William Derrick Bates (born December 7, 1963) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and pinch runner who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds. In 29 career games, Bates had a batting average of .125 with six hits, two runs batted in (RBI), 11 runs, and eight stolen bases. Though his defensive position was at second base, the Reds primarily used Bates as a pinch runner. After he scored the winning run in Game 2 of the 1990 World Series, Bates never played in MLB again.
Born in Houston, Bates attended the University of Texas and, in his freshman season, won the 1983 College World Series as a part of the Texas Longhorns baseball team. For the next two seasons, Bates was named to the College Baseball All-America Team, a team composed of the best collegiate baseball athletes in America. Drafted by Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 1985 MLB draft, he rose through the Brewers' farm system helping several of his minor league teams win their respective league titles. He made his MLB debut in 1989, after Milwaukee's starting second baseman Jim Gantner was injured. A trade in 1990 sent Bates to Cincinnati, where the Reds used him primarily as a pinch runner at the end of the regular season and into the postseason. Facing the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, Bates reached base on a pinch hit single against Dennis Eckersley and later scored the winning run in Game 2 as the Reds swept the Athletics four games to none. Following the World Series championship, the Reds re-signed Bates on a one-year contract, and he played for their Triple-A team. He spent the next year with the Chicago Cubs Triple-A affiliate, and last played exhibition baseball in 1995. After retiring, he worked as an equipment supplier in the oil and gas industry in Houston.
Early life William Derrick Bates was born on December 7, 1963, in Houston, Texas. The son of a paint foreman, he was the youngest of seven siblings. He attended Aldine High School, where he played baseball as an infielder and pitcher, basketball as a guard, and American football as a running back. In his junior year, the Aldine Mustangs defeated the Dickinson High School Gators 34–7 to win the Region III football championship; in the game, Bates recorded 93 yards on 14 carries. In baseball, the Texas High School Coaches Association named Bates as an All-Star to their South Team in June 1982. According to Bates, as a senior, Sam Houston State University and "several smaller schools" recruited him for baseball. After his senior season, a scout for the Houston Astros stated Bates would never play major college baseball, and suggested he attend a junior college. When the Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the eighth round of the 1982 MLB draft, Bates became the second player ever to be drafted out of Aldine. Instead of signing a professional contract with the Phillies, who offered Bates $38,000 or $38,500 to sign with the team (equivalent to $102,000 or $103,000 in 2020), Bates chose to attend the University of Texas at Austin.
Collegiate career
Bates enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, and started at second base in his first year. The 1983 Longhorns finished the regular season with a 61–14 win–loss record and were ranked as the number one team in the nation by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Though the College World Series (CWS) followed a double-elimination format, the Longhorns, who defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs to represent the Central Regional in the CWS, remained undefeated and beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 4–3 to win the championship. After the series, Bates was named to the World Series All-Tournament team, composed of the best players from the series, and writers for Baseball America (BA) named him to their honorary first-team Freshman All-America team. He finished the season with a .296 batting average for the Longhorns.
During his sophomore season, Bates was named an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) first-team All-American; with the accomplishment, Bates became the second Longhorn second baseman ever to make an All-American team, and the first since Pat Rigby in 1962. Texas finished with a 60–14 record and lost 3–1 to the Cal State Fullerton Titans in the final game of the 1984 CWS. Bates recorded 36 steals over the regular season and batted .272. His 62 walks and 74 games played both led the Longhorns. In 1985, Bates was a co-captain of the Texas team with David Denny, and was named a BA and an ABCA All-American with a .361 batting average as Texas finished at a 64–14 mark. In a June 1 CWS game against the Arizona Wildcats, Bates switched from hitting left to hitting right-handed in the middle of the game, and walked in the 7th inning and scored the game-tying run, and, in the 8th inning, hit a double that scored the go-ahead run. On June 5, in a game against the Miami Hurricanes, Bates hit two home runs, one from the right-hand side and one an inside-the-park home run from the left-hand side, as the Longhorns won 8–4; his two home runs tied a record for most home runs in a single CWS game. In a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks on June 8, Bates hit a triple in the bottom of the tenth inning and scored the winning run on a Doug Hodo single as the Longhorns defeated the Razorbacks 8–7. In the CWS finals, Texas lost twice against the Hurricanes, who advanced to the series from the loser's bracket, and lost the series. Over his career with the Longhorns, Bates batted .312 with a fielding percentage of .969.
