Saturday, July 18, 2009

1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars #213 Billy McMillon

Remember Billy McMillon? Completely out of contention and floundering in last place, the Phils traded popular catcher turned outfielder Darren Daulton to the Florida Marlins for McMillon in July 1997. I remember being a little confused as to why we'd trade Dutch for a marginal outfield prospect who was flirting with the wrong side of the Mendoza Line. In retrospect, I now view the trade as more of a way to "reward" Dutch by getting him out of a bad situation in Philly and sending him to a contender. (The Marlins would go on to win the 1997 World Series).

In 24 games with the '97 Phils, Billy hit .292 with 2 home runs and 13 RBI, closing out the season as the team's regular left fielder. Billy never made it back to the Phillies, spending '98 and '99 as a regular with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Billy returned to the Majors in 2000 with the Detroit Tigers. Over the course of 4 seasons with the Tigers and Oakland Athletics, he'd play 204 games compiling a .250 batting average.

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