Billy Williams is a well respected baseball legend known for his superb batting average and numerous home runs. He is a former outfielder in MLB. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was a highly competitive player on the Chicago Cubs teams who never reached the post-season, he finally realized his dream of playing in the post-season late in his career with the Oakland Athletics.

He started his career in 1959. Williams was selected as the Rookie of the Year in 1961. He set a National League record for consecutive games played with 1,117 between 1962-1971 but is was eclipsed by Steve Garvey (1975-1983) with 1,207. Williams had 13 straight seasons of 20 or more homeruns and 84 or more RBI's, 1961 to 1973.

He enjoyed his finest season in 1972 at age 34, when he paced the league in batting average with a .333 mark, also posting a .606 slugging percentage while collecting 37 home runs and 122 runs batted in.

He finished behind Johnny Bench in the MVP selection, just as he had done in 1970. It was his last great season in the league before being traded to the American League's Oakland Athletics for second baseman Manny Trillo and two pitchers. Williams helped lead Oakland to the 1975 American League West championship as a designated hitter, hitting 23 homers with 81 RBI. He retired a year later.

He accumulated a lifetime .290 BA with 426 homers and 1475 RBI. Billy Williams was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987, and on the 13th of August of that same year his #26 was retired at Wrigley Field. Following his departure from the Cubs, the number had been reassigned to other players from time to time, most notably Larry Biittner, although Williams reclaimed it during several intervals of coaching with the Cubs after his playing days had ended.

He is currently a coach with the Cubs. In 1999, he was named as a finalist to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team