Jimmy Williams (minors04)

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James Otis Williams

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 11",Weight 170 lb.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Jimmy Williams played for six seasons in AAA and two in Japan but never made the majors. He later coached at the college level and spent time in many Latin American leagues.

Williams debuted in 1965 in the Baltimore Orioles chain. He was with the Fox Cities Foxes (9 for 40) and Bluefield Orioles (.320/?/.519). In '66, Jimmy was with the Stockton Ports (.305/.360/.500 in 20 G), Miami Marlins (.228/.286/.348 in 26 G) and Aberdeen Pheasants (.360/.425/.562, 25 SB, 5 CS, 63 R in 69 G). He won the Northern League batting title and also led the league in runs, hits (102), total bases (159), doubles (19) and steals (tied) as a one-man wrecking crew.

Williams was far less impressive in 1967 with Stockton (.138/.211/.169 in 18 G) and Miami (.246/.295/.333 in 61 G), though he did steal 14 bases without being caught. In '68, Jimmy hit .261/.359/.362 for Stockton. He split 1969 between the Marlins and the Vero Beach Dodgers, with a composite line of .297/.362/.368, moving to the Los Angeles Dodgers chain during the year. The D.C. native was 9th in the Florida State League in average.

In 1970, he hit .277/.355/.387 for the Albuquerque Dodgers, stealing 18 bases in 23 tries. He was still only 24 when he opened 1971 in AAA with the Phoenix Giants, now in the San Francisco Giants organization. For the year, he batted .294/.350/.418 with nine triples. With Phoenix in '72, Williams had a big year, with a batting line of .315/.343/.484 with 79 runs and a whopping 20 triples. While he obviously still had good speed, he only stole 4 bases in 8 tries. One problem was his 10 errors; only teammate Gary Matthews Sr. (13) had more by an outfielder in the league. Williams led the 1972 Pacific Coast League in three-baggers and was 10th in average. Despite a strong season, he was not called up to the majors and would never get the chance against big league pitching.

Jimmy's work had impressed scouts from overseas, though. He signed with the Chunichi Dragons. In 1973, he produced at a .264/.319/.402 clip though he led the Central League with 15 times caught stealing (he was successful only 14 times). Returning to the Dragons in 1974, he slumped to .224/.297/.328 and was 3-for-11 in steal attempts. He was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and a walk in the 1974 Japan Series, which Chunichi lost in six games to the Lotte Orions; he was on the bench as Gene Martin, Hiroaki Inoue, Yasunori Oshima and Kyohei Taniki got most of the outfield work for the Dragons.

Williams returned to Phoenix in 1975 and batted .255/.332/.349. In 1976, he played for three different Mexican League teams, hitting a combined .267/.350/.344 with only one home run in 416 AB. It is unclear where he played (if anywhere) in 1977. In '78, he was with the Alexandria Dukes, hitting .268/.308/.342 for the independent club. Back in Mexico in 1979, he hit .322/.382/.406 in 41 games for the Nuevo Laredo Owls. He resurfaced one last time, in 1981 with the Rieleros de Aguascalientes, going 7 for 37 with a double and two walks.

Overall, Williams had hit .286 in 1,047 minor league games north of the Mexican border, .276/.342/.352 in 169 Mexican League games and .249/.311/.375 in 213 games in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Williams later coached at the University of the District of Columbia and as a volunteer at several high schools. In 2000, he replaced Chuck Hinton as head coach of Howard University. He led Howard for three years (37-115, but with winning conference records two of the three seasons) before the school dropped baseball. Jimmy was a MLB Envoy to Germany in 2003 and China ni 2004. He attended the Scout Development Program of the MLB Scouting Bureau in 2004 as well. He also has been head coach of Prince George's Community College.

Sources[edit]

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