Dick Williams
From BR Bullpen
Richard Hirschfeld Williams
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
- School Pasadena City College
- Debut June 10, 1951
- Final Game September 22, 1964
- Born May 7, 1929 in St. Louis, MO USA
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 2008
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[edit] Biographical Information
Dick Williams, a highly-respected and yet controversial manager, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007 by the Veterans Committee. He led three different teams to pennants, and his 1,571 major league wins are # 17 on the all-time list of wins by a manager as of 2006.
While he was not as prominent as a player, Williams had nearly 3,000 at-bats in 13 seasons at the major league level. Before making it to the bigs, he was named to the 1948 California League All-Star team. Coming up originally with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he appeared in the 1953 World Series after the team won 105 games in the regular season. Later on the 1959 and 1960 Kansas City Athletics, he was among the league leaders in doubles, and was a teammate of another player who eventually became a successful manager, Whitey Herzog. Although Williams was primarily an outfielder, Kansas City used him mostly at third base.
Williams' major league managerial career lasted almost without interruption from 1967 to 1988. He won the American League pennant in 1967 as a rookie manager for the Boston Red Sox, the World Series in 1972 and 1973 with the Oakland Athletics, and the National League pennant in 1984 with the San Diego Padres. His Montreal Expos team also won the second half of the strike-torn 1981 season, although he had been ousted as manager in early September that year. Even before he managed in the major leagues, he had success: in his two years at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston's top farm team, in 1965 and 1966, he won the International League championship.
In a statistical quirk, between July 30 and August 12, 1973, the Williams-led Oakland A's started a left-handed pitcher for 13 straight games. They went 8-5 for the stretch behind Ken Holtzman, Vida Blue, Paul Lindblad, and Darold Knowles.
Williams, although he was often successful, had a number of disagreements with ownership. The most famous was in 1973, when he quit after winning the 1973 World Series after a dispute with Charlie Finley over the Mike Andrews situation. He was also involved in controversy in Montreal: in particular his decision to use ace pitcher Steve Rogers as a pinch-runner during the 1981 pennant race was the last drop before his firing. Rogers was injured trying to break up a double play and had to miss two weeks of action.
In 1989, Williams became manager of the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association.
His son, Rick Williams, never reached the majors as a player but was a big league coach.
Williams was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2007. He will be inducted in 2008.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- ML Manager of the Year Award (1967)
- Division Titles: 4 (1971-1973 & 1984)
- AL Pennants: 3 (1967, 1972 & 1973)
- NL Pennants: 1 (1984)
- Managed two World Series Champions with the Oakland Athletics (1972 & 1973)
- 100 Wins Seasons as Manager: 1 (1971)
- Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 2008
| Preceded by Pete Runnels | Boston Red Sox Manager 1967-1969 | Succeeded by Eddie Kasko |
| Preceded by Hank Bauer | Oakland Athletics Manager 1971-1973 | Succeeded by Alvin Dark |
| Preceded by Bobby Winkles | California Angels Manager 1974-1976 | Succeeded by Norm Sherry |
| Preceded by Charlie Fox | Montreal Expos Manager 1977-1981 | Succeeded by Jim Fanning |
| Preceded by Frank Howard | San Diego Padres Manager 1982-1985 | Succeeded by Steve Boros |
| Preceded by Chuck Cottier | Seattle Mariners Manager 1986-1988 | Succeeded by Jim Snyder |
