Bill Champion (baseball)

Buford Billy Champion (September 18, 1947 – January 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher, coach, and scout who played in 202 games in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers, from 1969–1976.

Bill was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 3rd round (58th overall) of the 1965 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Shelby High School in Shelby, NC.

Before his big league debut, in 1969, Champion was already a two-time Minor League Baseball (MiLB) earned run average (ERA) league leader: Huron Phillies, Northern League (1965); and Tidewater Tides, Carolina League (1968). He was traded along with Don Money and John Vukovich by the Phillies to the Brewers for Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett, Ken Sanders and Earl Stephenson on October 31, 1972.

Champion went on to become a scout for the Chicago Cubs and pitching coach for the Greenville Braves.

Champion died on January 7, 2017, in Shelby, North Carolina, at the age of 69.