Dick Williams: Remembering the Baseball Hall of Fame Manager and his Legacy

On Thursday, the baseball world learned of the passing of one of its greatest managers in history—Hall of Famer Dick Williams.

Williams is best remembered for turning the Oakland Athletics into World Series champions in 1972 and 1973; however, he is also known for being at the helm of quick turnarounds with other teams as well—the Boston Red Sox in 1967 and the San Diego Padres in 1984. Williams also managed in three other cities before being elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2008.

Bleacher Report will take a look at the life of Dick Williams and will follow his career through each city and each milestone of his Hall of Fame career.

Author’s personal note: When I started following baseball in 1967 as a young boy at the age of eight, Dick Williams had just been hired by the Boston Red Sox. As a Bostonian, I faithfully followed the Cardiac Kids, as that ’67 Red Sox team became known, as they embarked upon an improbable run to become the American League champions for the first time in 21 years. That magical summer began my passion and commitment to the sport of baseball that has not wavered since.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle. Follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic.

1. Dick Williams and His Playing Career

Dick Williams was originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an outfielder at the age of 18 in 1947. Williams made his debut with the Dodgers in 1951, appearing in 23 games that year.

Williams bounced back and forth from the minors for the next several seasons with the Dodgers, ironically not getting called up at any time during the Dodgers’ first World Series winning season in 1955.

In June 1956, Williams was waived by the Dodgers and eventually claimed by the Baltimore Orioles. Williams would play for three other teams during his career, being utilized as a “bench jockey” who could play several different positions.

Williams’ career ended with the Boston Red Sox in 1964, ending his 13-year career with a .260 average, 70 HR and 331 RBI.

2. Dick Williams and His Foray into a Managerial Career

After turning down an offer to continue his baseball career with the Baltimore Orioles, Dick Williams was offered the position of player-coach for the Boston Red Sox Triple-A team in 1965, the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League.

Williams accepted the position. However, after a shuffle in minor league affiliations, the Red Sox moved their Triple-A team to Toronto. The Seattle Rainiers current manager, Edo Vanni, was a career Seattle native and resigned his position with the Red Sox in order to stay in Seattle.

The Red Sox then offered Williams the opportunity to manage the new Toronto Maple Leafs farm team, their new Triple-A affiliate in the International League. Williams accepted, and his managerial career was born.

Williams led the Maple Leafs to consecutive International League titles and adopted his well-known hard-nosed, disciplinarian style.

Following the 1966 season, Boston Red Sox general manager Dick O’Connell, who had fired manager Billy Herman with just weeks to go in the ’66 season, made the decision to promote Williams from Triple-A to the Red Sox, hiring him on a one-year contract.

3. Dick Williams: Boston Red Sox, 1967-1969

When Boston Red Sox general manager Dick O’Connell hired rookie manager Dick Williams for the 1967 season, many in Boston were extremely skeptical and disinterested.

The Red Sox had just finished their eighth consecutive losing season, finishing only one half game out of last place in the eight-team American League in 1966. Fan attendance had dropped dramatically, and Red Sox fans' hopes for a winning season were a pipe dream.

The 1966 Red Sox had actually played close to .500 ball during the last half of the 1966 season, so O’Connell had hope that with the right leadership, the Sox could continue gaining momentum in 1967.

Right from the start of spring training in March 1967, Williams made it clear to his team that he was the leader, and he would institute changes in drills and practices that demonstrated his desire for the Red Sox to adhere to structure and discipline. He also stripped the captaincy of the team from six-year veteran Carl Yastrzemski to further demonstrate that Williams was indeed in charge.

However, Williams’ young charges responded to the changes. By the All-Star break in 1967, the Red Sox were in fact above .500 and within striking distance of four other teams leading the AL at the time—the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins and California Angels.

After the All-Star break, the Red Sox went on a 10-game winning streak, catapulting to the top of the American League standings and making it a five-team horse race to the end. Led by Carl Yastrzemski, who went on to win the MVP and the Triple Crown, and by Cy Young award winner Jim Lonborg, the Red Sox were able to win the 1967 AL pennant on the last weekend of the regular season, beating the Minnesota Twins in two crucial games.

Williams not only backed up his words; he made his team believe that they could indeed be champions.

The Red Sox slipped to 86-76 the following season, and with nine games left in the 1969 season and the Red Sox well behind in the AL East, Williams was dismissed.

