American baseball player (1958-2009)
Baseball player
Frank Williams
|
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Frank_Williams_Giants.jpg/220px-Frank_Williams_Giants.jpg) |
Pitcher
|
Born:
(
1958-02-13
)
February 13, 1958
Seattle, Washington
, U.S.
|
Died:
January 9, 2009
(2009-01-09)
(aged 50)
Victoria, British Columbia
, Canada
|
Batted:
Right
Threw:
Right
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|
April 5, 1984, for the San Francisco Giants
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|
September 27, 1989, for the Detroit Tigers
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Win?loss record
| 24?14
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Earned run average
| 3.00
|
---|
Strikeouts
| 314
|
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Frank Lee Williams
(February 13, 1958 ? January 9, 2009) was a
major league baseball
player from 1984 through 1989.
Williams and his twin brother Francis, of
Tseshaht First Nation
heritage, were placed for adoption at birth, and after some years in foster homes were raised in suburban
Kirkland, Washington
by
Boeing
engineer Dick McCullough. Williams attended
Shoreline Community College
in Seattle, then
Lewis-Clark State College
in Idaho, where he attracted the attention of scouts (and engaged in amateur
tough man boxing
in the offseason).
[1]
[2]
Williams was drafted by the
San Francisco Giants
in the 11th round of the
1979 amateur draft
, and, after pitching for
Great Falls
,
Fresno
, Shreveport, and Phoenix, made his major league debut in 1984. A middle reliever, he pitched a shutout in his rookie season but started no other games and was credited with just eight saves over his six-season, 333-game career.
[1]
[3]
His best season was 1986, when he had a 1.20
earned run average
, and, with 34 singles and one double given up in 52.1 innings, a defensive
isolated power
percentage (slugging percentage allowed minus batting average allowed, a measure of extra bases allowed on hits) of .006 ? as of 2014, the lowest such percentage of anyone pitching 50 or more innings in records going back to 1957. He was traded in the offseason to the
Cincinnati Reds
and finished with the
Detroit Tigers
in 1989. He created the “slurve”, a slow side arm curve ball. Frank was known for his side arm and fast pitch.
[2]
[3]
After baseball, Williams suffered various misfortunes including a serious car accident, the breakup of his marriage, and the death of his twin brother. He struggled with alcoholism, and eventually became homeless. He died in
Victoria, British Columbia
, in January 2009 after suffering a heart attack and complications from
pneumonia
. He is remembered by a son, Tyler Lee Williams, and a daughter, Lyndsay Kae Williams, both of
Kendrick, Idaho
.
[1]
[2]
References
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External links
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