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- A couple of weeks after Billy was born, his father left for Viet Nam. He did not return for almost a year.
- Billy loved football and would have played in college, but was advised not to because of the chronic ankle sprains he endured at Tazewll High.
- Billy’s strikeouts per innings pitched ratio is better than anyone in major league history with 500 innings or more.
- Billy finished Houston’s historic six-pitcher no-hitter of the Yankees in 2003. He fanned Jorge Posada and Bubba Trammell, then made the last out himself when Hideki Matsui grounded to Jeff Bagwell.
- Billy made the All-Star team in 1999, 2001 and 2003. He made the 2005 staff after Pedro Martinez begged out of the game. Billy became Philadelphia’s first lefty reliever to go to the Mid-Summer Classic since Al Holland in 1984.
- When Billy was a starter, he would become nauseous waiting for games to start. As a reliever, he never knows when he will pitch, so he is able to keep his anxiety in check.
- Brad Lidge claims Billy taught him everything he knows about closing. He called the Houston reliever after Albert Pujols launched his dramatic playoff home run in the 2005 NLCS for moral support
- Billy watches the first inning or two of a game from the bullpen, then ducks into the clubhouse for a few innings to stretch, ride a stationary bike, and watch tapes of the hitters he is likely to face.
- His favorite player today is Mets teammate Carlos Beltran.
- Billy says the player from the past he would most like to have seen is Bob Gibson.
- Billy owns a six-acre alpaca farm in Crozet, Virginia, and lives there in the off-season with his wife and three kids.
- Billy’s favorite movie is The Last Samurai.
Carlos Beltran,
2005 ESPN The Magazine
Bob Gibson, 1962
Topps