Like his pitches of yesteryear, the erstwhile Phillies closer Mitch Williams was all over the place during the past season

Things you learn from talking to Mitch Williams: Today’s Major League radar guns are inaccurate; Darren Daulton was not a kook but a great leader; and Williams himself never received a single death threat after serving up the home run ball that ended the 1993 World Series. Known as “Wild Thing” during his playing days, Williams was the Phillies closer from 1991 to ’93. Traded to the Houston Astros in ’94, he retired in ’97 and eventually settled in the Philadelphia area. “Retired,” in Williams’ case, is a relative term. During the just-completed baseball season, he became a media fixture in Philadelphia with his incisive, no-nonsense Phillies post-game analysis on Comcast and his witty contributions to Angelo Cataldi’s morning show, as well as a Saturday gig on Philly’s 610 WIP. The ubiquitous Williams wears other hats, too: customer development executive for the MGM Mirage and owner of Wild Thing 99 Foods, which manufactures and distributes salsa, made to Williams’ recipe, to supermarkets and restaurants across the country. Two weeks before the Phillies became National League Eastern Division Champs, O&A caught up with Williams at the Acme Market on Naamans Road, where he was promoting his Wild Thing Southpaw Salsa (Mild and Wild). An imposing 6’ 4”, the native Texan looks as if he could still pick up the ball and intimidate batters. He answered our questions with the same candor and some of the wit that marks his radio and TV appearances.

You were a big hit as analyst of Phillies games during the past season. What’s your philosophy about commenting on players’ performances?

I’m not a big stat guy. One thing I do know is the game—there’s probably not a whole lot else I know—but I do understand the game of baseball and the little nuances that some people might not be able to pick up. I try to tell it from a player’s standpoint. My biggest thing when I watch a game—I’m not gonna go after anybody personally to crucify them, but if I see [something particularly bad], I’m gonna point it out.

Do you ever go into the clubhouse?

I go down to the field [but] I try and stay out of the clubhouse. As a player, I didn’t believe media should be in a clubhouse before the game, so I stay out of there as much as possible. I think the clubhouse is for the players.

So I suppose “Macho Row” (the locker room area occupied by Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, Dave Hollins, John Kruk, Pete Incaviglia, and Williams in ’93) didn’t exactly put out the welcome sign for the media?

I played with a lot of people who didn’t like dealing with the media. Me, I never minded. I felt they all had a job to do and I tried to make it as easy as possible on them. But I think media is for after the game. It’s just my opinion, but I think before the game, players should be left alone to get ready for the game, then talk about it afterwards.

You’re also on Angelo Cataldi’s show every Wednesday. What’s your approach to that show?

The same approach I have to everything. I just try to be honest. Angelo is going to approach everything from a controversial standpoint. I’ve gotta approach it from being as truthful as I can be without getting personal. If I see something in somebody’s performance, I’m definitely going to point it out. Like with the Rod Barajas deal early in the year. I said what I felt that night. I said the day he did it that he hung himself in the city of Philadelphia. (Barajas, a catcher, failed to block the plate on a crucial play in a midseason game; he saw little action after that.) On the other hand, the young catcher, [Carlos] Ruiz, I think he’s gonna be here for a long time. There’s nothing I don’t like about his game.

Of course, there’s a lot of joking around on the Cataldi show. And you hang in there with them. You’re very quick.

On that show, I have a tendency to show my personality a little bit more. I had to be quick growing up, with an older brother who beat the hell out of me all the time. All I could do is verbally abuse him.

That would be the brother who threw harder and was wilder than you were?

Yep. They had him at 98 [mph] on a radar gun when he was 18 years old. And that was back when the radar guns were accurate.

Are you saying they’re not accurate now?

Not even close. When they did everything in the world to tailor-make the game for hitters, they had to do something for fans of pitching, so now they show guys throwing 99 miles an hour. I played with guys 10 years ago who never threw that hard and now they’re throwin’ five miles an hour harder. You don’t increase arm speed. You don’t get more velocity as you get older. The 99, the 100, the 102—that just doesn’t happen.

Looking ahead to next year, what do the Phillies need to do to shore up their chances of making the playoffs again?

They need an everyday third baseman; they need setup men and middle relief. They have a closer; I think Brett Myers will be a closer here for a long time. But they need someone to close that gap between the starters and the closer. You can’t count on Tom Gordon every day. Their starters, they’re definitely going to have to add one or two. I love both the Kyles (Kendrick and Lohse). They weren’t expecting a thing from Kyle Kendrick, and the kid has done nothing but impress me. It’s not his stuff, [but] from his very first start, when he got in trouble early, he never showed it on his face. The biggest thing with the game of baseball, if the hitters see a weakness in your face, they’re gonna attack you. I like him, Lohse, and Cole Hamels is outstanding. So they got three. What they’re gonna do with Jamie [Moyer], I don’t know. I mean, Jamie’s 44 years old. And I think they have something with J.D. Durbin, but he’s not a starter. He’s someone I would try in a set-up role because he’s got a good arm. He doesn’t have much idea how to use it yet, but I think in a set-up role where he’s only facing the lineup one time through, maybe, I think he could be very good.

Given your knowledge of the game, and the fact that you have some managerial experience in the minors, would you consider managing in the majors if a job were offered?

My biggest problem—when you have the nickname “Wild Thing,” I think it’s hard for a Major League team to look at you and say A, “We want you to work with our pitching staff,” or B, “Manage our club.” I do know the game, I know what it takes to succeed in the game, and it would be something I would love to do if the opportunity presented itself, but I’m not gonna go out there and chase it.

Let’s go back to the championship season of ’93. After throwing that fateful pitch to Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth game of the World Series, how serious did the threats become?

Well, when you’ve never had death threats before, they’re pretty serious. And I didn’t know anything about it. They happened after game four, and I didn’t find out about them ’til I was in my driveway at 2 o’clock in the morning after game five, when a cop’s flashlight came on in my driveway. After game five I didn’t sleep. I stayed up all night. That was basically the last I ever heard of it.

So it just died out?

Yeah, I never got anything personal—no calls to me myself. (The death threat came into the Phillies office.) I found out there were guards on my family the whole game during game five, that I knew nothing about at the time. It was a little hairy.

Do you stay in touch with some of those guys from ’93, from Macho Row?

Oh, yeah. I still stay in touch with Dave Hollins quite a bit, and Kruk.

Hollins had the reputation for being the toughest guy on that team. True?

He was amongst the top. He was the meanest, if that means anything.

How about Daulton? Is he—how can I put this—as eccentric as he seems?

He’s the same guy I always knew. He’s got some different beliefs. But he was the best leader I ever played with. He could lead by example or tell you what to do. And everybody who ever played with him respected him for what he was. I’ve said all along that [Manager] Jim Fregosi wrote down the lineup and made the moves, but Dutch managed the club.

You were a high school quarterback in Texas, so you know something about football, too. What do you think of the Eagles chances this year?

I think they have a decent team. The defensive line may be a problem. Offensively I think they’ll score a bunch of points. Defensively and on special teams is where they’ll run into trouble. I still think they’ll win 10 or 11 games and make the playoffs. How far they go depends on their defense.

How’s Donovan McNabb look to you?

Donovan to me looked liked the old Donovan. And I’m a huge fan of [rookie] Kevin Kolb (McNabb’s backup). I saw him play in high school. He’s been born and bred to play the game. There’s not gonna be a whole lot that upsets that kid. [Playing football] in Stephenville, Texas, he’s been under scrutiny his entire life. That’s why nobody in Philly can say anything about him that hasn’t been said already when he was in high school.