Billy McMillon

William Edward McMillon (born November 17, 1971) is an American minor league baseball manager, former minor league coach, and former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) during six seasons between 1996 and 2004, for four different teams. As a player, he threw and batted left-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall, and weighed 172 pounds (78 kg). He is an inductee of the International League Hall of Fame.

Billy McMillon
Outfielder
Born: November 17, 1971 Alamogordo, New Mexico
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
July 26, 1996, for the Florida Marlins
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 2004, for the Oakland Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average	.248
Home runs	16
Runs batted in	93
Teams
Florida Marlins (1996–1997) Philadelphia Phillies (1997) Detroit Tigers (2000–2001) Oakland Athletics (2001, 2003–2004)
Career highlights and awards
Eastern League MVP (1995) International League ROY (1996) Eastern League MOY (2014) International League Hall of Fame (2019)

In December 2018, McMillon was named manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox, Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. He previously managed three other minor league affiliates of the Red Sox.

Early years

McMillon was born in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and graduated from high school in Bishopville, South Carolina. He attended Clemson University where be he played college baseball from 1991 to 1993 for the Tigers, accruing a .382 batting average.[1] He was selected by the Florida Marlins in the eighth round of the 1993 MLB draft.[1]

Playing career

McMillon first played professionally in 1993 for the Elmira Pioneers, a farm team of the Marlins.[2] In 1994, McMillon played for the Kane County Cougars and was selected as a starter for the Midwest League all-star game.[3] In 1995, with the Portland Sea Dogs, then an affiliate of the Marlins, McMillon batted .313 with 14 home runs and 93 runs batted in.[2] He led the Eastern League in hits and walks, with 162 and 96, respectively.[4] He was named an outfielder on the Eastern League postseason all-star team and was named the league's most valuable player.[5] McMillon advanced to Triple-A in 1996; playing for the Charlotte Knights, he was named International League rookie of the year.[6]

McMillon had his major league debut during 1996 with the Marlins, and went on to hit .188 in 41 MLB games during parts of that season and the next.[7] He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Darren Daulton on July 21, 1997.[8] With the Phillies in 1997, McMillon played in 24 games and batted .292 with two home runs and 13 RBIs.[7] He next played in MLB during 2000 and 2001 with the Detroit Tigers, appearing in 66 games while batting .255 with five home runs and 28 RBIs.[7] McMillon's final MLB team was the Oakland Athletics, whom he played for during 2001, 2003, and 2004. With Oakland, he batted .248 with nine home runs and 47 RBIs in 138 games.[7]

Overall, McMillon appeared in a 269 MLB games, batting .248 with 16 home runs and 93 RBIs.[7] He played in three major league postseason games, with Oakland during their loss to the Boston Red Sox in the 2003 American League Division Series, collecting one hit in six at bats.[7] Positionally, he played 133 games as an outfielder, 43 games as a designated hitter, and six games as a first baseman.[7] He had a .974 fielding average as an outfielder.[7]

McMillon also played in a total of 992 minor league games during parts of 11 seasons, with a .304 batting average, 127 home runs, and 610 RBIs.[2] In 2019, McMillon was selected for induction to the International League Hall of Fame.[6]

Managing and coaching career

McMillon joined the Red Sox organization as batting coach of the Single-A Greenville Drive of the South Atlantic League in 2008 and 2009, then became to manager of the Drive in 2010. In two seasons, he led Greenville to a 155–124 record and one playoff appearance. On January 20, 2012, he was named manager of the Salem Red Sox of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League.[9] After finishing one game under .500 in 2012, he was retained as Salem's manager for the 2013 season[10] and led his team to the Carolina League championship. Salem won the second half Southern Division title, and then bested the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and the Potomac Nationals in the playoffs. The Salem Red Sox won their final 11 games during the regular season and playoffs.[11]

