Mitch Williams Stats

Mitch Williams was born on Tuesday, November 17, 1964, in Santa Ana, California. Williams was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 9, 1986, with the Texas Rangers. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Mitch Williams baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Mitch (Williams) says that he throws 'like a man with his hair on fire.' And it's true. He lifts his right knee up toward his head as if trying to douse the flames with his leg, curls his 6'4", 205-pound body ostrichlike around his glove and unleashes the ball in one of the most out-of-control-looking explosions of vector forces ever seen in the world of high-level sport. After every pitch he careens off to the right of the mound, catching himself with his glove hand before staggering back to an upright position somewhere near the third base line. Throwing hard is one thing, but Williams looks as though he's trying to destroy his rotator cuff with each fling. The whole wild process scares batters half to death. After narrowly avoiding a Williams scorcher in his ear, Pirate centerfielder Andy Van Slyke said, 'If everyone were like him, I wouldn't play.'" - Telander, Rick. Sports Illustrated: WILD THING.. 28 August 1989.

Mitch Williams

Mitch 'Wild Thing' Williams Autograph on a 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game Baseball Card (#NG-MW)

Mitch 'Wild Thing' Williams Autograph on a 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game Baseball Card (#NG-MW)

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Birth Name:   Mitchell Steven Williams (Twitter: @pods99)
Nickname:   Wild Thing
Born On:   11-17-1964  (Scorpio)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Santa Ana, California
Year of Death Data Died On:   Still Living (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Still Living
Cemetery:   n/a
High School:   West Linn High School (West Linn, OR)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Left   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Left
Player Height Chart Height:   6-04   Player Weight Chart Weight:   205
First Game:   04-09-1986 (Age 21)
Last Game:   05-10-1997
Draft:   1982 : 8th Round (187th)

Mitch Williams

Mitch Williams Pitching Stats

1986 22 Rangers 80 0 38 8 6 .571 3.58 0 0 8 98.0 435 69 39 39 8 79 8 90 5 11 5 -
1987 23 Rangers 85 1 32 8 6 .571 3.23 0 0 6 108.2 469 63 39 47 9 94 7 129 4 7 2 -
1988 24 Rangers 67 0 51 2 7 .222 4.63 0 0 18 68.0 296 48 35 38 4 47 3 61 5 6 6 -
1989 25 Cubs 76 0 61 4 4 .500 2.76 0 0 36 81.2 365 71 25 27 6 52 4 67 6 8 4 -
1990 26 Cubs 59 2 39 1 8 .111 3.93 0 0 16 66.1 310 60 29 38 4 50 6 55 4 1 2 -
1991 27 Phillies 69 0 60 12 5 .706 2.34 0 0 30 88.1 386 56 23 24 4 62 5 84 4 8 1 -
1992 28 Phillies 66 0 56 5 8 .385 3.78 0 0 29 81.0 368 69 34 39 4 64 2 74 5 6 3 -
1993 29 Phillies 65 0 57 3 7 .300 3.34 0 0 43 62.0 281 56 23 30 3 44 1 60 6 2 0 -
1994 30 Astros 25 0 18 1 4 .200 7.65 0 0 6 20.0 106 21 17 17 4 24 2 21 1 1 0 -
1995 31 Angels 20 0 3 1 2 .333 6.75 0 0 0 10.2 65 13 8 10 1 21 0 9 2 2 1 -
1997 33 Royals 7 0 4 0 1 .000 10.80 0 0 0 6.2 38 11 8 8 2 7 1 10 2 0 0 -
11 Years 619 3 419 45 58 .437 3.65 0 0 192 691.1 3,119 537 280 317 49 544 39 660 44 52 24 -

Mitch Williams

Mitch Williams Hitting Stats

1986 22 Rangers 80 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1987 23 Rangers 85 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1988 24 Rangers 67 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1989 25 Cubs 76 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 .200 .200 .800
1990 26 Cubs 59 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1991 27 Phillies 69 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .500 .000
1992 28 Phillies 66 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .250
1993 29 Phillies 65 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000
1994 30 Astros 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1995 31 Angels 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1997 33 Royals 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
11 Years 619 16 2 3 0 0 1 0 4 1 0 4 0 0 0 1 .188 .235 .375

