| Jerome Williams | |
|---|---|
Williams with the Giants in 2005 Spring training |
|
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – No. 57 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: December 4, 1981 Honolulu, Hawaii |
|
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 26, 2003 for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Career statistics (through 2011 Season) |
|
| Win-loss record | 27-29 |
| Earned run average | 4.20 |
| Strikeouts | 286 |
| Teams | |
Jerome Lee Williams (born December 4, 1981 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. He has played with the San Francisco Giants (2003-2005), Chicago Cubs (2005-2006), Washington Nationals (2007), Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), and Oakland Athletics (2009).
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Williams was a Giants' first-round draft pick in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, the 39th overall selection. He was a regular starter in the Giants rotation in 2003-2004, going 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 2003 and 10-7 with a 4.24 ERA in 2004.
He was acquired by the Cubs along with David Aardsma for LaTroy Hawkins during the 2005 season. In Williams' Cubs debut, he pitched 7 innings, giving up 2 runs and striking out six Milwaukee Brewers players, and ended up going 6-8 for the Cubs. Williams, however, played most of 2006 with the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate, the Iowa Cubs.
At the end of the minor league season, September 5, 2006, Williams was waived by the Cubs and then claimed by the Oakland Athletics. Williams did not play for Oakland and was not tendered a contract in December, making him a free agent.
On January 12, 2007, Williams was signed by the Washington Nationals organization and in spring training earned a slot in the Nationals starting rotation.
Williams had a rough April for the Nationals, his ERA ballooning to 7.77 before he pitched a brilliant game at the end of the month, pitching six innings of one-hit shut-out ball against the New York Mets. But he sprained his left ankle sliding into second base, and landed on the 15-day disabled list. He came back on May 15, lasting only two innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, and leaving with a rotator-cuff injury. His rehabilitation in the minors did not go well, and after 14 appearances with Double-A Harrisburg, in which he compiled a 9.08 ERA, on August 5, he was released.
On August 8, 2007, he signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins. In April of 2008, he signed a contract with the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League. On June 24, 2008, the Los Angeles Dodgers purchased his contract and he played in their minor league system through the end of the season. He signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics in December 2008.
Williams played winter baseball for the Indios de Mayaguez in Puerto Rico in 2008–09. He played for the Uni-President Lions of CPBL in Taiwan during 2010.
On June 16, 2011, Williams signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was assigned to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees.[1] Williams had his contract purchased on August 16, after recording a 3.91 ERA in 11 games and 73 2/3 innings in Triple-A.[2]
On August 21, 2011, Williams acquired his first major league win since 2005 in his first major league start since 2007.
He throws a sinker, four-seam fastball, cut fastball, changeup, and curveball.
Williams was married on February 3, 2004, to Sarah, and has three children Alana Deborah (08/06/2004) Keilani Skye (11/15/2006) and Tai Makaio (08/10/2009). He is of Hawaiian-Chinese-Portuguese-Spanish-Japanese-Norwegian-African-Filipino-American ancestry.
He was well known for wearing a puka shell necklace at all times on the playing field, in honor of his mother Deborah, who died of breast cancer in 2001 while he was still a minor league pitcher. He stopped wearing it after a bad start in 2005,[3] but resumed wearing it by spring training of 2007.[4]