MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – (Long Beach, CA. April 4, 2008) The Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League (GBL) announced today that they have agreed to terms with Jerome Williams for the upcoming 2008 season. Williams was a regular starter in the San Francisco Giants rotation in 2003 and 2004, going 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA as a rookie and 10-7 with a 4.24 ERA in his sophomore season. Traded to the Chicago Cubs for Latroy Hawkins in the 2005 season, Williams went on to post a 6-8 record and a 3.91 ERA with the Cubbies. Williams last pitched for the Washington Nationals last season. His career major league totals currently stand at 23 wins and 29 losses with a 4.24 career ERA.
"This is a great signing that Long Beach Armada fans will be proud of," said Long Beach Armada General Manager Steven Bash. "Jerome is tremendous shape and comes to Long Beach to show baseball fans that he is capable of pitching well again in the majors. We are lucky to have Jerome's experience and talent on the 2008 Armada squad."
Williams, 26, was a first round draft pick by the San Francisco Giants in the 1999 amateur draft out of Waipahu High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. In his senior year in high school, Williams went 8-1 with a microscopic 0.12 ERA, striking out 123 batters and walking only 9 in 64 innings. As a teenager, Williams rose quickly through the Giants organization. In 2001, Williams was ranked the #1 prospect in the Giants organization by Baseball America. That year, Williams pitched for the US in the Futures Games. The youngest pitcher in the 2002 Pacific Coast League, Williams finished 8th in the PCL with a 3.59 ERA. Williams made his major league debut in 2003 while filling in for injured Jason Schmidt.
ADVERTISEMENT ""This is what the GBL and the Armada are all about," said Long Beach Armada Manager Steve Yeager. "Bringing in a kid like Jerome to show that he deserves to be back in the majors and continuing his career. I have no doubt that he'll be back up there soon."
A 6'3" right-hander, Williams is known for wearing a puka shell necklace on the playing field as a memory of his mother who had died of breast cancer while Jerome was in the minors. Williams is a Hawaiian-Chinese-Portugese-Spanish-Japanese-Norwegian-African-Filipino-American. Williams joins fellow first round draft choice and former San Francisco Giant Tony Torcato as new hitting and pitching cornerstones for the Armada's upcoming 2008 Golden Baseball League season.
"I'm very happy to have this opportunity to play for the Armada," commented Jerome Williams. "I will work and play hard as I continue my quest to get back to the bigs."