On December 18, 2013, McMillon was named manager of the Portland Sea Dogs, the Red Sox' affiliate in the Double-A Eastern League and the team that he had played for (with the Marlins) in 1995.[12] His managerial debut with the 2014 Sea Dogs produced a first-place finish in the Eastern League's Northern Division with an 88–54 record. McMillon was named the league's manager of the year.[13] During the season, his club included top prospects such as Mookie Betts, Blake Swihart, Henry Owens, Deven Marrero, Brian Johnson, Eduardo Rodríguez and Travis Shaw; all but Rodríguez were promoted to higher levels by the time of the Eastern League playoffs, when Portland fell to the Binghamton Mets in the first round. McMillon was subsequently retained by the Sea Dogs as their manager for the 2015 season;[14] the team finished with a 53–89 record.

McMillon spent 2016 to 2018 as the roving minor league outfield and base running coordinator in the Red Sox' farm system.[15][16]

In December 2018, McMillon returned to managing, becoming the 18th manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox in the team's Triple-A history, and 21st overall since the team was established as a Double-A franchise in 1970.[1] The 2019 PawSox finished with a record of 59–81. McMillon returned as manager for 2020,[17] but the minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Managerial record

Year	Team (Class)	W	L	Pct.	Notes
2010	Greenville Drive (A)	77	62	.554	Lost in league finals
2011	Greenville Drive (A)	78	62	.557
2012	Salem Red Sox (A+)	68	69	.496
2013	Salem Red Sox (A+)	76	64	.543	League champions
2014	Portland Sea Dogs (AA)	88	54	.620	Lost in semifinals
2015	Portland Sea Dogs (AA)	53	89	.373
2019	Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA)	59	81	.421
2020	Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA)	—	—	—	Season cancelled
Total		499	481	.509

Personal life

McMillon holds a bachelor's degree from Clemson and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.[1] He and his wife and two children reside in Columbia, South Carolina.[1]

References

1. "Billy McMillon Named PawSox Manager for 2019". MiLB.com. December 7, 2018.
2. "Billy McMillon Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
3. "Single A Kane County". Miami Herald. June 11, 1994. p. 7B. Retrieved November 13, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
4. King, Bill (June 29, 1996). "McMillon makes grade". Florida Today. Cocoa, Florida. p. 3C. Retrieved November 13, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
5. "EL All-Stars". Lancaster New Era. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. September 6, 1995. p. D-6. Retrieved November 13, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
6. "International League Announces 2019 Hall of Fame Class" (PDF). MiLB.com (Press release). International League. January 29, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2019 – via Wayback Machine.
7. "Bill McMillon Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
8. "Phillies Send Daulton to Marlins". Los Angeles Times. July 22, 1997.
9. "Red Sox Announce 2012 Minor League Field Staffs". MLB.com (Press release). January 20, 2012.
10. "Red Sox announce 2013 Minor League field staffs". MLB.com (Press release). December 14, 2012.
11. Mcfarling, Aaron (September 11, 2013). "Salem Red Sox play up to the crowd in completing three-game sweep". roanoke.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2013 – via archive.is.
12. Browne, Ian (December 18, 2013). "Red Sox name Boles Triple-A Pawtucket manager". MLB.com (Press release). Archived from the original on December 19, 2013 – via Wayback Machine.
13. Thomas, Kevin (August 28, 2014). "Sea Dogs' manager Billy McMillon, pitcher Henry Owens take league's top honors". Portland Press Herald. Portland, Maine.
14. "McMillon Returns To Manage Sea Dogs". MiLB.com. January 8, 2015.
15. Abraham, Peter (November 11, 2015). "Red Sox notebook: Minor league changes". The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
16. Torres, Elizabeth (December 18, 2013). "Red Sox announce 2014 minor league managers, coaching staffs". Boston.com.
17. "Red Sox announce personnel moves in player development and Minor League field staffs". mlb.com (Press release). Boston Red Sox. January 16, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet