -
1958 26 Orioles 41 25 12 14 11 .560 2.97 12 3 8 221.1 913 201 73 83 13 51 6 137 2 4 1 -
1959 27 Orioles 38 24 9 10 12 .455 2.93 6 2 1 199.1 826 163 65 74 18 67 7 88 2 1 0 -
1960 28 Giants 43 24 6 8 13 .381 3.20 6 1 2 202.2 873 198 72 80 16 72 8 145 4 2 2 -
1961 29 Giants 46 14 9 7 5 .583 3.59 4 1 2 130.1 554 132 52 63 10 33 6 110 2 1 0 -
1962 30 Giants 43 39 1 19 14 .576 3.53 20 2 0 280.2 1,178 282 110 126 18 66 1 195 4 7 0 -
1963 31 Giants 36 33 1 14 10 .583 3.16 10 3 1 222.1 951 218 78 90 14 70 12 116 6 7 0 -
1964 32 Giants 36 8 13 8 7 .533 5.40 1 0 2 85.0 371 82 51 55 10 35 6 54 1 4 0 -
1965 33 Braves 62 1 42 10 6 .625 2.18 0 0 18 111.1 448 87 27 35 10 30 8 78 6 2 0 -
1966 34 Braves 24 0 15 2 3 .400 2.40 0 0 6 41.1 183 44 11 14 3 18 1 20 0 2 0 -
1966 34 Pirates 37 2 11 3 2 .600 2.78 0 0 4 71.1 304 74 22 24 3 23 1 47 2 4 1 -
1967 35 Pirates 27 11 6 5 6 .455 5.82 1 0 0 86.2 381 88 56 58 10 41 7 34 1 3 1 -
13 Years 479 199 137 105 100 .512 3.29 63 13 48 1,817.0 7,643 1,697 665 758 137 556 66 1,133 30 42 5 -

Billy O'Dell

Billy O'Dell Hitting Stats

1954 22 Orioles 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1956 24 Orioles 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1957 25 Orioles 37 34 3 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 8 5 0 0 0 .147 .171 .147
1958 26 Orioles 42 72 5 8 2 0 1 0 1 6 0 27 4 0 0 2 .111 .179 .181
1959 27 Orioles 43 60 5 5 0 0 1 0 2 4 0 18 2 0 0 1 .083 .141 .133
1960 28 Giants 49 56 8 6 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 19 3 0 0 0 .107 .254 .107
1961 29 Giants 49 39 1 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 10 4 1 0 0 .103 .122 .103
1962 30 Giants 49 90 7 12 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 29 10 0 0 1 .133 .188 .133
1963 31 Giants 47 78 6 16 3 0 0 0 3 4 0 23 5 0 0 1 .205 .244 .244
1964 32 Giants 50 22 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 .000 .043 .000
1965 33 Braves 62 23 1 4 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 11 2 0 0 0 .174 .208 .217
1966 34 Braves 26 8 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .250
1966 34 Pirates 37 16 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 .063 .118 .063
1967 35 Pirates 28 26 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 8 1 0 0 0 .115 .179 .115
13 Years 530 528 43 66 6 0 2 0 19 38 0 171 36 1 0 5 .125 .183 .148

Billy O'Dell

Billy O'Dell Fielding Stats

1954 Orioles P 7 2 49 5 0.7 5 0 5 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.76
1956 Orioles P 4 1 24 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1957 Orioles P 35 15 421 21 0.6 19 5 14 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .905 1.22
1958 Orioles P 41 25 664 44 1.1 44 12 32 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.79
1959 Orioles P 38 24 598 54 1.4 51 7 44 3 3 n/a n/a n/a .944 2.30
1960 Giants P 43 24 608 39 0.9 38 9 29 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .974 1.69
1961 Giants P 46 14 391 25 0.5 25 8 17 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.73
1962 Giants P 43 39 842 59 1.4 54 15 39 5 0 n/a n/a n/a .915 1.73
1963 Giants P 36 33 667 33 0.9 32 5 27 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .970 1.30
1964 Giants P 36 8 255 16 0.4 15 5 10 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .938 1.59
1965 Braves 1B 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1965 Braves P 62 1 334 25 0.4 25 12 13 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.02
1966 Braves P 24 0 124 6 0.3 6 1 5 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.31
1966 Pirates P 37 2 214 11 0.3 11 6 5 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.39
1967 Pirates P 27 11 260 15 0.6 15 3 12 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.56
P Totals 479 199 5,451 353 0.7 340 88 252 13 11 n/a n/a n/a .963 1.68
1B Totals 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
13 Years 480 199 5,451 353 0.7 340 88 252 13 11 n/a n/a n/a .963 1.68

Billy O'Dell

Billy O'Dell Miscellaneous Stats

1954 Orioles 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 1.5 0.0 1.20 3.31 2.76
1956 Orioles 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.00 6.75 6.75
1957 Orioles 0 0 .000 0 2 n/a 0.0 4.3 34.0 2.49 6.22 2.50
1958 Orioles 2 0 1.000 0 1 n/a 72.0 2.7 72.0 2.69 5.57 2.07
1959 Orioles 1 1 .500 0 5 n/a 60.0 3.3 30.0 1.31 3.97 3.03
1960 Giants 1 1 .500 0 6 n/a 0.0 2.9 0.0 2.01 6.44 3.20
1961 Giants 0 0 .000 0 3 n/a 0.0 3.9 19.5 3.33 7.60 2.28
1962 Giants 1 1 .500 0 6 n/a 0.0 3.1 15.0 2.95 6.25 2.12
1963 Giants 0 2 .000 1 10 n/a 0.0 3.4 26.0 1.66 4.70 2.83
1964 Giants 0 0 .000 0 14 n/a 0.0 3.1 0.0 1.54 5.72 3.71
1965 Braves 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.1 11.5 2.60 6.31 2.43
1966 Braves 0 0 .000 0 2 n/a 0.0 2.7 8.0 1.11 4.35 3.92
1966 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 3.2 16.0 2.04 5.93 2.90
1967 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 0.0 3.3 0.0 0.83 3.53 4.26
13 Years 5 5 .500 1 50 n/a 264.0 3.1 27.8 2.04 5.61 2.75

Billy O'Dell

Billy O'Dell Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1954 Baltimore Orioles 24 Undetermined - -
1956 Baltimore Orioles 18 Undetermined - -
1957 Baltimore Orioles 38 Undetermined - -
1958 Baltimore Orioles 41 Undetermined Stats -
1959 Baltimore Orioles 41 Undetermined Stats -
1960 San Francisco Giants 31 Undetermined - -
1961 San Francisco Giants 31 Undetermined - -
1962 San Francisco Giants 31 Undetermined - Stats
1963 San Francisco Giants 31 Undetermined - -
1964 San Francisco Giants 31 Undetermined - -
1965 Milwaukee Braves 33 Undetermined - -
1966 Atlanta Braves 33 Undetermined - -
1966 Pittsburgh Pirates 31 Undetermined - -
1967 Pittsburgh Pirates 31 Undetermined - -

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William Oliver O'Dell was a Major Leagues Baseball player who pitched for the Baltimore Orioles (1954, 1956-1959), San Francisco Giants (1960-1964), Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1965-1966), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1966-1967). Billy, or Digger, as he was commonly known, was scouted by Art Ehlers, signed for $12,500, and became the first Bonus Baby in the Baltimore Orioles organization.

Did you know that Billy O'Dell literally stepped from the field at Clemson Agricultural College (where he pitched from 1952 through 1954), to the field in Memorial Stadium (making his big league debut on June 20, 1954), never once playing a game in the minor leagues?

Billy O'Dell Photograph

Billy O'Dell Photograph | Atlanta Braves Press Photo | Baseball Almanac Collection

Billy O'Dell, on April 15, 1966, recorded the last two outs in a game, earned a save, and took the mound wearing #33 - the first ATLANTA Braves player to ever use the number in a regular season contest.