Texas head coach Cliff Gustafson called Bates the best second baseman who played under him up to and including 1985. In 1996, a panel of sixty coaches, Division I Baseball Committee chairs, and media who covered the CWS named Bates to their all-decade team for the 1980s. , Bates held the Texas Longhorns record for most career triples, with 20, most triples in a single season, with 13, and most runs scored in a single season, with 100. On June 3, the Milwaukee Brewers drafted Bates in the 4th round of the 1985 MLB draft. An anonymous scout outside the Brewers organization called Bates "confusing", and said "if you just put the stats on, and forget he's , , he's done remarkable things. But we go on percentages."
Professional career Rise to the majors Bates began playing professionally for the Class A-Advanced Stockton Ports, a Brewers farm team which competed in the California League (CL). Though the Ports had seven future MLB pitchers on their roster, the team only had two future MLB position players: Bates and LaVel Freeman, who played in two games for the Brewers in 1989. Under manager Tom Gamboa, the Ports finished with an 82–63 record and reached the CL playoffs, which consisted of four teams playing in two best-of-five game series; the two winners advanced to play for the League championship. In the first series, the Ports defeated the Modesto A's, three games to one. In the championship, Stockton faced the Fresno Giants; with a 2–1 series lead, Stockton lost the final two games, and the Giants won the California League title. Bates batted .298, tied for fourth-best on the team, with 18 stolen bases in 59 games played.
In 1986, the Brewers promoted Bates to the Double-A El Paso Diablos. Bates' eight home runs and 75 runs batted in (RBI) became the highest of his career at any professional level. The Diablos finished the regular season with an 85–50 record as Bates led the club with 23 stolen bases but was caught stealing 10 times, also a team high. In the playoffs, the Diablos defeated the Jackson Mets four games to none to win the Texas League championship. Bates set a league record with three stolen bases in a single postseason game.
Before the 1987 season, Bates attempted to make the Brewers' Opening Day roster by playing in Milwaukee's spring training camp. A writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted there was "a lot of recent publicity" around Bates, and another Journal Sentinel reporter said he "impressed many with his play". The Brewers sent Bates to their minor league camp in Peoria, Arizona, in March. He spent the entire season playing in Triple-A for the Denver Zephyrs of the American Association (AA) and played in 130 games, the second most on the Zephyrs to Brad Komminsk's 135. In a May 30 game against the Indianapolis Indians, Bates hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the 9th inning. He was named the AA's All-Star second baseman, and finished the season batting .316 with 51 stolen bases, second most in the AA to Gary Thurman of the Omaha Royals, who stole 58. His 117 runs scored also led a Denver club that won its final 11 games to finish 79–61, one game ahead of the Louisville Redbirds for the best record in the AA. In the league championship series, Denver lost to the Indians four games to one.
Before the 1988 season, a prediction in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram stated that Bates might make the Brewers if Paul Molitor ended up as a third baseman or a designated hitter. In a Brewers' spring training game in early March, Bates committed two errors against the Chicago Cubs in the 11th inning, as the Cubs scored the winning run without recording a hit, but his 4th or 5th-inning single scored two runs. Bates was again cut from the MLB roster before the start of the 1988 season, as Milwaukee manager Tom Trebelhorn named Molitor as the Brewers' starting second baseman. Now in Triple-A, Bates had a five-RBI game against the Iowa Cubs on April 12 in a Zephyrs victory. In a June game against the Toledo Mud Hens, Bates hit a single and a double, with two walks and two runs scored, in a 5–1 Zephyrs win. Hindered throughout the season by a leg injury, Bates hit .258 with 29 stolen bases, a loss of 22 from a season ago, as the Zephyrs finished 72–62.
Milwaukee Brewers
After the 1988 season, the Brewers invited Bates to their spring training camp as a non-roster invitee as the 1989 season approached. Bates competed for a utility infielder position along with Gus Polidor, Edgar Díaz, and Juan Castillo, though Bates stated that he had played at shortstop and third base the previous year and Trebelhorn said he could contribute more in Triple-A. When 12-year Brewer second baseman Jim Gantner re-signed with the club, Bates was demoted to Denver, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel predicted that he would remain there due to his limited defensive versatility. Bates began the season with the Zephyrs and in July was named to the Triple-A All-Star Game. In a game against the New York Yankees on August 15, Gantner tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and was placed on the disabled list. Bates was called up as his replacement, though Milwaukee's general manager Harry Dalton stated he would aim to acquire a second baseman with MLB experience for the spot.