[4] His performance earned him a late-season return to the major leagues in September 1970, where he served as a backup catcher behind Paul Casanova.

[1] Billings won the starting catcher's job in July 1971 when Senators manager Ted Williams benched Casanova for weak hitting.

[7] Although he led American League catchers with 16 passed balls, he ended the season with a career-high .992 fielding percentage in 116 games.

Billings started the season in a platoon role alongside left-hand hitting catcher Hal King.

[12][13] Williams resigned and was replaced by Whitey Herzog as the Rangers' manager, who employed Billings in a platoon role alongside Ken Suarez for the 1973 season.

[1][18] With the arrival of new manager Billy Martin in 1974, Billings found himself in a backup role behind defensive standout Jim Sundberg.

[4][21] After only 3 games with the Cardinals, he was sent back to Tulsa in order to make room on the roster for outfielder Buddy Bradford.