Taiwan? Who plays baseball in Taiwan other than over-age Little League stars? But it is, indeed, where Jerome Williams regained his mojo last year, where he learned to stop worrying and nibbling and trying to be crafty and just throw the fastball.

Not too long ago, Williams was just trying to resurrect his career, anywhere he could. Now he finds himself in the middle of a major league pennant race.

The former Waipahu phenom could be the X-factor for the Los Angeles Angels, as his new team tries to catch the Texas Rangers in the American League West. The Angels and Rangers square off this weekend in a series that could put the Halos within a game or two of the defending league champs.

At the start of the season, Williams was pitching for a team called the Barnstormers. After Sunday’s masterful performance in a 7-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles, he’s Fast Eddie Felson in "The Color of Money."

He’s back.

But in his typical laid-back, local-boy style, Williams says he’s taking it day-by-day, pitch-by-pitch.

I ask when his next start will be.

"I have no idea," Williams answers. "I’ll just do whatever they tell me."

HE’S JUST 29. Seems too young for a comeback. It’s a reminder of how hot a property he was at such an early age, a brighter prospect than contemporaries Kurt Suzuki and Shane Victorino.

Four years out of Waipahu at the time of his 2003 big-league debut, Williams looked like a potential longtime fixture in the San Francisco Giants rotation. But he was traded to the Cubs in 2005, first stop on a downward spiral culminating with his release from the Washington Nationals in 2007.

There were injuries, but nothing seriously career-threatening. It was more a crisis of confidence for a top prospect who should have been climbing toward his prime instead of hanging on at the fringes of the game.

Williams thought about retiring at 26. "But I knew I didn’t want to sit at home and watch these other guys play and think about what-if. Eventually I decided to (keep playing) for my family."

HE ANSWERS ON the first ring. Still accessible; one of the reasons we love the guy is that Williams never lost his aloha for the islands … he sees 808 and he picks up. He would even talk to us on the phone during games, from the bullpen.

"So far so good," he says of living in Los Angeles. "It feels like home."

He still misses his late mom, Deborah, her battle against breast cancer remains his biggest inspiration. He still misses laulau and kalua pig. He’s still proud of his ultimate chop suey heritage: Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Norwegian, African, Filipino and American.

He still throws gas. He’s just a little more careful about when he serves up the slop.

Now, Jerome Williams finds himself where a decade ago everyone thought he’d be at this point: in the big leagues.

A sidetrip to Taiwan? Who could have predicted that part?

"Live and learn," says Williams. "If I had the knowledge I have now when I was 20 … "

Reach Star-Advertiser sports columnist Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com, his "Quick Reads" blog at staradvertiser.com and twitter.com/dave_reardon.