Frank Wills

Frank Lee Wills, Jr. (October 26, 1958 – May 11, 2012) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Royals (1983–84), Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians (1986–87), and Toronto Blue Jays (1988–91). Wills was an All-American pitcher for Tulane University, where he also was a punter for the Tulane Green Wave football team.

Playing career Wills grew up in Uptown, New Orleans, where he played baseball. He attended De La Salle High School, where he also played football and basketball. He then attended Tulane. He was the football team's punter for three seasons while pitching on the baseball team. In 1980, he went 5–3 with a 2.81 earned run average in 18 games and was named an All-American by Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

The Royals drafted Wills in the first round with the 16th overall selection in the 1980 MLB draft. He converted to a reliever role in 1982. He made his MLB debut the following July, splitting 1983 and 1984 between Kansas City and Triple-A.

In January 1986, the Royals traded Wills to the New York Mets as part of a four-team trade sending Jim Sundberg to the Royals and Tim Leary to the Milwaukee Brewers. However, the Mets traded Wills to the Mariners at the end of March for minor leaguer Wray Bergendahl. Before his death, he was inducted into the De La Salle High School Hall of Fame, Tulane Hall of Fame, and the New Orleans Professional Baseball Hall of Fame.