A Blue Jay from the Past: Woody Williams

Do you remember Woody Williams?

This is “A Blue Jay from the Past”. Each week, I’ll spin every Blue Jays’ season in the Wheel of Names and pick a player who played a significant number of games for the Jays, ideally a full season. This week, the Wheel of Names landed on the 1994 season, with the player we’ll look at in today’s article being Woody Williams.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected the right-handed pitcher in the 28th round of the 1988 draft. After parts of six seasons in the minor league system, the Houston, Texas native made his big league debut with the 1993 Blue Jays as a reliever, where he had a 4.38 ERA and a 4.26 FIP in 37 innings pitched.

In 1994, the Jays looked to defend their back-to-back World Series, and it was a solid season for Williams as he authored a 3.64 ERA and a 4.11 FIP in 59.1 innings pitched, with a career-high 22.1 K%. Unfortuantely, there was a lockout that season and the Blue Jays missed the post-season.  The 1995 season saw him start three of his 23 games, posting a 3.69 ERA and a 4.71 FIP in 53.2 innings pitched.

Williams’ 1996 season saw him stretched out further, pitching 59 innings in 12 appearances, 10 of which were starts. Overall, he finished the season with a 4.73 ERA and a 4.60 FIP. The 1997 season was the first for Williams as a full-time starter, where he had a 4.35 ERA and a 5 FIP in 194.2 innings pitched.

His final season as a Blue Jay was in 1998, where he had a 4.46 ERA and a 5.12 FIP in 209.2 innings pitched. Late in 1998, Williams was traded to the San Diego Padres for Joey Hamilton. Not a great trade in hindsight.

Williams pitched parts of three seasons in his first stint with the Padres. Overall, he finished with a 4.35 ERA and a 4.86 FIP in 521.1 innings pitched. Williams was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2001 season, where he spent parts of four seasons with a 3.53 ERA and a 3.82 FIP in 588.2 innings pitched. 

Notable highlights from his tenure there saw him hit into an unassisted triple play, the first pitcher to do so, as well as being named an All-Star in 2003. The Cardinals reached the World Series in 2004, where they fell to the Boston Red Sox.

After the 2004 season, Williams returned to the Padres. In 2006, he became just the fifth pitcher in big league history to defeat all 30 teams when the Padres defeated the Cardinals 7-5 on September 26, 2006. Winning was common for Williams in 2006, as his .706 winning percentage (12-5) was the best in the league.

For his final big league season, he joined his hometown Houston Astros. It wasn’t a great season for Williams, finishing the season with a 5.27 ERA and a 5.62 FIP in 188 innings pitched.

Aside from his lone All-Star game, he never won any awards. He didn’t pitch for the Jays in the 1993 post-season, and while he made a start in the 2004 World Series, the Cardinals failed to win the World Series. Still, Williams had a good, long career. He’s still involved in baseball, as he’s Houston University’s Director of Pitching Strategy and Development.