Dick Williams
| Date and Place of Birth: | March 30, 1921 Lindsay, Ontario, Canada |
| Date and Place of Death: | February 21, 1945 The Philippines |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Technician Fifth Grade |
| Military Unit: | Headquarters Battery, 82nd Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations |
Richard L. "Dick" Williams, the son of John and Marine Williams, was born in
Ontario, Canada, and moved to Grand
Rapids, Michigan, when he was five years old. He played football and
baseball in high school and when he changed from a submarine delivery to
straight overhand he became a highly effective pitcher, with seven
straight high school wins.
In 1940, the left-hander was playing semi-pro baseball when he attracted
the attention of the Detroit Tigers who gave him a tryout. The Tigers
did not sign Williams but the Brooklyn Dodgers had also shown an
interest and he played briefly for the Americus Pioneers of the Class D
Georgia-Florida League and the Superior Blues of the Class D Northern
League, before joining the Appleton Papermakers of the newly-formed
Class D Wisconsin State League in June.
Described as having "good stuff, with an overhand curveball breaking
down on the hitter," Williams got off to a good start but then struggled
to win a game until June 18, when he defeated Green Bay, 2-0. [1]
Another run of bad luck saw him traded at the beginning of August to the
Sheboygan Indians of the same league. The trade coincided with the
extraction of an ulcerated tooth, and under the guidance of Joe "Unser
Choe" Hauser, the first player to hit 60 home runs twice in his career
(first with the Baltimore Orioles in 1930, 63 home runs, and then with
the Minneapolis Millers in 1933, 69 home runs), he fared much better and
ended the year with a 9-9 won-loss record and a 4.94 ERA.
Back with Sheboygan for 1941, Williams earned recognition as "the best
left-hander in the league." [2] On June 3, he pitched a 1-0 three-hitter
against Wisconsin Rapids and followed that on June 27 by scattering
eight hits in a 3-2 win against Janesville, striking out 16 batters to
tie a Wisconsin State League record. He finished the regular season with
a 14-11 record and a 3.89 ERA, and struck out 138 in 177 innings.3 The
Indians finished fourth in the league to earn a place in the playoffs,
and Williams earned his team a spot in the finals with a sensational 1-0
five-hitter against the LaCrosse Blackhawks. The Indians were then
awarded the championship when Green Bay forfeited. [3]
Williams entered military service with the Army at Kalamazoo, Michigan,
on July 25, 1942, and served with the 82nd Field Artillery Battalion of
the 1st Cavalry Division. The division arrived in Australia in June
1943, and saw its first combat in the Admiralty Islands, where attacks
by fanatical Japanese troops were thrown back, and the enemy force
surrounded by the end of March 1944. The division then took part in the
invasion of Leyte in October 1944, and invaded Luzon in January 1945,
fighting its way to Manila by February 3, 1945. On February 20, the
division was assigned the mission of seizing and securing crossings over
the Marikina River and securing the Tagaytay-Antipolo Line. Technician
Fifth Grade Williams was killed in action on February 21, 1945. He was
posthumously awarded the Silver Star for actions during the battle for
Manila, and was buried at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio
in the Philippines.
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
IP |
ER |
BB |
SO |
W |
L |
ERA |
| 1940 | Americus | Georgia-Florida | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1940 | Superior | Northern | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1940 | Appleton/Sheboygan | Wisconsin State | D | 29 | 144 | 79 | 113 | 104 | 9 | 9 | 4.94 |
| 1941 | Sheboygan | Wisconsin State | D | 29 | 177 | 77 | 84 | 138 | 14 | 11 | 3.89 |
Dick Williams (middle row, first left) with the 1941 Sheboygan Indians. Chipper Wantuck, who also died in service in back row, third from left
Notes
1. Sheboygan Press, May 14, 1941
2. Ibid
3. Sharing pitching duties with Williams on the 1941 Sheboygan team was
right-hander Chipper Wantuck. Also a powerful hitter, Wantuck was 15-5
for the year and batted .232. He was killed in action on Biak Island in
New Guinea, in June 1944.
Thanks to Astrid van Erp for help with photos and information for this biography
Date Added May 29, 2012 Updated August 3, 2017
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is associated with Baseball Almanac
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is proud to be sponsored by
