Jerome Williams (baseball)

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**Jerome Williams**
Williams with the Giants in 2005 Spring training
Free Agent — No.
Pitcher
Born: December 4, 1981 (1981-12-04) (age 26)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
April 26, 2003 for the San Francisco Giants
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Win-Loss	23-29
Earned run average	4.25
Strikeouts	258
Teams
San Francisco Giants (2003-2005) Chicago Cubs (2005-2006) Washington Nationals (2007) Long Beach Armada (2008)

Jerome Lee Williams (born December 4, 1981 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played with the San Francisco Giants (2003-2005), the Chicago Cubs (2005-2006), and the Washington Nationals (2007). Williams was a Giants' 1st-round draft pick in the 1999 entry draft, the 39th overall selection. He was a regular starter in the Giants rotation in 2003-2004, going 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 2003 and 10-7 with a 4.24 ERA in 2004.

He was acquired by the Cubs along with David Aardsma for struggling right-hander LaTroy Hawkins during the 2005 season. In Williams' Cubs debut, he pitched 7 innings, giving up 2 runs and striking out six Milwaukee Brewers players, and ended up going 6-8 for the Cubs. Williams, however, played most of 2006 with the Cubs' AAA minor-league affiliate, the Iowa Cubs.

At the end of the minor-league season, September 5, 2006, Williams was waived by the Cubs and then claimed by the Oakland Athletics. Williams did not play for Oakland and was not tendered a contract in December, making him a free agent.

On January 12, 2007, Williams was signed by the Washington Nationals organization and in spring training earned a slot in the Nationals starting rotation.

Williams had a rough April for the Nationals, his ERA ballooning to 7.77 before he pitched a brilliant game at the end of the month, pitching six innings of one-hit shut-out ball against the New York Mets. But he sprained his left ankle sliding into second base, and landed on the 15-day disabled list. He came back on May 15, lasting only two innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, and leaving with a rotator-cuff injury. His rehabilitation in the minors didn't go well, and after 14 appearances with AA-Harrisburg, in which he compiled a 9.08 ERA, on August 5, he was released.

On August 8, 2007, he signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins. In April of 2008, he signed a contract with the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League.

Williams was well known for wearing a puka shell necklace at all times on the playing field, in honor of his mother Deborah, who died of breast cancer in 2001 while he was still a minor league pitcher. He stopped wearing it after a bad start in 2005,^[1] but resumed wearing it by Spring Training of 2007.^[2]

Williams was married on February 3rd 2004 to Sarah, and has two children Alana Deborah (08/06/2004) and Keilani Skye (11/15/2006). He is of Hawaiian-Chinese-Portuguese-Spanish-Japanese-Norwegian-African-Filipino-American ancestry.