What if Ricky Williams was the Phillies Centerfielder?

After stumbling upon that tweet, I immediately went into fact-checking mode to see if Ricky really was serious or just an dirty-haired liar. To my surprise, it's 100% true. The Phils drafted Ricky in the 8th round of the 1995 amateur draft. So seriously - how the hell did I not know this? I really hope I didn’t have a complete mental lapse and this is common knowledge for everyone else out there. It’s beyond me how this has seemingly gone un-discussed throughout the years among Philly sports fans. Now, don't get me wrong, he wasn't a good baseball player and this “news” is a decade old. But it was still kinda interesting to sit here and think about for a minute.

So instead of Shane Victorino, we could have Ricky Williams out in center. Personally, I would’ve pegged Ricky for a power-hitting first baseman but apparently he can't hit as evidenced by his .211 batting average. His stats do show he was a pretty good base stealer though. That’s backed up by Jimmy Rollins in this quote I found. Rollins and Williams spent a short period of time on the same minor league club.

"Fastest guy I've ever laid eyes on," Jimmy Rollins said during a September trip to South Florida. "Fastest guy out of the chute. My God. Really? People are really that fast?" - Jimmy Rollins on Ricky Williams [SunSentinel.com]

So there you have it. Maybe this is why Donovan got boo'd on draft day. Those fans must've really wanted to get Ricky back to Philly. In any event, would it be an even-money bet that Ricky tried fashioning a bong out of a baseball at some point in his life?