Bob Lillis

Who is Bob Lillis?

Robert Perry Lillis is a retired American infielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. Lillis was an original member of the 1962 expansion Houston Colt .45s who remained with the club for more than two decades and later became its manager.

After attending the University of Southern California, Lillis signed his first contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951. A shortstop by trade, he spent eight years in the Dodger farm system, buried behind Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese. Finally, in 1958, the Dodgers' first season in Lillis's home city of Los Angeles, he made the Major League team. But Lillis never claimed the regular shortstop job — that would go to Maury Wills — and in the middle of the 1961 campaign, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. After a half season with the Redbirds, he was selected by Houston in the 1961 MLB expansion draft.

Lillis then spent 5½ seasons as a shortstop and utility infielder for the Astros, retiring to a coaching position in the middle of 1967. Over his ten-year MLB career, Lillis appeared in 817 games and batted .236 with three home runs. He threw and batted right-handed.