Jerome Williams
From BR Bullpen
Jerome Lee Williams
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 3", Weight 180 lb.
- High School Waipahu High School
- Debut April 26, 2003
- Born December 4, 1981 in Honolulu, HI USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Jerome Williams enters his fifth season in the majors in 2007. Williams is a Hawai'ian-Chinese-Portuguese-Spanish-Japanese-Norweigan-African-Filipino-American.
In his senior year of high school, Williams was 8-1 with a 0.12 ERA, striking out 123 and walking 9 while allowing 19 hits in 64 innings. The San Francisco Giants took him with the 39th pick of the 1999 amateur draft and signed him for a $844,000 bonus.
Jerome debuted professionally with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, going 1-1 with a 2.19 ERA. Had he qualified, he would have led the Northwest League in ERA. In 2000, the 18-year-old right-hander was on the San Jose Giants, where his record was 7-6, 2.94. Opponents hit .200 or .201 against him (The 2001 Baseball Almanac lists the former figure, the 2007 Nationals Media Guide the latter). He finished fifth in the California League in ERA. Baseball America rated him as the #3 prospect in the Cal League behind Antonio Perez and Ryan Ludwick.
Williams made it to AA as a teenager and was 9-7 with a 3.95 ERA for the Shreveport Swamp Dragons. He pitched for the US in the 2001 Futures Game, allowing a solo homer to Wilson Betemit in his only inning of work; it would be the lone run the World team scored that year as the US won. Baseball America ranked him as the #12 Texas League prospect (between Nathan Haynes and Ryan Ludwick), the #10 prospect among right-handed pitchers and the #1 prospect in the Giants chain.
The youngest pitcher in the 2002 Pacific Coast League, Williams was 6-11 with a 3.59 ERA with the Fresno Grizzlies. He was 8th in the PCL in ERA. Baseball America rated him as the #21 prospect among right-handed pitchers (3 spots ahead of Johan Santana) and #16 in the PCL, between Lyle Overbay and Angel Berroa.
Williams began 2003 with Fresno and was called up after a 1-1, 1.29 start in four games to fill in for Jason Schmidt, who was on the bereavement list. He walked Ray Durham, the first batter he faced, and finished with a loss in which he walked five and allowed five runs in four innings. He returned to the minors and was 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA when called back up.
When Williams came up at the age of 21, he wore a puka shell necklace at all times as a memory of his mother who had died of breast cancer while Jerome was in the minors. The Cincinnati Reds once asked an umpire to have Williams remove it during a game, but the necklace returned for other games.
For the 2003 Giants, Williams was 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA (130 ERA+). On June 27, he became the first Giants rookie to throw a shutout since Mike Remlinger in 1991 and the youngest since Pete Falcone in 1975. He then was the 4th Giants rookie (and first since 1937) to start a postseason game, getting knocked out in the third inning of a game three loss in the NLDS.
In 2004, he was 10-7 with a 4.24 (105 ERA+) and became the youngest Giant rookie since Falcone to win double digit games. He missed six weeks due to elbow surgery. He hit 17 batters, second to Carlos Zambrano in the 2004 NL.
Williams was 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA in four games for the 2005 Giants and returned to Fresno, where he was even worse (1-4, 9.39, .364 opponent average, 17 BB to 15 K). He was traded with David Aardsma to the Chicago Cubs for LaTroy Hawkins and cash. Williams stopped wearing the necklace during his stint with the Cubs.
Williams was 1-1 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts for the Iowa Cubs and had a 6-8, 3.91 record for the 2005 Chicago Cubs. Jerome spent most of 2006 with Iowa (5-7, 4.76), going 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA in five games in the majors.
The necklace returned in 2007, when Williams signed with the Washington Nationals.
Sources: 2000-2007 Baseball Almanacs, 2007 Nationals Media Guide
