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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, July 12, 2003

The Waipahu Giant

By Josh Suchon
Special to The Advertiser

San Francisco rookie Jerome Williams, a Waipahu High School graduate, takes a four-game winning streak to the mound today against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Associated Press

PHOENIX — No matter where he goes on the Mainland, no matter how many victories he compiles in a row, Jerome Williams' mind is never too far from his home in Hawai'i.

Williams beat the long odds facing Hawai'i high school baseball players, just by getting drafted, and now has worked his way through a talented minor league system to suddenly becoming a crucial member of the San Francisco Giants starting rotation.

"It's pretty difficult for us out there," Williams said. "In Hawai'i, you don't have the same opportunities. We only played 10 regular-season games, not including the state playoffs. You don't have the opportunities the guys in the Mainland do.

"I was a kid in a neighborhood with a high crime rate. Just growing up out there playing baseball is hard. That's why I want to keep in touch with all Hawaiians. It's the least I can do. All the Hawai'i guys know where we came from. We know how difficult it is."

Today, Williams will take a personal four-game winning streak to the mound at Bank One Ballpark and oppose the Arizona Diamondbacks and Curt Schilling before a national-television audience on Fox.

Williams, drafted 39th overall in 1999 — then the highest out of a Hawai'i high school — wasn't supposed to be here.

Early arrival

The idea was for the 21-year-old Williams to spend another season at Triple-A Fresno to get more innings and wait his turn behind a veteran staff with two other phenom rookie pitchers, Kurt Ainsworth and Jesse Foppert, ahead of him.

But three months into the season, a remarkable turn of events has seen Williams go from eighth on the depth chart in the rotation to become the Giants' second-best pitcher behind ace Jason Schmidt.

"He's for real," Giants manager Felipe Alou said. "He throws strikes with all four of his pitches. He's not going to walk himself out of the ballgame. Velocity is not his No. 1 pitch. He uses all his pitches for strikes on the corners."

Late in spring training, the Giants traded Livan Hernandez to make room for Ainsworth in the rotation. When Ryan Jensen struggled, Foppert came up and took his place.

One-shot deal

When Schmidt's mother died in April, Williams came up for one start in Philadelphia. He had a shutout after four innings, then veteran catcher Benito Santiago was ejected, Williams fell apart, and allowed five runs without getting an out in the fifth.

On June 3, Ainsworth developed a shoulder injury the Giants didn't think was severe. Williams came up for a second spot start against the Minnesota Twins, but didn't figure to make more than two. Ainsworth's injury, as it turns out, is more serious than expected and he'll be out until at least August — if not the season.

Williams was suddenly being counted on every fifth day for the defending National League champions.

In his third career start, he was in a matchup that reminded him what the majors are all about: bases loaded against the Chicago White Sox's Frank Thomas. Williams challenged "the Big Hurt" with all fastballs on the corners and retired him to end the inning.

Special victory

Two starts later, Williams earned his first victory against the Oakland A's, a team coming off three straight trips to the playoffs. An emotional Williams dedicated the game to his late mother, Deborah, afterward.

"I just wish my mother was here right now to see her son get a victory," Williams said that night. "It's real emotional just talking about it."

Five days later, he faced the A's again and threw a seven-hit shutout in an efficient 96 pitches. Never one lacking confidence, that game told Williams something.

"I have the stuff to be here," Williams said this week. "I'm pretty confident in myself. I was nervous. Every time I go out there, I'm nervous. It's the best I've ever felt. That topped the cake. I still look back on it and I can't believe I did that."

Before his start on July 2, Alou noticed Williams walking and pacing a little more than normal. Perhaps it was because the game was on ESPN, and Williams knew many of his friends and family back home would be watching him for the first time since his days at Waipahu High.

After a shaky start, Williams settled down and beat the Cardinals that night. Five days later, he beat them again, throwing his second complete game.

It isn't uncommon for a pitcher to beat a team the first time he faces them. Hitters are at a disadvantage when seeing a pitcher for the first time. But beating a team twice in six days, which Williams did in beating Oakland and St. Louis, is an indication a pitcher is legit.

Hawai'i ties

"He has a good idea what he's doing," Cardinals star Albert Pujols said. "He's only 21, but he doesn't pitch like he's 21. He's pitched well against us twice."

Williams is a student of Hawai'i baseball history. The day he was drafted, Lenn Sakata, now a Giants roving minor league instructor, called him first and "told me how to get to the majors."

His friends include former New York Met Benny Agbayani, who broke Giants fans' hearts with a 13th-inning home run in the pivotal Game 3 of the 2000 division series.

Sakata and Agbayani are just a handful of Hawai'i players to spend a significant amount of time in the major leagues.

Williams is proud that when scouts came to see him at a 1999 tournament in Maui, it allowed Shane Victorino to get a look from scouts. Victorino spent some time with the San Diego Padres earlier this season.

"Being the 50th state, we're so isolated, it's pretty tough to travel out there," Williams said. "I keep in touch with all the Hawai'i guys."

In spring training, Williams' former pitching coach at Waipahu, Darren Chun, made the following prediction: "He's going to be the biggest star ever out of Hawai'i."

So far, Chun is looking like a prophet.

When the season is over, Williams will return to Hawai'i. He has one hope for his friends and fans back home.

"I hope people won't bombard me," he said, smiling. "I know it might be crazy out there. Tell everybody in Hawai'i, 'thanks for the support.' "