MLB analyst Sarah Langs revisited Each team’s most unlikely postseason hero in a recent article on MLB.com.
For the Reds, that unlikely hero was Billy Bates.
“The 5-foot-7, 155-pound Bates was on the Reds’ 1990 postseason roster mainly for his speed, so he was quite surprised when he was summoned to pinch-hit against future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley in the 10th inning of Game 2 of the World Series,” MLB.com’s Sarah Langs wrote. “He hit an infield single — his only hit in a Cincinnati uniform — and later came around to score on Joe Oliver’s walk-off single. The Reds went on to win the World Series, and Bates never again played in the Major Leagues.”
Bates played in just 11 combined regular-season and postseason games for the Reds in the 1990 season, but he got a huge hit when it mattered most.
The second baseman was out of the league after the 1990 season. He also spent time with the Milwaukee Brewers in his three-year MLB career.
You can read Langs’ full article here.
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