[Terry D]

Here is a guy I have had for a while and honestly should have posted sooner. Outfielder Reggie Williams was born in Memphis, Tenn., and drafted by the Dodgers out of Southern A&M in 1982. When you allow for major/minor league differentials Williams' minor league numbers were not truly outstanding, but he did have good speed and a very good SB/CS ratio in the minors. Williams vaulted into top prospect status in 1985 when he posted a .779 OPS for AA San Antonio. This earned Williams a brief '85 look with the Dodgers and a starting OF job with the big club for the '86 season. His 1986 performance for the Dodgers wasn't exactly terrible (.708 OPS) but he was regarded as a disappointment. At this point in their history, the Dodgers had tons of OF prospects varying in ability from more-or-less OK to overrated-because-Albuquerque, so when one didn't turn into a star immediately they just tried another one. Williams was used mostly as a defensive replacement in '87, hit just .111, hit well at Albuquerque, and was sent to the Indians. The Colorado Springs park helped Williams to a .768 OPS in 1988 but he got into only eleven games for the Indians that year and that was it for his MLB career. Here is Williams sliding beneath Jody Reed in a 1988 game at Fenway Park. This is the best of several similar shots from newspapers.com.