Meet the Williams Family
By: Philadelphia Phillies
Tags: MLB, Baseball, Philadelphia, Phillies, Family

Meet the Williams Family

Luke Williams has had quite the week. With last-minute flights and changing schedules, his family has been with him for every moment. Philadelphia Phillies Follow Jun 11 · 5 min read

(from left to right) Ike, Sami, Luke, Jeannine and Mark Williams.

When Mark, Jeannine and Sami Williams walked out of the broadcast booth during Thursday afternoon’s game, you could see it in their wide-eyed faces. It had been a whirlwind.

They just watched their son Luke get a standing ovation from the Citizens Bank Park crowd who chanted his name. And in his first at-bat since his unbelievable walk-off home run on Wednesday, Luke legged out an infield hit, drawing loud approval from the fans and his teammates in the dugout.

This was after they spoke with reporters from the Philadelphia print media, did two televised interviews with local networks, and then joined Phillies broadcasters Tom McCarthy and Ben Davis for the second inning. Calling their son’s hit on live TV isn’t something the Southern California family is used to.

“It’s kind of weird having the headsets on and hearing the producers speak in your ear while you’re talking like, ‘Look at the camera in 10 seconds,’” Mark said. “But it was really fun. Those guys made it easy.”

Ever since Luke played his first big-league game on Tuesday and set the baseball world on fire on Wednesday, the Williams family says they’ve fielded hundreds of texts from friends and family all over. Mark estimated 300 just Wednesday night.

If they could talk to all of their well-wishers at once, they’d probably start at the beginning of a crazy week when Luke batted 8-for-18 with six RBI to help team USA qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. He played under manager Mike Scioscia, a thrill for the family who rooted for the Angels and saw Scoscia lead them to a World Series title in 2002.

“To see Mike put Luke in the leadoff spot, it’s a dream come true,” Mark said. “And then he produced. It was too good to be true.”

Luke can’t play in the Olympics as a big-leaguer. But that’s okay. He has business to take care of with the Phils.

“The dream has always been the major leagues,” Mark said. “It would’ve been awesome for him to be a part of that but this is awesome as well. You can’t lose.”

The Williams family was, of course, in the stands to watch Luke play for Team USA in Florida. They were only home for a day when Luke called home with exciting news.

Jeannine was the first call but she was away from her phone. Mark saw his phone ring.

“I was like, ‘Hm, I wonder why Luke’s calling at this time,’” Mark said. “‘Could this be it?’”

“We just couldn’t believe it,” Jeannine added.

They called their kids. Their daughter, Sami, just graduated with a master’s degree from Iowa State where she was a 2021 first-team All American at shortstop. She broke single-season school records for base hits (82), runs (59), doubles (25) and home runs (17) in 2019 and will play professionally in the second season of Athletes Unlimited.

“In softball right now, there’s not a lot after college. So I just soaked it up,” Sami said. “It was a lot of fun and it was great to have my parents there to support me in person this year.”

There aren’t many direct flights on short notice from Iowa to Philadelphia. She had a layover in Minnesota and was in town in time for Tuesday’s game.

Luke’s older brother, Jake, had been out of the country and couldn’t make it due to a pending COVID test. His younger brother, Ike, flew from college in Utah. When Luke recorded his first hit in his first at bat, Ike reacted as anyone would — by immediately taking off his shirt.

“I didn’t even know he did that until I felt him hit me in the face with his shirt and I looked over,” Mark said with a laugh. “I don’t think he even knew what he was doing.”

Tuesday night was exciting for Luke’s family. Luke decided to bunt on his own when he noticed how far back the Braves were playing him and he reached on an infield single before an errant throw got him to third.

But that couldn’t prepare the Williams family for what Wednesday would bring.

Luke hit a double in the fourth inning — his first extra base hit — and the Phillies didn’t have another hit after that as the ninth inning began. When Andrew McCutchen walked, Luke got a chance to bat with two outs. His dad wasn’t nervous at all.

“My hope was just for him to get an opportunity,” Mark said. “We knew if someone got on base, you never know what could happen. And sure enough, he did it.”

Mark, Jeannine, Ike and Sami ran down to the netting along the field, just hoping to greet Luke from the stands. Even better, they were led onto the field where they had a first-person view of Luke’s postgame interviews and icy celebrations.