| Dick Williams | |
|---|---|
 Williams in 1969 | |
| Outfielder /Third baseman /Manager | |
| Born: May 7, 1929 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | |
| Died: July 7, 2011(2011-07-07) (aged 82) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 10, 1951, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 22, 1964, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .260 |
| Home runs | 70 |
| Runs batted in | 331 |
| Managerial record | 1,571–1,451 |
| Winning % | .520 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager
As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 2008 |
| Vote | 81.3% |
| Election method | Veterans Committee |
Richard Hirschfeld Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an Americanleft fielder,third baseman,manager,coach and front-office consultant inMajor League Baseball (MLB). Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1969 and from 1971 to 1988, he led teams to threeAmerican League pennants, oneNational League pennant, and twoWorld Series triumphs. He is one of nine managers to win pennants in both major leagues, and joinedBill McKechnie in becoming only the second manager to lead three franchises to the Series (Bruce Bochy, in 2023, became the third). He andLou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins. Williams was inducted into theNational Baseball Hall of Fame in2008 following his election by theVeterans Committee.
Williams was born on May 7, 1929, inSt. Louis, Missouri,[1] and lived there until age 13, when his family moved toPasadena, California.[2] He attendedPasadena High School (which was then part of Pasadena Junior College, nowPasadena City College), where he was All-State in baseball and also played football and basketball (1946-47). In 2001, he was inducted into the Pasadena City College Hall of Fame.[3]
Just out of high school, Williams signed his first professional contract with theBrooklyn Dodgers in 1947.[1] From 1947 to 1956, he played all or parts of each season in the Dodgers minor league system.[4] In 1948, playingClass C baseball, he had a .335batting average with 16home runs; however, Williams hit only .207 inDouble-A baseball that year. A year later, again playing Double-A ball, he hit .310, with 23home runs, 114runs batted in (RBI) and 109runs scored. In partial seasons playingTriple-A baseball he never hit more than .278. In 1955, his final full year in the minor leagues, he played Double-A ball for theFort Worth Cats of theTexas League, hitting .317, with 24 home runs.[4]
Williams played under managerBobby Bragan at Fort Worth.[5][6] Williams said, "'There should be a note under every one of my records that says See Bobby Bragan. Because a bit of every one of my wins belongs to him.'"[7]
From 1951 to 1954 and 1956, Williams was called up to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He never played in more than 36 games for the Dodgers during any of those seasons, and never had more than 71plate appearances in a season.[4]
Williams played his first major league game with Brooklyn in 1951. A right-handed batter and thrower, Williams was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 190 pounds (86 kg).[8] Initially anoutfielder, he separated a shoulder attempting to make a diving catch on August 25, 1952.[9] Williams missed the rest of the season and the injury permanently weakened his throwing arm.[7] As a result, he learned to play several positions (he was frequently afirst baseman andthird baseman) and became a notorious "bench jockey" in order to keep his major league job.[10] Over his five years in Brooklyn, Williams played in only 112 games with 224 at bats.[8] The Dodgers waived him on June 25, 1956 and he was claimed by theBaltimore Orioles.[11]
He was a favorite ofPaul Richards, who acquired Williams four different times between 1956 and 1962 when Richards was a manager orgeneral manager with Baltimore and theHouston Colt .45s.[7] One such transaction occurred on April 12, 1961, when Williams was traded along withDick Hall from theAthletics to theOrioles forChuck Essegian andJerry Walker.[12] He never played for Houston; he was acquired in an off-season "paper transaction" on October 12, 1962, then traded to theBoston Red Sox for another outfielder,Carroll Hardy, on December 10.[11]
Williams played his most games for any one team in his five years as an Oriole (447), hitting 25 home runs and batting .255 in 1,417 at bats.[8] Of greater significance may have been Richards's influence on Williams as a future manager. Like Bragan, with patience and down to the most minute detail, Richards would take days teaching all of his players the most fundamental aspects of the game, and how to handle each situation they might face on offense and defense.[13]
Richards traded Williams to Cleveland during the 1957 (where he played sparingly), but traded back for him at the beginning of 1958.[8][11] Richards then traded him again after the 1958 season to theKansas City Athletics forChico Carrasquel.[11] Williams played over 100 games each year in Kansas City (1959-60), and had his best all around hitting year in 1959, batting .266, with career highs of 16 home runs, 75 RBI, 72 runs scored and 538 plate appearances, playing principally at third base (while also playing first base and the outfield). The following year, he hit .288 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI.[8] Richards traded for him again in April 1961, Richards last year with the Orioles.[14] He again played over 100 games, but his average fell to .206.[8]
In his final two years playing for the Red Sox, Williams only had a total 229 plate appearances.[8] His two-year playing career in Boston was uneventful, except for one occasion. On June 27, 1963, Williams was victimized by one of the greatest catches inFenway Park history. His long drive to the opposite field was snagged by Cleveland right fielderAl Luplow, who made a leaping catch at the wall and tumbled into thebullpen with the ball in his grasp.[15]
Williams appeared in 1,023 games over 13 seasons with the Dodgers, Orioles, Cleveland, A's and Red Sox. He posted a careerbatting average of .260; his 768hits included 70 home runs, 157doubles and 12triples. In the field, he appeared in 456 games in the outfield, 257 at third base, and 188 at first.[8]
On October 14, 1964, after aseason during which Williams hit a career-low .159, the Red Sox handed him his unconditional release.[11] At 35, Williams was at a career crossroads: Richards gave him aspring training invitation but no guarantee that he would make the1965 Astros' playing roster[citation needed]; the Red Sox offered Williams a job as playing coach with theirTriple-A farm team, theSeattle Rainiers of thePacific Coast League. Looking to begin a post-playing career in baseball, Williams accepted the Seattle assignment.[7]
