GLENDALE, Ariz. – When the gentleman named Ted Williams – and, honestly, can there be any better baseball name than that short of Babe Ruth, Henry Aaron, Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle – showed up at the field at Apollo High School Tuesday afternoon, he was wearing two distinctive caps.
The first one proudly spelled out across the front, just above the bill, the word: “DAD”. The second needed a little more room for the words: “MLB AREA SCOUT”. Either way, Ted Williams wore both hats Tuesday with a sense of purpose and a sense of pride.
“I’m working, trying to divide my attentions between being a dad and work,” Williams told PG Wednesday afternoon. “It’s tough sometimes, but it’s fun being able to work and watch your sons play at the same time.”
Ted Williams was at Apollo High School to watch the host team take on Kellis High School – both schools are located in Glendale – as part of the Perfect Game Coach Bob National Invitational Tournament being played this week and next here in the Valley of the Sun.
Three of Kellis’ most prominent roster spots are filled by three of Ted Williams’ sons: Senior outfielder Tyler Williams and his twin brothers, outfielder Jordan and infielder Justin Williams, both juniors. But make no mistake, Tyler Williams is, to steal a word from Kellis head coach Michael Deardoff, a pretty “special” player.
“He’s kind of one of those once in a lifetime players. (He has) an outstanding attitude, great effort, and obviously his talent speaks for itself,” Deardoff told PG Wednesday afternoon. “Outside of that, it’s more of his contributions off the field for our team; he leads by example, he hustles, he holds kids accountable. Off the field and in the classroom he’s a prime example of what we expect our kids to do.”
Tyler Williams is an honor roll student at Kellis with a 3.40 GPA who takes advanced classes and takes school, in general, very seriously. He has climbed Perfect Game’s class of 2015 national prospect rankings steadily over the last three years, and is currently situated nicely at No. 45.
With his athleticism, superb batting stroke and the ability to motor his 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame over 60 yards in nearly 6 ½ seconds, the Arizona State signee is also projected as an early round MLB draft pick in June. Just don’t talk to Williams about that right now. This month, anyway, he’s all about being a Kellis Cougar for one last season.
“I’ve always been looking forward to my senior year because I’ve always really wanted our team to win a state championship; this is my last year to actually do that,” Tyler said. “I’m going to do all that I can to help us get there.”
And this year, for the second straight spring, Tyler gets to wear the Kellis uniform alongside his brothers, twins Jordan and Justin Williams. Justin is ranked No. 438 nationally in the 2016 class (No. 5 Arizona) while Jordan is close on his heels at No. 469 (No. 6 Arizona).
Jordan and Justin look up to Tyler with a certain degree of reverence that seems more special than many other younger brother-older brother relationships.
“Sometimes it gets a little hectic and we yell at each other, but then again we get to lift each other up,” Justin said Wednesday. “Whether it’s driving in a run that (his brothers) didn’t (drive in) or just helping them out in the dugout; just letting them know that we’re there, next to (each other).”
While Justin looks upon all of his teammates as brothers, he admits there’s a difference: “With my (blood) brothers, we go home together. We yell here or we yell at home, but we lift each other up when we get home.”
Added Jordan: “(Tyler has had a) really had a big impact on me, especially since we play the same position out there in the outfield. Our dad is the one that really got us started (in the game) and it’s fun being out here with my brothers.”
It is Tyler Williams who is in the prospect spotlight this spring and his father is fully aware of that fact. Ted Williams is working his 16th season as an MLB scout and is currently the Four Corners (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado) area scout for the Minnesota Twins. With Tyler projected to be selected in one of the first five rounds of the MLB draft in June, Ted is wearing those two hats proudly.
“It’s been very enjoyable because I’ve seen him at his very lowest point. There were Perfect Game tournaments when he didn’t do quite as well as he thought he should,” Ted said of watching Tyler play and develop through the years.
“But everything he went through helped make him what he is today because he came back home … and he wanted to get better,” Ted continued. “He wanted to be as good as the guys he played with and he stuck with it and it’s starting to payoff for him.”
