The Power of a Peanut

Williams' big swing attracts attention

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

But then again, he's always had a big head - literally, not figuratively.

Williams was nicknamed "Peanut" by his father, Norris Williams Sr., because of the size of his head when he was just a boy playing on his father's youth baseball team in Nacogdoches, Texas.

"I wasn't that big a kid," Williams said. "And I was kind of chubby, but I had a big head relative to the rest of my body. My dad used to make fun of me and said my head looked like a giant peanut because I had to wear the biggest batting helmet we had. . . We had small, medium, large and extra-large helmets. I always wore extra-large."

It wasn't until Williams was a sophomore at Nacogdoches High School that the rest of his body began to catch up with his head.

Williams, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs a solid 210 pounds, not only is the top power-hitting prospect on the Lancaster JetHawks' roster, but probably in the entire Seattle Mariners' minor league system.

"He has pure power," Lancaster hitting coach Dana Williams said. "He is probably the best power prospect in the system right now. I've seen Peanut hit balls with Mark McGwire-type power."

That's something the JetHawks' catcher/first baseman has been doing since his growth spurt in his sophomore year.

Although he's crushed home runs that already are becoming lore in the hearts of JetHawks fans, Williams believes his longest home run may have come when he was a junior playing an early season tournament for his high school team.

"I'd gone 4-for-5 in the game, and in my last at-bat I hit one over the lights in left field," said Williams, who was named an all-district catcher his junior and senior seasons. "That's the one I remember being the longest. I remember that like it was yesterday."

Since Williams joined Lancaster at the all-star break, he's hit balls that cleared scoreboards at both Lancaster Municipal Stadium and the Lake Elsinore Diamond, and one that bounced off the Avenue I on-ramp to the 14 Freeway beyond the right-center wall at The Hangar.

"I've seen him hit some balls that are unbelievable," said JetHawks manager Darrin Garner, who worked with Williams in extended spring training the last two years. "Sometimes he just makes you stand back and watch. . . You can feel the anticipation every time he steps up, and that's exciting for him and for the fans."

Pleasing the fans is nothing new to Williams. He quickly has become a favorite of the JetHawks faithful because of his nickname and his ability to hit the long ball.

While in high school, he also played for the football team which routinely drew 3,000 fans each Friday night in a town of 20,000. Williams played quarterback and free safety.

"I really liked playing free safety," Williams said. "I liked hitting people and picking off passes. . . I put a few people out and knocked a few mouthpieces out."

Williams wanted to continue playing both football and baseball at his hometown college of Stephen F. Austin.

But when the school dropped its baseball program, Williams, who was the Mariners' sixth-round selection in the 1996 June draft, decided to turn pro and focus on hitting the ball hard rather than opponents.

"It's what I think I knew I always wanted to do," Williams said. "I started playing baseball when I was 6 on my dad's team, and I played with him all the way until I was 17. Whenever I wasn't studying or working on my dad's (cattle) ranch, I was playing baseball (all the time)."

Williams belted six home runs in 140 at-bats in 1996 with rookielevel Peoria, before doubling that number in 255 at-bats the next year at Class A Everett. He also hit .267 with 48 RBI with the Aqua Sox.

Despite those numbers, Williams began 1998 in extended spring training, before receiving a promotion to Class A Wisconsin, where he hit 11 homers and drove in 36 runs in only 229 at-bats.

He started this season with the Timber Rattlers as well, but before things could really get going, he was hit on the hand by an inside fastball. The pitch broke his right hand, an injury that required surgery to repair and still forces him to play with four screws and a plate in the hand.

"It really doesn't bother me anymore," Williams said. "I was a little scared about it when I first came back, but I told myself if it was going to hurt, that was one thing. But if I could play through it, then I'd just put it behind me."

That's something he certainly has done, and done well since returning from the injury and receiving a promotion to Lancaster.

Williams entered tonight's game in Lake Elsinore tied for the team home-run lead with Jason Regan and Greg Connors. Both Williams and Regan have hit 11 home runs, despite not joining the team until the all-star break.

Williams has also hit .282 with seven doubles, 24 runs scored and 29 RBI and has shown that he can be steady defensively at first base.

Most of his 11 homers came in a two-week stretch from July 6-19, in which he hit 10 blasts and had two multi-homer games.

"It feels so good to be on a streak like that," Williams said. "You just have a good time and enjoy it."

But Williams' last home run came in that July 19th game, as the 21-year-old struggled mightily on Lancaster's recently completed nine-game road trip, going 5-for-34 with two RBI, two runs scored and one double.

"You try not to let stretches like that get you down," Williams said. "I know there's nothing seriously wrong with my swing, because I had that good stretch before. It's just a matter of finding the small flaws and getting back on track."

Consistency is something the Mariners and Garner have been trying to preach to Williams, who has struck out 50 times in 142 atbats so far this season.

Garner has attempted to stress that Williams should worry more about just making contact with the ball, rather than where it lands once he does.

"They have been trying to get me to be a little more patient," Williams said. "I don't want to be an easy out. I want to look for a good pitch to hit and make sure I do something with it. You put it in play, and things can happen. . . I just need to let my size and my natural ability take over."

By doing so, Garner believes Williams, who has yet to see what he can do in a full season of baseball, can become a more consistent threat and expects his power- and run-production numbers to skyrocket.

"He's so big and strong and he's so talented," Garner said. "He just gets a little over-anxious sometimes. But when we get him to stay within himself, he can be dangerous, especially in a park like this. He's got more natural power than anyone I've ever seen in this organization. He's the best power prospect we've got, without a doubt."

Uploaded August 4, 1999