Astros Pitcher Billy Smith, Whose Career Was Interrupted by Strike, Passes Away
April 12, 2025
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Billy Smith, a pitcher for the Houston Astros team that won a second-half title in the strike-shortened 1981 season, died April 5. He was 70.
Smith’s major league career consisted of 11 games — 10 in the regular season, one in the postseason — all with the Astros in 1981.
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In the first-ever Division Series between the Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Smith faced one batter (Dusty Baker) and retired him to end the eighth inning of Game 3.
A Houston Astros hat designed by Travis Scott commemorating his Wish You Were Here tour is seen inside a baseball glove prior to the game against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park on April… A Houston Astros hat designed by Travis Scott commemorating his Wish You Were Here tour is seen inside a baseball glove prior to the game against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park on April 6, 2019 in Houston.
Tim Warner/Getty Images
That would prove to be the final major league appearance of Smith’s eight-year career (1977-84) in professional baseball.
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A native of La Marque, Texas, Smith was drafted by the Astros in the 14th round of the 1977 MLB Draft out of Sam Houston State University.
By 1978, Smith had reached the Double-A level. The right-hander repeated Double-A in 1979, going 14-9 with a 2.64 ERA for the Columbus (Ga.) Astros.
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Smith spent the entire 1980 season in Triple-A with the Tucson Toros, going 12-4 with a 3.71 ERA. After the season, Smith was taken by the New York Mets in the Dec. 1980 Rule 5 draft, but returned to the Astros the following April.
The 1981 season saw the Astros replace the general manager who drafted Smith, Tal Smith (no relation) with Bill Virdon. When Virdon saw Smith get off to a strong start at Tucson — 5-2 with a 2.96 ERA in 10 starts — his first major league promotion followed.
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Smith allowed two runs in two innings in Philadelphia against the defending World Series champions Phillies on June 9, 1981. His timing could not have been worse. Three days later, the MLB Players’ Association authorized a strike.
Brad Willson of the Daytona Beach Morning Journal spoke to Smith’s wife later that month:
“It’s ironic,” smiled Mrs. Smith ruefully. “All these years Billy has had the big leagues as his goal. Now he makes it and we’re both living off my salary as a schoolteacher.”
The strike ended July 31 with the Astros in third place in the National League West. Major League Baseball chose to divide the season into two “halves” (pre- and post-strike), with the winner of each division in the first half playing the winner of each division from the second half to decide who would meet in the Championship Series.
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The Astros improved in the second half and finished with the best record in the NL West (33-20). Smith had a strong second half, too, going 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA in nine games. He won his only start by tossing seven shutout innings against the Phillies in Houston on Aug. 9, 1981.
Smith made the Astros’ postseason roster, but the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled out a five-game victory in the best-of-five NLDS.
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Smith returned to the Astros’ spring training camp in 1982, but was sent back to Tucson to begin the new season. He went 4-8 with a 7.15 ERA in 28 games (19 starts) for the Toros, and was not re-signed by the Astros for 1983.
Smith would pitch for two more seasons (1983-84) in Mexico before retiring as a player. According to his obituary on legacy.com, Smith worked as a private pitching coach in Conroe, Texas, and “spent his life working jobs that utilized his gregarious and outgoing personality.”
Smith is survived by his wife, Arlinda, their two children, and one grandchild.
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