‘ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD’
Jeter, former mates mourn ‘stand-up‘ guy Gerald Williams
Former Yankee outfielder Gerald Williams died Tuesday morning after a battle with cancer, his former teammate and Hall of Famer Derek Jeter announced. He was 55.
Williams played 14 years in the big leagues, half that time with the Bombers, but also with the Brewers, Braves, Rays and Mets.
In a message posted on the Players’ Tribune Twitter account, Jeter called Williams one of his “best friends in the world.”
“To my teammate and one of my best friends in the world, rest in peace, my brother,” wrote Jeter. “My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Liliana, and their whole family.”
The relationship between Williams and Jeter was built in the minor leagues, Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay recalled on his radio show Tuesday. The older Williams, drafted by the Bombers in 1987, stood up for the young phenom when he was being bullied by other players.
Jeter described how Williams was the first player to ask him to dinner in his very first big-league spring training.
“I felt like the last kid on the playground waiting to be picked for a game, and finally someone had selected me,” Jeter wrote in his 2000 book.
Bernie Williams also bonded with Gerald Williams at a young age.
“I am deeply saddened about the passing of my good friend Gerald Williams. I remember our time in the minors when we were roommates…through thick and thin, we had each other’s backs,” Bernie Williams said in a statement released by the Yankees. “We used to talk and dream about how it would be to play in the big leagues. He had more power, he was faster, and definitely had an exponentially better throwing arm than me, so we used to joke around about him being called up by the Yankees first.
“We played side-by-side in the big leagues for a little while, so our dream did come true. He was a stand-up individual with great character and integrity throughout his whole life. Even though our lives went in separate ways, I always considered him a true friend and a mentor. I will miss him a lot.”
Former Yankees reliever Jeff Nelson said he was shocked.
“So sad to hear the news of long time friend, (and) an ex teammate Gerald Williams passing. What a great person and at 55 , words can’t describe how shocked I am.
RIP my friend,” Nelson tweeted.
Former Yankees catcher and current YES analyst John Flaherty admired Williams’ out-of-the-box thinking.
“Really tough news on the passing of Gerald Williams! A great teammate who had a different way of thinking about the game and he taught me a lot. RIP Ice!,” Flaherty wrote on Twitter.
Williams was a .255/.301/.410 career hitter who played 1,168 big-league games from 1992, when he made his debut with the Yankees, through 2005 when he played his last major-league game with the Mets. On May 1, 1996, Williams set a team record with six hits in a game, a 15-inning, 11-6 victory over the Orioles.
While he is remembered as a good friend and teammate by Jeter, Williams is also remembered fondly among Yankee fans, and by Dwight Gooden, for saving his no-hitter. It was Gerald Williams, not Bernie Williams, who was in center field on May 14, 1996, when Gooden tossed the no-hitter. He made a running, back-handed grab of a fly ball hit by a then young Alex Rodriguez
and picked off a runner at first to keep Gooden on track for the no-no.
He was in a Rays uniform in 2000 when he endeared himself even more to Yankees fans. That was when Pedro Martinez plunked him on the hand. After examining it and taking a step toward first base, he turned and charged the then-Red Sox ace.
Williams played five seasons with the Yankees before he was traded to Milwaukee in the 1996 season. He returned in 2001 and played parts of two more seasons in pinstripes.