What years did Rick Williams play?

Rick Williams played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1979.

Was Rick Williams a pitcher?

Yes. Rick Williams pitched in the major leagues, recording 5 wins and 54 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Rick Williams hit?

Rick Williams hit 0 career home runs with 8 hits.

What was Rick Williams's career batting average?

Rick Williams batted .222 over his career, with 8 hits in 36 at bats.

What was Rick Williams's career ERA?

Rick Williams finished with a 3.58 career ERA, going 5-9 with 54 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Rick Williams have?

Rick Williams recorded 54 career strikeouts.

Rick Williams

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1978-1979)

Rick Williams was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1979 for the Houston Astros, a span of 2 seasons. Across 48 career appearances, he went 5-9 with a 3.58 ERA and 54 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 1793.7.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

W–L 5–9

ERA 3.58

WHIP 1.31

SO 54

Pitcher PIV 1793.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 180 lb
Born: 11/9/1952 in Merced, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1978-06-12
Last Game: 1979-09-26

Full name: Richard Allen Williams

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Career Pitching Statistics

Rick Williams — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
5	9	48	17	2	2	0	156.0	165	62	8	40	54	3.58	1793.7

Career ERA 3.58 vs. league average 3.84 across their career seasons — 7.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rick Williams — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1978	HOU	NL	1	2	17	1	0	0	34.2	43	18	10	17	4.67	3.69 (-27%)	408.1
1979	HOU	NL	4	7	31	16	2	2	121.1	122	44	30	37	3.26	4.00 (+18%)	1385.6
Career · 2 seasons			5	9	48	17	2	2	156.0	165	62	40	54	3.58	—	1,794

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Rick Williams — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
48	36	2	8	1	0	0	0	0	3	20	.222	.282	.250	.532	0

Career AVG .222 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — 15.1% below league average.

Career OBP .282 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — 13.7% below league average.

Career SLG .250 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — 35.6% below league average.

Career OPS .532 vs. league average .715 across their career seasons — 25.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rick Williams — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1978	HOU	NL	17	5	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	HOU	NL	31	31	2	8	1	3	18	.258	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 2 seasons			48	36	2	8	1	3	20	.222	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (96 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Rick Williams — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	20	17	1	5	0	0	.294
Away	28	19	1	3	0	0	.158

Pitching — Home / Away

Rick Williams — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	20	69.1	74	22	19	30	2.86
Away	28	86.2	91	40	21	24	4.15

Last 10 Games — Batting

Rick Williams — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	SO
1979-09-26	HOU	ATL	L	0	0	0
1979-09-24	HOU	ATL	L	1	0	1
1979-09-18	HOU	SDP	L	2	1	0
1979-09-07	HOU	SFG	L	0	0	0
1979-09-04	HOU	LAD	W	2	1	1
1979-08-29	HOU	WSN	L	0	0	0
1979-08-26	HOU	PHI	W	2	0	2
1979-08-17	HOU	PHI	L	1	0	1
1979-08-15	HOU	WSN	L	0	0	0
1979-08-12	HOU	ATL	L	2	2	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Rick Williams — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1979-09-26	HOU	ATL	—	1.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
1979-09-24	HOU	ATL	L	5.0	6	2	2	2	0	0
1979-09-18	HOU	SDP	L	5.1	6	3	3	1	1	0
1979-09-07	HOU	SFG	—	0.2	3	1	1	0	1	0
1979-09-04	HOU	LAD	W	5.2	7	3	3	1	4	1
1979-08-29	HOU	WSN	—	2.0	3	1	1	0	0	0
1979-08-26	HOU	PHI	—	6.0	5	1	1	1	1	0
1979-08-17	HOU	PHI	—	3.2	1	0	0	1	1	0
1979-08-15	HOU	WSN	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1979-08-12	HOU	ATL	L	6.0	8	3	3	2	2	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rick Williams — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	48	17	4	30	2	2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rick Williams — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1978	HOU	P	17	1	1	7	1	0
1979	HOU	P	31	16	3	23	1	2

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rick Williams — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	48

College History

Rick Williams — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Merced College	Merced	CA	1971, 1972

Rick Williams: the record in brief

The profile opens with Rick Williams's first major league game on June 12, 1978; the last one listed came on September 26, 1979. The team column never changes: it is the Houston Astros from 1978 to 1979. Williams played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on November 9, 1952, in Merced, CA, USA and a listed size of 180 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame. Williams's full given name, per the bio, is Richard Allen Williams.

Williams pitched in 48 games, starting 17, and finished with a 5-9 record and 3.58 ERA. Also on Williams's record: 54 strikeouts. The leagues Williams pitched in allowed 3.84 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 7.0% better than average. In 1979, one of the busiest seasons, Williams posted a 3.26 ERA; the league figure that year was 4.00. Pitcher PIV, the site's era-adjusted run-prevention measure, totals 1,793.7 for Williams's career.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rick Williams

What years did Rick Williams play?: Rick Williams played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1979.
Was Rick Williams a pitcher?: Yes. Rick Williams pitched in the major leagues, recording 5 wins and 54 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Rick Williams hit?: Rick Williams hit 0 career home runs with 8 hits.
What was Rick Williams's career batting average?: Rick Williams batted .222 over his career, with 8 hits in 36 at bats.
What was Rick Williams's career ERA?: Rick Williams finished with a 3.58 career ERA, going 5-9 with 54 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Rick Williams have?: Rick Williams recorded 54 career strikeouts.