Mitchell Steven Williams (born November 17, 1964), nicknamed "Wild Thing", is an American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for six teams from 1986 to 1997.
It was with the Rangers that Williams earned the nickname "Wild Thing" due in large part to his awkward delivery to the plate in which he would fall to the third base side of the mound during his follow through, and also because of issues he had with control.
[1] When he joined the Cubs, Wrigley Field organist Gary Pressy began playing The Troggs' "Wild Thing" as he came out of the bullpen, mimicking the scenes in the film.
Cubs manager Don Zimmer said Williams "did everything 99 miles an hour", and teammate and close friend Mark Grace said "Mitch pitches like his hair's on fire."
However, in Game 5, with the score tied at 1–1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Williams gave up a two-run RBI single to Will Clark.
Still, manager Jim Fregosi chose Williams as the team's closer entering the World Series against the defending champion Toronto Blue Jays.
During Williams' time in Philadelphia, a punk rock cover of the song "Wild Thing" (the same one used in the Major League films) was played when he made his entrance from the bullpen.
During that World Series, whenever Williams was on the mound, his nervous teammate Curt Schilling was caught by CBS television cameras with a towel over his head.
After getting a flyout, Paul Molitor singled to center field to get Joe Carter (who Williams described as a "down-and-in hitter") to the plate with one out and two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, Joe Carter hit a 2–2 pitch over the left-field wall for a walk-off home run, giving the Blue Jays an 8–6 victory and a World Series championship.
In a joint interview with Carter for the MLB Network's 20 Greatest Games series, Williams said he hadn't used the slide step before but was talked into doing so by pitching coach Johnny Podres after allowing a walk to base-stealing legend Rickey Henderson.
After two months with Houston in 1994, Williams closed out his major league career with equally short stints with the California Angels in 1995 and the Kansas City Royals in 1997.
In July 2011, Williams participated in a House Crashers episode from the DIY Network, in which a local Phillies fan won a makeover of his home's sports den.
[8] Williams sued Deadspin and MLB Network, claiming defamation and breach of contract in 2014 for a report on him regarding his actions during a youth baseball tournament, including his alleged cursing of an umpire and calling children on other teams derogatory names.
[13] In March 2007, Williams joined Philadelphia radio station 610 WIP AM as a part-time cohost of the Angelo Cataldi and the Morning Team show heard from 5:30 to 10:00 am on weekdays.
Williams came under some criticism for stating that the correct way to catch a fly ball was with one hand rather than two, after Cincinnati Reds outfielder Fred Lewis made an error in a game vs. the Atlanta Braves on July 23, 2011.