Anyone remember Glenn Williams?
First Pitch: 1:10 PM CT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN
Know Thine Enemy: Brew Crew Ball
I have nothing to say about the Milwaukee Brewers today. The Minnesota Twins play them twice a year as the designated “Interleague Rival”, which has always felt kind of dumb because it’s far more fun to beat Wisconsin’s NFL squad. Terry Mulholland also ruined my trip to the Park-formerly-known-as-Miller in 2004.
So, a story about a probably-forgotten Twin (in the vein of Todd Sears, Michael Restovich, & Michael Ryan before him) from 2005 instead…
In 1993, a young man named Glenn Williams signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves. While seemingly a run-of-the-mill player acquisition, this transaction was anything but: the 16-year-old Williams was from Gosford, New South Wales (Australia) and the pact was the first ever to exceed one million Aussie dollars.
Williams wasn’t quite the immediate impact anticipated and he spent ten years toiling in the minors with various MLB organizations. In 2004, he did get the thrill of representing his country in the 2004 Olympics—even taking home a silver medal for the Land Down Under!
The next season, a 27-year-old Williams finally punched his ticket to The Show with our Twins—called up June 7 in Arizona where he recorded his first MLB safety against Shawn Estes.
Photo by MARLIN LEVISON/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Over the next three weeks, every time Ron Gardenhire penciled Glenn into the lineup he recorded a hit: 13 games, .425 BA, .902 OPS, 141 OPS+. Crikey!
On June 28, Williams rapped a base knock off Kansas City reliever Mike Wood. On a subsequent pick-off attempt, Williams hurt his shoulder diving back towards the first sack. He’d make it to third base on a Lew Ford (!) double but would have to leave the contest—something just wasn’t right.
Photo by BRUCE BISPING/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Glenn Williams was placed on the Injured List the next day—and sadly never returned to Major League Baseball. In a sort of reverse-Moonlight Graham scenario, he banged out a hit in every one of the 13 games he appeared in.
Truth be told, I remember very little about Glenn Williams on the Twins. I’m sure finishing up my first year of college and realizing “oh hey, I have to work over the summers now for loan/tuition & foolin’ around money” had something to do with this. A really good interview with Williams about his career experiences can be found here.
Glenn had his Lucky 13 in ‘05—and the Twins are looking to do him one better today! I don’t think even Terry Mulholland can ruin this Brew Crew clash (though if Sandwiches can find a way…) to close out this weekend series. The return of Zebby!
