Josh Billings (catcher)

John Augustus "Josh" Billings (November 30, 1891 – December 30, 1981) was a backup catcher in Major League Baseball who played for three different teams between the 1913 and 1923 seasons. Listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 165 lb., Billings batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Grantville, Kansas.

Before playing professional baseball, Billings was a star player at Kansas State University (1910) and Oklahoma State University (1911–12).^[1][2]

Billings played from 1913 to 1918 for the Cleveland Naps (renamed the Indians in 1915). In 1919, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns in exchange for Les Nunamaker. In St. Louis he received considerably more playing time than he had in Cleveland. His most productive season came in 1920, when he posted career-numbers in batting average (.277), runs (19) and RBI (11), while matching a career-high 66 games played and finishing seventh in the American League in hit by pitches (7). He was a career .217 hitter in 243 games.^[3]

In 1943 Billings managed the Kenosha Comets, one of the four original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and led his team to the playoffs in that season.^[4]

Billings died in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 89.

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