Scott Ryan Williamson (born February 17, 1976) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right-handed relief pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds (1999–2003), Boston Red Sox (2003-), Chicago Cubs (2005–2006), San Diego Padres (2006), and Baltimore Orioles (2007). Amateur career Williamson attended Friendswood High School in Friendswood, Texas. In his senior year he posted a 0.68 ERA and was named district MVP. In college, Williamson played for first Tulane University and then Oklahoma State University. In 1996, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League. With Oklahoma State, he earned Big 12 first-team honors during the 1996-1997 school year. Williamson entered the draft after the season was over and was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 9th round, 276th pick overall. Professional career Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati assigned Williamson their rookie affiliate, the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League. Starting for Billings, Williamson went 8-2 with a 1.78 ERA, the best in the league that year. For 1998, Cincinnati promoted Williamson to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League, bypassing Single-A altogether. In his first start for the Lookouts, Williamson faced Atlanta Braves veteran John Smoltz, down with the Greenville Braves on a rehabilitation assignment. Williamson held his own, giving up two runs in six innings in a 6-5 loss. Mark Berry, Lookouts manager, praised Williamson's performance: "I was highly impressed...I expected him to be more erratic because of Smoltz, the big crowd and the whole situation. It's something he can build on." Williamson would start just eighteen games for the Lookouts that year after battling injuries, but at the end of the season Cincinnati promoted him to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. Cincinnati planned to call Williamson up in September, but he "stretched a tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand" during a game for Indianapolis that ended his season. Cincinnati invited Williamson to spring training in 1999, where the combination of an impressive performance and injuries to key members of the pitching staff, including Denny Neagle and Stan Belinda, led to Williamson making the major league club despite having made just five appearances at the Triple-A level and never being on the 40-man roster. Williamson made his major league debut in relief on April 5, 1999. In his rookie season with Cincinnati, Williamson went 12-7 with 107 strikeouts, a 2.41 earned run average and 19 saves; he