Rudy Anthony Chiasson
October 11, 2013
HLB volleyball keeps winning
October 15, 2013
Throughout the course of his 18-year life, Houma native Justin Williams has probably recorded well over 1,000 hits and at least a few hundred home runs.
But one dinger stands out greater than the others for the former Terrebonne High School standout.
It’s a hit that he’s going to remember for the rest of his life.
On a warm, brisk night this past summer, Williams stood in the batter’s box for his fourth at-bat of the game.
It was already a successful, multi-hit game for Williams. Because of that success, he had the green light to go up hacking.
“I was 2-for-3 at the time,” Williams recalls. “My hitting coach Mark Grace looked at me and told me, ‘You know? You can get a little bit aggressive here. You’ve got two hits. You’ve had a nice night.’
“He told me, ‘Go up there, get a fastball and then put a really, really good swing on it.’”
The fastball came on the very first pitch of the at-bat.
Williams said it hovered around the inside portion of the plate – the perfect spot to be hit.
He swung and connected, crushing a high drive deep into the Western sky.
“I smashed it,” Williams recollects. “I put my head down and headed to first. I turned and headed to second and saw the outfielder stop at the fence. I said to myself at that point, ‘It’s gone. It has to be over the fence.’”
It was – well out of the park for a home run.
The blast was the first of Williams’ professional career.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Williams says. “In high school when you hit one, it’s one thing. But this was as a pro. It’s a day that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Now with a season of minor league ball under his belt in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, Williams shared many of his most memorable moments with the Tri-Parish Times this week, detailing both the best and worst parts of being a baseball pro.
The local slugger hit .351 (73-for-208) with one home run and 37 RBIs during his 51-game summer at the professional level – a three-month journey that spanned three different teams.
“It’s been great,” Williams said. “This experience has been everything that I expected it would be. I am just looking forward to having a successful offense so I can get back to work and pick up where I left off.”
‘THE DIAMONDBACKS ARE A QUALITY, FIRST-CLASS ORGANIZATION’
Williams was the 52nd pick of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks – a second round selection.
The former Terrebonne outfielder opted to begin his professional career this summer, signing a contract with the team a few days following the draft.
He had previously signed a National Letter of Intent to play college baseball at LSU – an option that Williams said was a realistic one just days before the draft.
Reports have stated that the D-Backs gave Williams a $1.05 million signing bonus to secure his services.
Just days after signing the professional contract, Williams reported to Arizona to begin his professional career.
He was assigned to the D-Backs’ rookie ball team – the AZL D-Backs.
The journey was officially underway.
“It was a really quick turnaround,” Williams said. “I signed, then it was immediately off to Arizona to start my career.”
When Williams reported to his new team, he said that he got introduced to all of his new teammates and coaches.
One coach who Williams noted multiple times was Grace – a former MLB All-Star who batted .303 in his career with the Cubs and Diamondbacks.
“He’s been really, really great to me,” Williams said. “He knows hitting. He knows how to handle hitters. Coach Grace is not a guy who’s going to try and break you down and change your stance and everything – he lets you hit. I know a lot of guys who were drafted with me, but they aren’t producing like they are capable of. They are totally changed. When I see them, they tell me, ‘Well, my team changed my swing.’
“We don’t do that. The Diamondbacks are a quality, first-class organization. They do everything the right way. I am lucky to be in a great place with such a great organization.”
When the games started rolling around, Williams was an instant success. The Houma native hit .345 in 37 games for the AZL-D-Backs – enough to earn the Arizona Rookie League Player of the Month honors for the month of July.
Williams then progressed to the Missoula Osprey – another rookie club within the D-Backs’ organization.
While there, he hit .412 with six doubles and five RBI in 11 games.
“Once I started playing pro baseball for a while, I see what I have to do – I have a little routine,” Williams said. “I learned right away that you have to have a routine to see what works for you. Once I found mine, I think I was able to go out there and play pretty well.”
‘IT’S NOT WHAT MOST PEOPLE THINK IT IS … 15 HOUR BUS RIDES ARE TOUGH’
After a few weeks in Missoula, the D-Backs promoted Williams to the South Bend Silver Hawks for the final few weeks of the season.
It is with South Bend (a Class A affiliate) that Williams said his professional career officially got underway in his eyes.
Instead of being surrounded exclusively with rookies, with the Silver Hawks, Williams was playing alongside grown men who had several years experience.
“I was an 18-year-old in a locker room with 25-year-old men,” Williams recollects. “When I got to South Bend, that’s when real baseball started to me. That’s when you really see what guys are all about.”
Williams played just three games for South Bend, recording a lone base hit in nine at-bats. He scored three runs in the short stretch of games.
“I wish I would have gotten to play more with them at that level,” Williams said. “I got there right as the season winded down in late August.”
But while Williams progresses through his professional career, he said that he wants people to understand that he hasn’t changed a bit since his prep days.
Williams said that he didn’t understand initially how difficult it would be to play every, single day. He added that the physical and mental tear on one’s body is difficult.
“It’s just a lot,” Williams said. “Don’t get me wrong – I love it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. But it’s a lot. There are days when you’re beat up and sore, but you have to show up for work and play. It’s challenging – it’s definitely challenging. It’s a constant mental grind. You have to be mentally tough to get through it. But it’s an incredibly fun job.”
Williams also said that he now has a greater appreciation for players at the major league level because he understands the hard work that each player had to put in to reach the summit.
“I wouldn’t call the minor league life living the dream,” Williams said. “Everyone here is trying to make it to the big leagues. When I get back home, people are going to see me and think, ‘Hey, you play professional baseball.’ And that’s great because I do, but it’s nothing like the big leagues. We’re not spoiled here. It’s not what most people think it is. We take buses to games. I think 15-hour bus rides are tough.
“We’re not anything like getting half a million dollar paychecks every other week. We’re not anything like flying first-class luxury planes to games. It’s different here. I really appreciate those other guys because I understand now the work and commitment it takes to be really successful at this game.”
‘I WON’T TOUCH A BASEBALL FOR THE NEXT MONTH’
With baseball season over, Williams is now back home.
The local boy flew back to Houma this past weekend where he will now enjoy a few months off from his job.
“It’s mandatory in our organization that you take a month or two off,” Williams said. “So I’m going to go home and spend some time with my friends and my family and just enjoy myself.
“I won’t touch a baseball for the next month – at least.”
But while the bat and glove won’t be in Williams’ hands for a while, he said that he has plans to polish his skills in other ways.
Williams plans to exercise throughout the break to increase his upper body strength. He also plans to do some things to increase his flexibility.
“I may consider doing some yoga,” Williams said. “A couple of coaches have recommended that to me to help increase my quickness and my flexibility, so I’ll see how I like that and if I think it’ll help me out.”
All the hard work leads to the next go-round, which will begin in the early spring when Williams heads to a spring training institute in California to get ready for the 2014 season.
The short turnaround is just part of the life of a ballplayer.
But it’s a life that Williams said he’s growing to love.
“I love being a professional baseball player – it’s everything I thought it would be,” Williams said. “Now, I just want to work hard every day so that I can progress and become as good as I think that I can be.
“Every player dreams of being in the big leagues. I just want to work on my weaknesses and see if I can make that happen. Baseball is different when it’s your job. But I love my job. I consider myself to be very lucky to get paid to play a game that I love.”
Houma native Justin Williams poses with a baseball bat while dressed in his Arizona Diamondbacks’ uniform. The former Terrebonne High School standout spent his summer playing for three different affiliates of the D-Backs’ organization. Now home for the winter, the local reflected on his first season as a pro. He detailed both the good and bad things about his new life.
