Billy Sample

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Reinserted William Amos Sample (born April 2, 1955 in Roanoke, Virginia), is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as an outfielder from 1978-1986. Sample played for the Texas Rangers (1978-1984), New York Yankees (1985) and Atlanta Braves (1986).

Sample grew up in Salem, Virginia, and graduated from Salem's Andrew Lewis High School in 1973. While at Andrew Lewis, Sample was a three-sport standout in football, basketball, and baseball. As a junior wide receiver on Andrew Lewis's football team, Sample scored the winning touchdown in a 1971 state AAA semifinal game. With the victory, Andrew Lewis advanced to the state championship, where Sample's team lost to T. C. Williams High School - a game dramatized (with historical liberties) in the motion picture Remember The Titans. Sample attended Madison College (now James Madison University) for three years, before being drafted by the Rangers in 1976.

In 826 games, Sample hit for a .272 batting average with 684 hits, 46 home runs and 230 RBI. He stole 98 bases, 44 of those coming in the 1983 season with the Texas Rangers.

After ending his playing career, Sample became a correspondent on MLB.TV. Sample's son, Ian, played the position of wide receiver for the University of Hawaii's football team.

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Retrosheet