Personal
Born March 13, 1964 in New Orleans, LA... Now lives in Texas with his wife (Lisa) and Son (William III)... Nicknames include "The Thrill" and "The Natural"... Loves to hunt and fish... Favorite players when young were Robin Yount and George Brett
Amateur Career
Played Little League, Babe Ruth League, and American Legion baseball, went to the World Series in the latter two... Played high school baseball for Jesuit High where as a senior he hit 10 homeruns and had 32 RBI and earned all American Honors (1982)... Played for Mississippi State University from 1983-1985, earning all-SEC honors three times and all-American honors twice... In 1985 hit .420 with 25 homeruns and 77 RBI in 65 games to win the Golden Spikes award for being the country's top collegiate player... Played for the silver medal winning 1984 U.S. Olympic team, hitting .393 with 13 homeruns and 35 RBI in 35 games of the pre-Olympic tour and .429 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBI in 5 games of the Olympics
Professional Career1985- Drafted second in the nation behind B.J. Surhoff by S.F. in free agent draft on June 5, 1985, signed on June 19... Played for Fresno (.309, 10, 48, 62 bb in 65 games) and led team to the California League title... In first game versus Visalia on June 21 hit 2 homeruns, including on his first swing... Also played for Arizona instructional league (.487, 3, 19 in 10 games).
1986- Promoted to Major Leagues, was the Giants opening day first baseman... In first big league game on April 8 at Houston, hit a homerun off of Nolan Ryan on first swing... Hit a homerun in his first game at Candlestick Park against Bob Knepper... Missed 47 games due to an elbow injury
1987- Had breakout season for Giants (.308, 35, 91)... Ranked 5th in MVP voting and voted NL player of the week twice, Aug 3-7 and Sep 13-20... Made first post-season appearance and had a game winning homerun in game 2 of the NLCS off of John Tudor
1988- Played 162 games (.282, 29, 109) ranking first in the NL in games, RBI, and intentional walks... Also ranked third in runs (102), HR, on base percentage (.386), and slugging percentage (.508). Played in NL all-star team, was selected as NL player of the month for June and player of the week twice for June 20-26 and Aug 1-7... Ranked 5th in MVP voting
1989- Arguably his best season in the majors (.333, 23, 111)... Ranked 1st in the NL in runs (104), 2nd in hits (196) and average, 3rd in RBI, triples (9), on base percentage (.407), and slugging percentage (.546), and was 4th in doubles (38)... Ranked 2nd in MVP voting behind teammate Kevin Mitchell... Was the all-star top vote getter with over 3 million votes, was on both the Sporting News all-star and Silver Slugger teams, and was NL player of the month for May... Was NLCS MVP (.650,2,8 in 5 games) setting LCS records for average, hits (13), RBI in one game (6) and consecutive hits (5) as well as well as tying records for runs (8) and and runs in a game (4)... Had forgettable world series as he was stricken with tonsillitis for the first two of the four games
1990- Subpar year (.295, 19, 95) for Will... Ranked 2nd in the league in sacrifice flies (19)... Got his first all-star hit in Chicago... hit 100th career homerun April 21
1991- Will's last season showing power (.301, 29, 116)... Led NL in slugging (.536) and was 2nd in RBI... Won 1st gold glove at first base with only 4 errors (.997 fielding percentage)... Played in the all-game and was selected by the Sporting News to its all-star and Silver Slugger teams.
1992- Injury riddled year (.300, 16, 73 in 144 games)... 2nd in NL in doubles (40) and intentional walks (23)... stole over 10 bases for the only times in his career (12)... Played in 5th straight all-star game, hitting a homerun and driving in three
1993- Last year with San Francisco (.283, 14, 73)... Started off slowly but hit .318 in final 87 games and .465 in last 12 during the team's playoff run
1994- 1st season with Texas (.329, 14, 73)... Was 5th in the AL in on-base percentage, 6th in walks (71), and 7th in hitting... Went 2-2 in first AL all-star game appearance
1995- Another injury plagued year (.302, 16, 92 in 123 games)... Tied for 2nd in AL in sacrifice flies (11)... got 1500th career hit Aug 13 vs Toronto
1996- Played in fewest games since he was a rookie (.284, 13, 72 in 117 games)... Was placed in D.L. three times during the season... Batted .125 during divisional series vs Yankees