However, the 1967 season revitalized baseball in Boston, and the “Impossible Dream” Red Sox of that season were primarily responsible for restoring baseball fever in Beantown.

Source: Boston Globe

4. Dick Williams: Oakland Athletics, 1971-1973

After taking a year off from managing and serving as the third-base coach for the Montreal Expos in 1970, Williams was approached by Oakland Athletics’ owner Charlie Finley about taking over the managerial position for the A’s.

In Finley’s first 10 years as owner of the A’s, he had gone through 10 different managers and was considered to be a meddling penny-pincher who was despised by his players.

However, Williams accepted the job, and with a tremendous amount of talent that Finley had assembled through the years (Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace, Sal Bando, Rollie Fingers), Williams guided the A’s to the AL West title, compiling an impressive 101 victories.

However, the A’s were swept in the ’71 ALCS by the defending World Series champion Baltimore Orioles, but the A’s dynasty had officially begun. The following season, the A’s again won the AL West, defeated the Detroit Tigers in a five-game grueling ALCS and moved on to face the highly-favored Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.

Without their best hitter Reggie Jackson, who was out with a torn hamstring, the underdog A’s defeated the Reds in seven games to capture the first world championship for the A’s franchise since 1930.

Williams and the A’s repeated as World Series champions the following season, defeating the underdog New York Mets in seven games to become the first repeat world champions since the 1961-62 New York Yankees.

However, in a complete surprise, Williams resigned after the World Series win, apparently fed up over Finley’s constant meddling and his very public humiliation of second baseman Mike Andrews and his errors during the Series with the Mets.

Source: Jockbio.com/Dick Williams

5. Dick Williams: New York Yankees, 1974

After the Oakland A’s won the 1973 World Series, manager Dick Williams suddenly and shockingly resigned, citing the constant meddling of owner Charlie Finley.

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who had just purchased the Yankees earlier that year, swooped in upon the news and hired Williams to be the first manager under his ownership (Ralph Houk was manager when Steinbrenner bought the team).

However, Finley took the Yankees to court, stating that since Williams was still under contract through 1975, that he could not legally become manager for Steinbrenner and the Yankees.

Rather than go through a protracted court battle, Steinbrenner rescinded his offer to Williams and hired Bill Virdon instead, ending Williams’ brief stint as manager of the Bronx Bombers.

Williams was manager of the Yankees for one day—December 18, 1973.

Source: Today in Baseball

6. Dick Williams: California Angels, 1974-1976

After the debacle with the New York Yankees, California Angels owner Gene Autry received permission from Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley to speak with Dick Williams about the open managerial position for the Angels.

Finley agreed and released Williams from the rest of his contract with the A’s, and Williams took over the Halos midway through the 1974 season. Williams didn’t have a whole lot of talent to deal with, however, and the Angels finished the ’74 season in last place in the AL West. Ironically, the team that Williams resigned from captured the AL West once again and went on to win their third straight World Series championship under new manager Alvin Dark.

Williams’ managing style did not play well in Anaheim. His strict disciplinarian style caused him to lose favor with his players, and despite his success in both Boston and Oakland, he was unable to capture the same with the Angels. After another last place finish in 1975 and a 39-57 record in 1976, Williams was fired on July 22 and replaced by Norm Sherry.

Source: Jockbio.com/Dick Williams

7. Dick Williams: Montreal Expos, 1977-1981

In 1977, Dick Williams made his first attempt at managing a National League team, agreeing to become the skipper of the Montreal Expos to begin the ’77 campaign. The Expos had not finished above .500 in any one season since they joined the National League in 1969, and Expos vice president of baseball operations John McHale, the man largely responsible for bringing baseball to Montreal, felt that Williams was the man to turn things around for the Expos.

Williams guided the 1977 Expos to a 75-87 in his first season with the Expos, a full 20 games better than the previous year. Working with young stars Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie, Ellis Valentine, Steve Rogers and veteran Tony Perez, the Expos learned how to win and eventually, how to beat better teams.

The Expos were only marginally better in 1978, at 76-86, but in 1979, the Expos posted their first winning season in franchise history, with a 95-65 record and a team that showed tremendous balance between offense and pitching. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates overtook the Expos during the final week of the season to claim the NL East title.