Mitch Williams

Mitch Williams Fielding Stats

1986 Rangers P 80 0 294 13 0.2 11 1 10 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .846 1.01
1987 Rangers P 85 1 326 23 0.3 20 5 15 3 3 n/a n/a n/a .870 1.66
1988 Rangers P 67 0 204 14 0.2 13 3 10 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .929 1.72
1989 Cubs P 76 0 245 14 0.2 11 0 11 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .786 1.21
1990 Cubs P 59 2 199 6 0.1 6 1 5 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.81
1991 Phillies P 69 0 265 11 0.2 8 0 8 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .727 0.82
1992 Phillies P 66 0 243 15 0.2 12 1 11 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .800 1.33
1993 Phillies P 65 0 186 7 0.1 5 2 3 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .714 0.73
1994 Astros P 25 0 60 1 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.45
1995 Angels P 20 0 32 2 0.1 2 1 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.69
1997 Royals P 7 0 20 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
P Totals 619 3 2,074 106 0.2 89 14 75 17 4 n/a n/a n/a .840 1.16
11 Years 619 3 2,074 106 0.2 89 14 75 17 4 n/a n/a n/a .840 1.16

Mitch Williams

Mitch Williams Miscellaneous Stats

1986 Rangers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.14 8.27 7.26
1987 Rangers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.37 10.68 7.79
1988 Rangers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.30 8.07 6.22
1989 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 5.0 5.0 1.7 1.29 7.38 5.73
1990 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.10 7.46 6.78
1991 Phillies 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.35 8.56 6.32
1992 Phillies 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.16 8.22 7.11
1993 Phillies 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.36 8.71 6.39
1994 Astros 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.88 9.45 10.80
1995 Angels 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.43 7.59 17.72
1997 Royals 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.43 13.50 9.45
11 Years 0 0 .000 0 0 0 16.0 4.0 4.0 1.21 8.59 7.08

Mitch Williams

Mitch Williams Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1986 Texas Rangers 28 $60,000.00 - -
1987 Texas Rangers 28 $120,000.00 - -
1988 Texas Rangers 28 $200,000.00 - -
1989 Chicago Cubs 28 $377,500.00 Stats -
1990 Chicago Cubs 28 $1,125,000.00 - -
1991 Philadelphia Phillies 28 $1,500,000.00 - -
1992 Philadelphia Phillies 28 $3,200,000.00 - -
1993 Philadelphia Phillies 99 $3,500,000.00 - Stats
1994 Houston Astros 99 $2,500,000.00 - n/a
1995 California Angels 99 $2,000,000.00 - -
1997 Kansas City Royals 49 $1,500,000.00 - -

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Mitchell Steven Williams was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Texas Rangers (1986-1988), Chicago Cubs (1989-1990), Philadelphia Phillies (1991-1993), Houston Astros (1994), California Angels (1995), and Kansas City Royals (1997). Mitch, his nickname, had an unusual delivery to the plate, a unique wind-up, and after releasing the ball, he would usually end up partially off the mound near the third base dugout. The result; forty-four career wild pitches, five of his eleven seasons he appeared in the top ten for most batters hit, and a legendary nickname — Wild Thing.

Mitch Williams Baseball Card

Mitch Williams Rookie Card | 1986 Topps Traded Baseball Card (#125T)
Baseball Almanac Collection

Mitch Williams — during his rookie season — took the mound in eighty-games, breaking the Rangers' record for most pitching appearances in a season, set previously by Ron Kline, who appeared in seventy-four games in 1965, when the team was still known as the Washington Senators!

Mitch Williams — during his sophomore season — broke his own record when he took the mound in eighty-five games, a still-standing Rangers' record for most appearances by a pitcher during a single season. Since 1987, only one Texas twirler has even walked out to the mound eighty-or-more times, in 1992. Do you know who it was? [Answer]

Mitch Williams, after getting traded to Chicago in 1989, "only" appeared in seventy-six games, but still broke the Cubs' record for most appearances in a season by a left-handed pitcher, set previously in 1982 by Willie Hernandez (75 games). Today, that record is held by Jeff Fassero, who had eighty-two pitching appearances in 2001.

Mitch Williams, during his record-setting season with the Cubbies, recorded a save during a pickoff play! How did he do it? On April 28, 1989, Wild Thing exited the bullpen, stepped onto the mound in Wrigley Field, and faced Garry Templeton at the plate. The Cubs were winning 3-1, top of the ninth inning, two outs, with a runner (Carmelo Martinez) on second base. Up 1-0 versus Templeton, Mitch quickly spun around, threw the ball to Shawon Dunston (SS), who tagged Martinez for the final out of the game!

Mitch Williams Save on Pickoff Play

AP Wire. The Tennessean. 29 April 1989. Page 6-C

Did you know that when Mitch Williams took the mound on April 6, 1993, he became the first Phillies player to wear #99 in a regular season game? Did you know Wild Thing was also the first Astros player to wear #99 (April 4, 1994) and the first Angels player to wear #99 (April 28, 1995)?

Mitch Williams | Most Iconic Windups in Baseball History | 14 March 2019