Frank Lee Williams (February 13, 1958 – January 9, 2009) was a

major league baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player from 1984 through 1989. Williams and his twin brother Francis, of

Tseshaht First Nation Tseshaht First Nation is an amalgamation of many tribes up and down Alberni Inlet and in the Alberni Valley of central Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. They are a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council which in ...

heritage, were placed for adoption at birth, and after some years in foster homes were raised in suburban

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

engineer Dick McCullough. Williams attended

Shoreline Community College Shoreline Community College is a Public college, public community college in Shoreline, Washington. It is located in a residential area east of Boeing Creek and Shoreview Park, Shoreview Park. The college contains over 80 acres and continuously ...

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). Williams was drafted by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in the 11th round of the 1979 amateur draft, and, after pitching for Great Falls,

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, 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. His best season was 1986, when he had a 1.20

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, 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 The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and finished with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in 1989. He created the “slurve”, a slow side arm curve ball. Frank was known for his side arm and fast pitch. 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 Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, in January 2009 after suffering a heart attack and complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. He is remembered by a son, Tyler Lee Williams, and a daughter, Lyndsay Kae Williams, both of

Kendrick, Idaho Kendrick is a city in Latah County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 303 at the 2010 census, a decrease from 369 in 2000. History Founded as Latah or Latah City in 1889 by Thomas Kirby, a post office was established on May 24 with Kir ...

References

External links

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Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Frank 1958 births 2009 deaths Baseball players from Seattle Cincinnati Reds players Detroit Tigers players Fresno Giants players Great Falls Giants players Lewis–Clark State Warriors baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Phoenix Firebirds players Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Shreveport Captains players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela 20th-century American sportsmen