Michael Darren Williams (born July 29, 1968) is an American former professional baseball

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 in

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), ...

for 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates from through . Listed at 6' 2", 190 lb., Williams batted and threw right handed. He was born in

Radford, Virginia Radford (formerly Lovely Mount, Central City, English Ferry and Ingle's Ferry) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of 2020, the population was 16,070 by the United States Census Bureau. For statistical purposes, the Bureau ...

. Williams was a two-time

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

All-Star in and . In 2002, he finished third in the league with 46 saves. In his career, he posted a record of 32–54 with 144 saves and a 4.45

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 ...

. When he was selected to the 2003 All-Star game, he set the record for being the pitcher with the highest ERA while making an All-Star team. He still remains the only pitcher to play in an All-Star game while having an ERA of over 6.00 during the same regular season. One of Williams's most famous games was with the Phillies was on July 7, 1993 against 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 ...

. He was brought in as a reliever in the 14th inning, and pitched five

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

innings, gave up a single run in the top of the 20th inning, but subsequently won the game after the Phillies loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and

Lenny Dykstra Leonard Kyle Dykstra (; born February 10, 1963), is an American former professional baseball center fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets (1985–1989) and Philadelphia Phillies (1989–1996). Dykstra was a thre ...

hit a winning RBI

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

.Box Score of 20-Inning Game
/ref> On September 24, 1996, after being hit by a ball in a previous inning, Williams threw a pitch inside to opposing pitcher

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

of the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

nearly hitting him, which led to Martínez charging after Williams and starting a bench-clearing brawl. Williams grew up in Giles County in southwestern Virginia. Following his playing retirement, he returned to Giles County and has helped with many charities, being a big contributor to the Relay for Life cancer foundation in the community. Besides, the baseball field at Giles High School is named after him and his wife Melissa. Williams played college baseball at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

and in 2004 he was enshrined in the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mike 1968 births Living people Baseball players from Virginia Batavia Clippers players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Clearwater Phillies players Houston Astros players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players National League All-Stars Omaha Royals players People from Radford, Virginia Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Reading Phillies players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players St. Petersburg Pelicans players Virginia Tech alumni Virginia Tech Hokies baseball players