Early life

Billy Butler was born on April 18th 1986. His birth name is William Raymond Butler Jr. He attended Wolfson High School situated in Jacksonville, Florida. He turned down the scholarship offered by University of Florida to play professional baseball. He was picked by the Kansas City Royals in the first round of the 2004 MLB draft with $1.4 million bonus. He made his minor league debut with Royals affiliate Idaho Falls Chukars. He batted at an average of .373 and 10 home runs. His performance in the minor league earned him the Minor League player of the year. In 2005, he was awarded the Rookie of the year in California League. He also played for the national baseball team.

MLB career

Billy Butler started his Major League Baseball (MLB) career on May 1st 2007. Butler’s average in the Rookie year was .292 with 8 home runs. His batting average in 2008 season was .275 with 11 home runs. In 2009, Butler produced his career high 21 home runs. His batting average for the season was .301. His performance promoted him from designated hitter to first baseman. He was bestowed the royal player of the year in 2009. In 2010, Butlers’ numbers in terms of home runs and RBI dropped slightly but his batting average of .318 was remarkable. His strong performance in the previous seasons earned him $30 million contract on July 1st 2011 for 4 years with the Royals.

His place as the first baseman in the Royals team was taken by Eric Hosmer and Butler was given the role of designated hitter throughout the series. He also won the Hutch award that season. In 2013, Butler completed his 1,000th hit against St. Louis Cardinals. He played all the matches of the season and in the process made a career high 79 walks. 2014 season turned out to be the worst season of Butler’s career. His statistics of slugging, batting average in that season were the lowest of his career. By the end of the season, he was a free agent with Kansas City declining to extend the previous contract. On November 18th 2014, Butler was acquired by the Oakland Athletics with a $30 million contract for 3 years. As of 2016, Butler has a base salary of $10 million.

Personal life

Billy Butler is married to amazing Katie Butler. His wife gave birth to their first child on December 10th 2008. He is a father to 3 lovely children. His family resides in Scottsdale, Arizona for most of the year. He also has family in Central Florida. As of 2016, Butler has a base salary of $10 million.