Bob WilliamsBob Williams, IF/OF
Hometown: Chambly, Quebec
BBA debut: Apr 2, 2053
When the Boise Spuds signed Bob Williams to a three-year free agent contract in January, the signing went fairly under the radar. As it had every right to, because Williams was an unproven talent from the GBC, who would probably be a fringe BBA player at best.
But now, Williams is proving that he belongs. He currently has the third-best season WAR among Spuds’ position players, and has become a consummate leader in the clubhouse.
He’s not a rookie, at least by the official standards set by the BBA, since he has major league experience from his days in the UMEBA-turned-GBC. But we’re still treating him as one for the purposes of this column, because we feel everyone’s BBA debut deserves its moment in the spotlight. (His teammates are also making sure to put him through the appropriate rookie hazing rituals, but that’s their business.)
Williams, who hails from a suburb of Montreal called Chambly, was discovered at age 16 as an international talent by the former Cairo Chariot Archers. But he never got to play in Cairo, since he was promptly sent to the Libyan Generals’ organization as part of the UMEBA contraction after the 2043 season. The contraction ended a lot of careers, as a result of there being more players than jobs to go around, but Williams was able to land on his feet because of his top prospect status: he was the #12 UMEBA prospect at the time.
He made the Futures Game at age 17, and again at 18. Word was spreading quickly about his power. Williams had an other-worldly Rookie ball season at age 18, where he hit 25 home runs in just 63 games. He only lost out on the MVP award that year because a Tianjin player, Émile Ollier, batted over .400.
Williams broke into the majors at age 20 for the then-Tripoli Piranhas. He kept hitting home runs, but lost his starting job due to his inability to take walks or hit for average. Still, Tripoli kept him around as a super-utility player until the UMEBA dissolved in 2051.
He took a lot of inspiration from teammate Stefan Adilov, the Piranhas’ starting shortstop during the late ‘40s. Even though they were competing for the same starting position, Adilov always made time to help Williams with his defense, an effort for which Williams was always grateful. He vowed in the future to always treat teammates with the same selflessness that Adilov had shown him.
Now in Boise, Williams continues to be the ultimate utility player, splitting time between shortstop, second base, and right field. But his value extends beyond his time on the playing field. When Tomás Durán was asked to play second base, a position the 32-year-old veteran had never played professionally, Williams offered to spend extra time with him after practice, running infield drills. Williams also spends countless hours in the video room with another former teammate from Tripoli, Gavrilovich Mastinsky, analyzing Mastinsky’s pitching mechanics. It’s not that Williams knows anything about pitching, but his presence just seems to put teammates at ease and make them feel more confident in themselves.
A great teammate. That’s what Williams strives to be, and he hopes to inspire the next generation to do the same.