Billy Cox

Billy Cox. Newport's Greatest Major League Baseball Player. , William 'Billy' Richard Cox (1919-1978) was by all accounts one of the best fielding infielders whoever played in the Major Leagues. A 1939 graduate of Newport High School he started his career at shortstop for Harrisburg in the Inter-State League. He made the line-up with the Pittsburgh Pirates in late 1941. As with many players of his era, he served his country overseas during World War II and lost some of his very best years as an athlete. Returning to the Pirates after the war, he was traded to Brooklyn and played for the Dodgers from 1948 to 1954, appearing in three World Series. Known for his clutch hitting, his best year was 1953 when he hit .291 and received his largest salary of $19,000 in 1954. Traded to the new Baltimore Orioles in 1955, he retired in mid-season returning to live the rest of his life in Newport. He died of cancer in 1978., His wife, Anna Radle Cox Swartz, a long time Newport High School teacher and community activist died in 2016., Newport Veteran's Park baseball field is a memorial to Billy. It recognizes his dynamic grace on the field, clutch hitting at the plate and service to his country during World War II., Billy Cox brought an exhibition game to Newport in October 1948. The Newport American Legion team played the Pennsylvania National All Stars. Billy is sixth from the right, standing. The game was played before several thousand persons who sat on the bank overlooking the high school field. Proceeds were split 50-50 between the All-Stars and the Newport team. (Buffalo Mountain in the back ground),

"We regard Billy Cox as the best glove man Brooklyn ever had." - Walter O'Malley famed owner of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, "I never saw a better fielding 3rd baseman in baseball." - Brooks Robinson, Hall of Fame 3rd baseman for the Baltimore Orioles

, [Captions:] , "The Boys of Summer", part of the famed infield lineup for the 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers - left to right, Pete Reiser, Billy Cox, Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reece. Robinson and Reece are in Baseball's Hall of Fame., Front Row: left to right, Ken L. Hultzapple, Bat Boy for All Stars and Johnny Reighter. Second row: Robert Flickinger, Sam Jury, Bill Garlin, Wayne Jones, Horace Sheaffer, Jim Crane, Wilburt Troutman, Glenn Rush, John Baer and Cloyd Zeiders. Back row: Russell Gibney, Harry Bonn, Paul Wagner, Lee Clouser, Nicholas Carter, Dick Wertz, Danny Litwhiler (who invented the baseball radar gun), Ray Mueller, Danny Murtaugh (long-time manager of the Pirates), Vernon Bickford, Bill McCahan, Billy Cox, Curt Simmons (member of the Baseball Hall of Fame), Carl Furrilo (The Reading Rifle), Del Ennis, Ron Northey and Bob Rhawn.