Jeffrey Francis Williams (born 6 June 1972) is an Australian-born former left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played for the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

baseball team. He was a specialist set-up pitcher, or closer.

Olympics

Williams pitched for the Australian Olympic baseball team in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. The team placed 7th overall in the competition. Williams again pitched for the Australian Olympic baseball team in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. The Australian team was awarded the

Silver Medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the competition after losing in the final to the team from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. Willams was credited with two saves during the tournament, including the semi-final game against Japan where he prevented the Japanese team from scoring, preserving the 1–0 win.

Professional career

Williams was signed as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in . Williams began his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

career in September with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and pitched for the Dodgers until September . While with the Dodgers in and , the tandem of Williams and fellow Australian

Luke Prokopec Kenneth Luke Prokopec (born 23 February 1978) is an Australian-born, right-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. While with the Dodgers in 2000 and 2001, the tandem of Prokopec a ...

gained considerable popularity in the Los Angeles area. However, the attention was short-lived, as both moved on to other franchises. In , Williams signed with the Hanshin Tigers, and earned 25 saves as a closer (52 games), helping the Tigers win their first

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

championship in 18 years. In , he pitched in 51 games, earning 14 saves. In , he reverted to the role of set-up pitcher, appearing in 75 games for the Hanshin Tigers, who won the championship. Williams pitched for the Tigers for seven years through the 2009 season. He appeared in a total of 371 games and recorded 47 saves. His performance as a set-up pitcher, combined with his set-up and closing pitcher teammates

Kyuji Fujikawa is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Fujikawa pitched in the 2006 and 2009 World Ba ...

and

Tomoyuki Kubota is a Japanese pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referr ...

respectively, was well known by fans and other teams. Their formation was given the nickname JFK by their team, using their initials from their pitching order (Jeff, Fujikawa, Kubota). The trio's efforts were crucial to the Tigers' success, especially when the starting pitching was not good. For example, in 2007 Hanshin's starting pitchers had a cumulative ERA of 4.45, the worst in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, but their overall ERA was 3.56, best in the league. After his retirement, Williams signed with the Tigers as a scout on 2 March 2011.

Collegiate career

Williams played college ball for

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

Hammond, Louisiana Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, located east of Baton Rouge and northwest of New Orleans. Its population was 20,019 in the 2010 U.S. census, and 21,359 at the 2020 population estimates program. Ham ...

, from 1992 to 1996. In his senior year, Williams was selected as an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I All-American; that year, he registered 125 strikeouts and 12 wins. In 2004, he was inducted into the SLU Lions Hall of Fame.

Mitchell Report

On 13 December 2007, Williams was named as a player linked to performance-enhancing drug use in the

Mitchell Report The ''Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball'', informally known as the Mitchell Report, is the res ...

for

. In the report,

Kirk Radomski Kirk J. Radomski (born 1969) is a former batboy and clubhouse employee, colloquially known by players as Murdock, for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball from 1985 to 1995. On April 27, 2007, he pleaded guilty in United States district cour ...

claims he sold the steroids

oxandrolone Oxandrolone, sold under the brand names Oxandrin and Anavar, among others, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication which is used to help promote weight gain in various situations, to help offset protein catabolism caused by long-term ...

and

metandienone Metandienone, also known as methandienone or methandrostenolone and sold under the brand name Dianabol (D-Bol) among others, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication which is still quite often used because of its affordability and eff ...

to Williams. The document includes a photocopy of a February 2004 check from Williams to Radomski in the amount of $1,820 and mentions that Williams address and phone number were in Radomski's address book. Williams did not respond to a request to meet with Mitchell to address these accusations. After the Mitchell Report became public,

club president Nobuo Minami defended Williams stating

"I trust him, He (Williams) flatly denied the use of any banned substances and said he is ready to accept fresh checkups at any time."

In Olympic competition and while playing in Japan, where they conform with Olympic testing standards, Williams has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

References

External links