NEW YORK — Former Yankee outfielder Gerald Williams died Tuesday morning after a battle with cancer, his former teammate and Hall of Famer Derek Jeter announced. Williams was 55.
Williams played 14 years in the big leagues, half that time with the Yankees, 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, who is now the CEO and part owner of the Marlins. “My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Liliana, and their whole family.”
The relationship between the outfielder and the future Hall of Famer was built in the minor leagues, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay recalled on his radio show Tuesday. The older Williams, drafted by the Yankees in 1987, stood up for the young phenom when he was being bullied by other players.
Williams was a .255/.301/.410 career hitter who played in 1,168 big league games beginning in 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 win over the Orioles.
While he is remembered as a good friend and teammate by Jeter, Williams is also remembered fondly among Yankees fans, and by Dwight Gooden, for saving his no-hitter. It was Gerald Williams, not the more famous outfielder 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 towards first base, he turned and charged the then-Red Sox ace.
Williams played five seasons with the Yankees before being traded to Milwaukee in the 1996 season. He returned in 2001 and played parts of two more seasons in pinstripes.