Ted describes knowing his eldest son inside and out and admits to being “hyper-critical” of Tyler’s abilities when he removes the “DAD” cap and puts on the ‘SCOUT” cap. But he also knows what Tyler is capable of and he knows when he’s struggling, and that’s when “DAD” takes over.
“Baseball-wise, he’s always had an influence on my life ever since the first time I picked up a bat,” Tyler said of his dad. “He practiced with me, he helped me get to where I’m at today, so I’m really grateful for everything that he’s done.”
The three Williams’ brothers and their Kellis Cougars teammates spent the half-hour or so they had to kill before they could take the field to begin stretching and throwing Wednesday afternoon pretty much just jacking around. They are, of course, high school kids on spring break, but that doesn't mean they weren’t serious about the task at hand.
“We’re, like, basically a family. We’re all brothers and we help each other out with whatever situation happens out there,” Justin Williams said.
“Everybody just loves to have fun with each other,” Tyler Williams added. “We’re all relaxed and there’s no animosity towards anybody on this team; I really like that about (this team).”
The Cougars won four of their first seven games to begin the season and were 3-0 in Arizona Division II Section 1 play coming into Coach Bob. They split games with Stillwater and Bartlesville, two schools out of Oklahoma, to open the Coach Bob Invite, and that was something to be proud of.
“It’s a good thing to see all these other teams because we get to see what else is out there,” Tyler Williams said. “Seeing the talent level of the teams from other states is a great way for us to get ready for our season.”
Added Coach Deardoff: “It’s always nice to see someone that you don’t normally see. It’s nice to see fresh faces – schools that we don’t have any preconceived notions about – and it’s just fun to compete against other people.”
Deardoff explained that he didn’t return many players this season that racked up a whole heck of a lot of varsity experience in 2014, and that included losing to graduation almost 90 percent of the innings pitched last spring. Any coach at any level will admit that’s a huge hole to fill.
“We’re a team that should be able to score runs but that’s easier said than done, right?” Dearfdoff said. “We should be able to score runs and play good defense but we’ll go as far as our pitching takes us.”
There is no denying that this team will also go as far as the Williams’ brothers can take it, and most importantly how far Tyler can take it. And that brotherly relationship runs particularly deep with Tyler, who talked openly about how much he loves his younger brothers and how much he loves playing with them. “It’s just a really great experience for me,” Tyler said. And, boy oh boy, does that sentiment run both ways.
Justin, for one, talks about the impact Tyler has had on him when it comes to playing in front of the large contingent of scouts that turn out for about every one of Kellis’ games. He makes a point of introducing himself to the scouts in the event that he might make that one magical play that catches everyone’s eyes.
“There’s a healthy competition there between them just because they’re all brothers and they’re living under the same roof,” Deardoff said. “All three of them have different quirks and different things that make them tick. The one thing that all three of them have in common is that all three of them are competitors.”
Ted Williams isn’t going to change a thing as far as the advice he handed out to Tyler and the words he will share with Justin and Jordan. In fact, he told PG on Tuesday, the twins have things a little better already simply because he has already made his allotment of mistakes – “messing up” is what he called it – with Tyler; now the twins are getting a new, improved version of the old man.
“I treat them all the same and I tell (the twins) you might have (scouts) coming to watch Tyler but people are going to see you also,” Ted said. “You should hope he does well because the more they come to see him the more they’re going to see you.”
And as far as the last bit of advice he can give his son Tyler, who will be graduating from Kellis High School with honors in the spring?
“The best advice that I give him is to go out and have fun,” Ted said. “Go out there and hustle and play hard, and everything will pay off. Don’t’ take the game for granted because you never know what will happen today or tomorrow, but I always want to see you hustle and I always want to see you play hard and look like you’re enjoying playing the game.”
Tyler Williams should expect to hear his name called in the early rounds of the 2015 MLB June Amateur First-Year Player Draft. It’s not that far off but when watching Tyler hang out with his Kellis High School teammates it’s obvious that chapter of his life can wait, maybe even until after three years at Arizona State.
“Right now, at this time, I just want to enjoy my senior season,” he said. “The draft is out there and that’s going to happen anyway, and I’m just going to enjoy my senior season and let the draft take care of itself.”