Portrait of Mitch Williams

Birthday profile

Mitch Williams

Mitch Williams, American baseball player and sportscaster

Born
November 17, 1964
Age in 2026
62
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1964

About Mitch Williams

Mitchell Steven Williams (born November 17, 1964), nicknamed "Wild Thing", is an American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for six teams from 1986 to 1997. He was also a studio analyst for the MLB Network from 2009 to 2014. Williams, a left-hander with a high-90s fastball and major control issues, was largely effective, especially in the early part of his career earning 192 saves in his 11 seasons including a career high of 43 in 1993. He gave up a walk-off home run to Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth game of the 1993 World Series, which gave Toronto a World Series championship win over the Phillies. Williams' career went into decline afterward, although he played in parts of three more major league seasons. == Early playing career == Williams was drafted out of high school in West Linn, Oregon, in 1982, by the San Diego Padres. The Texas Rangers acquired him in 1985, and he made his major league debut for the Rangers in 1986. It was with the Rangers that Williams earned the nickname "Wild Thing" due in large part to his awkward delivery to the plate in which he would fall to the third base side of the mound during his follow through, and also because of issues he had with control. The Rangers traded him to the Chicago Cubs after the 1988 season. == Chicago Cubs == Williams' extravagant wind-up and release, as well as his frequent wild pitches, drew comparisons to film character Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) in the 1989 David S. Ward film Major League.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Mitch Williams was born

Mitch Williams was born in 1964. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1964

  • #1 song"I Want to Hold Your Hand" – The Beatles
  • Top movieMy Fair Lady
  • Top TV showBonanza
  • Best-selling bookThe Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John le Carré

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentCassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) defeats Sonny Liston
  • Top headlineCivil Rights Act signed into law
  • Technology milestoneIBM System/360 mainframe computer launched
  • Defining fadBeatlemania
  • Notable inventionBASIC programming language
  • World population3.27 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderLyndon B. Johnson
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population191.9M

1964 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Mitch Williams's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19642026
Gas$0.30$3.45/gal
Average home$13,350$435,000
Average income$8,600$67,500
Minimum wage$1.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.86$11.95
Postage stamp$0.05$0.73
Population191.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Baseball Reference. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.