[2][3] He attended Aldine High School, where he played baseball as an infielder and pitcher, basketball as a guard, and American football as a running back.

[2][4] In his junior year, the Aldine Mustangs defeated the Dickinson High School Gators 34–7 to win the Region III football championship; in the game, Bates recorded 93 yards on 14 carries.

[4] In baseball, the Texas High School Coaches Association named Bates as an All-Star to their South Team in June 1982.

[2] The 1983 Longhorns finished the regular season with a 61–14 win–loss record and were ranked as the number one team in the nation by Collegiate Baseball Magazine.

[3] In 1996, a panel of sixty coaches, Division I Baseball Committee chairs, and media who covered the CWS named Bates to their all-decade team for the 1980s.

[1] An anonymous scout outside the Brewers organization called Bates "confusing", and said "if you just put the stats on, and forget he's 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm), 155 pounds (70 kg), he's done remarkable things.

"[26] Bates began playing professionally for the Class A-Advanced Stockton Ports, a Brewers farm team which competed in the California League (CL).

[1][32] The Diablos finished the regular season with an 85–50 record as Bates led the club with 23 stolen bases but was caught stealing 10 times, also a team high.

[35] Before the 1987 season, Bates attempted to make the Brewers' Opening Day roster by playing in Milwaukee's spring training camp.

Before the 1988 season, a prediction in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram stated that Bates might make the Brewers if Paul Molitor ended up as a third baseman or a designated hitter.

[48] In a June game against the Toledo Mud Hens, Bates hit a single and a double, with two walks and two runs scored, in a 5–1 Zephyrs win.

[53] When 12-year Brewer second baseman Jim Gantner re-signed with the club, Bates was demoted to Denver, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel predicted that he would remain there due to his limited defensive versatility.

[56] In a game against the New York Yankees on August 15, Gantner tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and was placed on the disabled list.

Bates was called up as his replacement,[57] though Milwaukee's general manager Harry Dalton stated he would aim to acquire a second baseman with MLB experience for the spot.

[59] Bates made his first career start two days later, and his first MLB hit came on August 20 when he reached base on an infield single.

[32] In late March, Bates was listed as the starting second baseman on Milwaukee's depth chart for the 1990 MLB season, although Dale Sveum was competing for the spot as well.

[1][67][68] By April 27 Bates was hitting .103 over 29 at bats, as Molitor came off the DL and was expected to take over at second: Seth Livingstone of The Telegraph called the switch "merciful".

[71][72] After batting .327 in 25 games with the Zephyrs, he was acquired along with Glenn Braggs by the Cincinnati Reds for Ron Robinson and Bob Sebra on June 9, 1990.

In a play-in game to determine the leader of the AA Eastern division, and thus the team that qualified for the playoffs, the Sounds defeated the Buffalo Bisons when Chris Jones hit a double that scored Bates in the eighteenth inning.

[76] The Sounds lost the ensuing series against the Western-champion Omaha Royals three games to two; Bates' season was not over, as the Reds added him to their MLB roster.

[80][81] Doctors performed an operation on October 3, which would hold him out of postseason play as Cincinnati won the National League (NL) West.

[81][82] In a move that surprised Bates, who had prepared to return to his Houston residence after the Reds' last regular-season game, the club added him to their postseason roster.

Bates' next postseason appearance came in Game 3, when he pinch ran for Joe Oliver and scored a run as the Reds won 6–3.

[87] Cincinnati ultimately defeated the Pirates and moved on to the World Series, where they would play the Oakland Athletics for the league championship.

In this old river town, Billy Bates was now a man for the ages, like Cookie Lavagetto, who hit that double off Bill Bevens, and Al Gionfriddo, who made that catch off DiMaggio, both in the 1947 Series for Brooklyn.

[99] In spring training, Cincinnati sent Bates to their minor league complex for reassignment to a team in the Reds' farm system.

[101] He played the entire 1991 season for the Sounds, where he batted .242 over 49 games with one stolen base out of three attempts, as the team finished with a 65–78 record.

[105] In February 1995, the Brewers invited Bates to their spring training camp as a possible replacement player due to the 1994–1995 MLB strike.

[105] When the strike ended, Bates returned to his wife and children in Houston instead of continuing his career elsewhere, citing physical reasons for his retirement.

[107] Before the 1990 World Series, Bates raced against an unchained cheetah in a promotional event for the Cincinnati Zoo at Riverfront Stadium.