The 1980 season was also a winning season in Montreal, with the Expos again finishing second in the NL East with a 90-72 record. However, Williams’ managerial style was again starting to grate on players, particularly stars Andre Dawson and Steve Rogers.

In 1981, the Expos were 30-25 when play was halted by the strike that curtailed the season. After the owners and players came to an agreement on August 10, play resumed with a structure that divided the year into pre-strike and post-strike halves, with the divisional winners of each half meeting in a short divisional series.

On Sept. 7, the Expos were 14-12 in the second half, and Expos’ GM John McHale made the decision to fire Williams, whom had lost control of the clubhouse and the ear of his players.

Williams was totally fine with the firing by McHale and was quoted as saying, "It's a general manager's job to do what he thinks will help the team get the job done. It worked because Expos did win their only playoff series."

Indeed, under new interim manager Jim Fanning, the Expos roared back and captured the second half of the NL East, and won the divisional playoff series over the Philadelphia Phillies before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1981 NLCS in five games.

Source: Jockbio.com/Dick Williams, Canada.com

8. Dick Williams: San Diego Padres, 1982-1985

The San Diego Padres, like the Montreal Expos, joined the National League as an expansion team in 1969, and had experienced just one winning season in its first 13 years of existence.

Dick Williams was again hired to work his magic with struggling teams, and in his first two years as manager, the Padres had two successive .500 seasons at 81-81. During his third year, however, in 1984, the Padres finished with a record of 92-70 and won the NL West by a comfortable 12 games over the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves.

The Padres would face the NL East champion Chicago Cubs, who were making their first postseason appearance since 1945. In a hard-fought five-game series, the Padres beat the Cubs to claim their first-ever National League pennant and a date with the AL Champion Detroit Tigers in the ’84 World Series. The Padres, however, were no match for the Sparky Anderson-led Tigers, losing the series in five games.

Ironically, that same season, both Anderson and Williams became the fourth and fifth managers in history to lead teams from both leagues to a pennant, joining Alvin Dark, Joe McCarthy and Yogi Berra.

The Padres slipped to 83-79 in 1985, third in the NL West, and prior to the 1986 season, Williams resigned as manager of the Padres, who were undergoing several issues in the front office following the death of owner Ray Kroc.

Source: Sports Illustrated

9. Dick Williams: Seattle Mariners, 1986-1988

After Williams left the San Diego Padres prior to the 1986 season, it had been widely considered that San Diego would be Williams’ final destination as a manager in the major leagues. Williams himself said as much, telling the Orlando Sentinel at the time, ''I had no plans on coming back,'' Williams said. ''I was having fun on my boat and with my golf clubs. I was making money working for Miller Brewing Co.”

However, the Seattle Mariners got off to a horrible start in the 1986 season, losing 19 of their first 28 games under Chuck Cottier. On May 9, Williams took over, hoping to create a spark in Seattle that had not been seen since the Mariners entered the American League as an expansion team in 1977.

Unfortunately, the 57-year-old Williams was unable to turn around the team’s fortunes and was said to have issues with the newer generation of baseball players.

Williams did guide the Mariners to their best-ever finish at the time in 1987, a 78-84 record. But after 56 games of the 1988 season, with the team no longer responding to Williams, he was fired. It would be the last time that Williams would manage in the major leagues.

Source: Jockbio.com/Dick Williams

10. Dick Williams: Hall of Fame, 2008

Dick Williams had one final destination left in Major League Baseball: the Hall of Fame.

In December 2007, Williams was voted into the baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee and would be enshrined the following July.

In July 2008, the day before his Hall of Fame induction, Williams told MLB.com of his feelings about the upcoming day.

"I'm getting excited and maybe a little nervous," Williams said. "Goose (Gossage, enshrined along with Williams) said he feels the same way. Goose and I have been at a lot of events and signings [this year]. We've talked a lot. It's been so darned wonderful. It's like a new life. I figured it was going to be different, but I didn't think it was going to be this different. I get chills even thinking about it."

New York Yankees manager Joe Torre also told MLB.com of his thoughts regarding Williams and his Hall of Fame enshrinement.

"Dick was a great manager," Torre said at the time. "He did it in both leagues. He was a very smart manager, as far as I'm concerned. You couldn't top him technically and strategy-wise. I thought he'd be in the Hall of Fame long before now."

Williams certainly made it to the Hall of Fame, and now he will be remembered for his many achievements and contributions to the game that he dearly loved.