Ken Williams Stats & Facts

Player

Ken Williams

Position: Leftfielder
Bats: Left  •  Throws: Right 6-0, 170lb (183cm, 77kg)
Born: June 28, 1890 in Grants Pass, OR
Died: January 22, 1959  in Grants Pass, OR
Buried: Pleasant Valley Cemetery, Grants Pass, OR
Debut: July 14, 1915 (4,358th in major league history) vs. BRO 4 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: August 10, 1929 vs. CHW 2 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Full Name: Kenneth Roy Williams View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

 

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1915

Sam Rice
Rogers Hornsby
Joe Judge
George Sisler
Dave Bancroft
Dazzy Vance
Charlie Jamieson
George Kelly
Baby Doll Jacobson

 

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Biography

“Brownie Stalwart of the 20s” said his obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. For those with long memories, Ken Williams was one of the cherished, lamented, never-quite-made-it team that finished a game behind the Yankee pennant-winners of 1922. He and the Browns had their best year together. A well-built six-footer who batted left and threw right, Williams led the league in home runs (39) and RBI (155) that year, hit .337 and stole 37 bases. This made him the first player ever to hit 30 home runs, steal 30 bases and hit .300. In one game he swatted three homers, in another, two in one inning; in between he had six in as many consecutive games. He had a pleasant, gap-toothed smile and was popular with teammates and fans. Born and raised in Grants Pass, OR, Ken was the small-town boy who made it to the big leagues. He was the only ballplayer among six brothers whose mother had been a logging-camp cook and later operated an all-night restaurant serving the train crews when Grants Pass was a junction point on the railroad. It took him a while to make it. After a two-year trial with Cincinnati, he was returned to the high minors, spent most of 1918 in the military, and began to see action wioth the Browns in 1919. The following year the club put together its finest outfield, with Ken in left, Baby Doll Jacobson in center, and Jack Tobin in right. Williams’s numbers were always respectable, if not outstanding. In 1925, although he missed some games after being skulled by a pitch, he led the league with a slugging percentage of .613. The Browns sold him to Boston, where he put in two more .300 years. Portland (PCL) had him for two more, and at 41 he retired to Grants Pass.

 

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