Former Blue Jays pitcher Woody Williams turns 59 today.
I admit that I often confuse him with Chris Carpenter. They ended up in St. Louis after leaving the Jays (Williams had a stop in San Diego). They both pitched better with the Cards (Carpenter was much better). And they were teammates in St. Louis.
Woody was a 28th-round draft pick in 1988 (Joey Hamilton was picked in the same round, a few spots earlier by the Orioles) out of the University of Houston. I couldn’t imagine they expected much from
him, but he was great in the minors. In May 1993, they brought him up to help in the bullpen. He pitched in 30 games and had a 4.38 ERA.
He spent the next couple of seasons in the back of the pen, then in August 1996. Finally, he got his chance in the rotation. Paul Quantrill started the season in the rotation, but they decided he would be better in the pen. Marty Janzen and Huck Flener didn’t pan out, so Williams got a shot. He made 10 starts and was 4-5 with a 4.35 ERA.
The following season, he spent an entire year in the rotation and went 9-14 with a 4.35 ERA. In 31 starts, he pitched 194.1 innings, allowed 201 hits and 31 home runs (back in the good old PED days), walked 66, and struck out 124. Not great, but he fit in well in a rotation topped by Roger Clemens and Pat Hentgen. Baseball has undergone significant changes in the last twenty years. Woody was our third starter, and he threw nearly 200 innings.
In 1997, Woody went 10-9 with a 4.46 ERA. In 32 starts, he pitched 209.2 innings, allowing 196 hits, 36 home runs, 81 walks, and 151 strikeouts.
Then came the trade. Edit that; make it “then came an idiotic trade.” Williams and a few minor leaguers went to San Diego for Joey Hamilton. Gord Ash took the word of Dave Stewart, who we had hired as an assistant GM. Stewart had played with Joey, saw something in his eyes or some stupid thing, and figured he would be a star. So, Ash signed Hamilton to a 3-year, $16.5 million contract (a substantial amount of money at the time), and he went 14-17 for them with a 5.83 ERA.
Williams went on to have a pretty good career. He pitched five seasons for the Padres, going 51-45 with a 4.32 ERA. From there, the Padres traded Woody to the Cardinals. He was terrific in St. Louis, going 45-22 with a 3.53 ERA in four seasons. His best season was in 2003, when he went 18-9 with a 3.87 ERA in 34 games and 33 starts.
As a Blue Jay, he was 28-34 with a 4.30 ERA in 166 games, 76 starts. Career, he finished with a 132-116 record with a 4.19 ERA in 424 games and 330 starts. How many guys picked in the 28th round go on to a career like that?
I see a line where he says he used an ‘occasional knuckleball’, but I don’t remember that.
Wikipedia informs us that Woody has five children and resides in Alvin, Texas.
Happy birthday, Woody; I hope it is a good one.
Also:
- Luis Gómez turns 74 today. Luis played two seasons with the Blue Jays from 1978 to 1979, playing short in 1978 and utility infielder in 1979. He hit .227/.276/.282 in 212 games. He played in the MLB for eight seasons with the Twins, Jays, and Braves.
- Jeff Tam turns 55 today. In 2003, he pitched 44 games of relief for the Jays, the end of his six-year career. He had a 5.64 ERA and allowed hitters a .314/.396/.465 batting line. Most of his career was with the A’s, but he played for the Mets and Cleveland.
