William Byrd was an American professional baseball player in the Negro leagues. Born in Canton, Georgia, he was a right-handed pitcher. He was named in eight All-Star games for six seasons. Byrd also saw action with the Criollos de Caguas and Cangrejeros de Santurce clubs of the Puerto Rico Winter League, where he was considered one of the best hurlers. He died at age 83 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Canton is a city in and the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 22,958, up from 7,709 in 2000.