Within days, a shuffle in 1965 affiliations forced Boston to move its top minor league team to theToronto Maple Leafs of theInternational League; as the Rainiers became theSeattle Angels (the Triple-A affiliate of theLos Angeles Angels).[16] This caused the Red Sox' Triple-A manager, Seattle nativeEdo Vanni, to resign in order to remain in the Pacific Northwest. With a sudden opening for the Toronto job, Williams was promoted to manager of the 1965 Leafs.[7] As a novice pilot, Williams adopted a hard-nosed, disciplinarian style and won two consecutiveGovernors' Cup championships with teams laden with young Red Sox prospects.[17]
He then signed a one-year contract to manage the1967 Red Sox, making Williams feel he had a lot to prove.[17] Boston had suffered through eight straight seasons of losing baseball,[18] and attendance had fallen to such an extent that ownerTom Yawkey was threatening to move the team[citation needed]; and threatening to move unless a new stadium was built to replace Fenway Park.[19] The Red Sox had talented young players, but the team was known as a lazy "country club."[20] As Carl Yastrzemski commented, "if you don't keep your nose to the grindstone you won't (win) ... we kept our noses so far away from the grindstone we couldn't even see it."[21]
Williams decided to risk everything and impose discipline on his players. Before the season, Williams said "I honestly believe we'll win more games than we lose"[22] — a bold statement for a club that had finished only a half-game from last place in1966.[23] The only team with a worse record than the Red Sox was their arch-rival, theNew York Yankees, who were headed in a downward spiral only two years after losing the 1964 World Series to theSt. Louis Cardinals in seven games.[24]
In spring training, Williams instituted a dress code, vowed to relentlessly drill the players on the fundamentals, and he took the title of captain from team starCarl Yastrzemski. As then rookieMike Andrews (who had played two years for Williams in Toronto)[25] recalled, when Williams stripped Yastrzemski of this title, he said "'There's only one chief, and that's me. Everybody else is the Indians.'"[20] Williams drilled players in fundamentals for hours. He issued fines for curfew violations, and insisted his players put the success of the team before their own. In Yastrzemski's words, "Dick Williams didn't take anything when he took over the club last spring ... to the best of my knowledge—and I would know if it had happened—no one challenged Williams all season."[26]
The Red Sox began 1967 playing better baseball and employing the aggressive style of play that Williams had learned with the Dodgers.[citation needed] Williams benched players for lack of effort and poor performance,[17] and battled tooth and nail with umpires[citation needed]. Through theAll-Star break, Boston fulfilled Williams' promise and played better than .500 ball, hanging close to the American League's four contending teams — theDetroit Tigers,Minnesota Twins,Chicago White Sox andCalifornia Angels.[27] OutfielderCarl Yastrzemski, in his seventh season with the Red Sox, transformed his hitting style to become a pull-hitter, eventually winning the 1967 ALTriple Crown, leading the league in batting average, home runs (tyingHarmon Killebrew of the Twins with 44), andRBI.[28][29]
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In late July, the Red Sox rattled off a 10-game winning streak on the road and came home to a riotous welcome from 10,000 fans at Boston'sLogan Airport.[17] The Red Sox inserted themselves into a five-team pennant race, and stayed in the hunt despite the loss of star outfielderTony Conigliaro to abeanball on August 18. (PitcherJack Hamilton denied intentionally throwing at Conigliaro, and he never hit another batter during his career.[30][31])
On the closing weekend of the season, led by Yastrzemski and 22-game-winningpitcherJim Lonborg, Boston defeated the Twins in two head-to-head games, while Detroit split its series with the Angels.[17][32][33] The"Impossible Dream" Red Sox had won their first AL pennant since1946, then they extended the highly talented and heavily favoredSt. Louis Cardinals to seven games in the1967 World Series, losing to the greatBob Gibson three times.[34][18]
Despite the Series loss, the Red Sox were the toasts ofNew England; Williams was named Major League Manager of the Year byThe Sporting News[35] and signed to a new three-year contract.[17] But he would not serve it out. In1968, the team fell to fourth place when Conigliaro could not return from his head injury, and Williams' two top pitchers — Lonborg andJosé Santiago — suffered sore arms.[17] He began to clash with Yastrzemski, and with owner Yawkey. Withhis club a distant third in theAL East, Williams was fired onSeptember 23, 1969 and replaced byEddie Popowski for the last nine games of the season.[36][17]
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After spending 1970 as the third base coach of theMontreal Expos, working underGene Mauch, Williams returned to the managerial ranks thenext year as boss of theOakland Athletics, owned byCharlie Finley.[17] The iconoclastic Finley had signed some of the finest talent in baseball – including future Hall of FamerCatfish Hunter,[37] future Hall of FamerReggie Jackson,[38]Sal Bando,Bert Campaneris, future Hall of FamerRollie Fingers[39] andJoe Rudi,[40] that were described by Finley as the "Swingin' A's" – but his players hated him for his penny-pinching and constant meddling in the team's affairs.[citation needed]
During his first decade as the Athletics' owner,1961–1970, Finley had changed managers a total of ten times. Williams would be Finley's first manager to last two full consecutive years and then three full consecutive years (1971-74).[41][42] When Finley sold the team in August 1980,[43] onlyAlvin Dark had managed more A's games under his ownership, and Williams still held the three consecutive year mark since Dark had two different stints under Finley.[42]
Inheriting a second-place team from predecessorJohn McNamara,[44] Williams promptly directed the A's to 101 victories and their firstAL West title in1971 behind another brilliant young player, pitcherVida Blue.[45] Despite being humbled in theALCS by the defending World ChampionOrioles 3–0,[46] Finley brought Williams back for1972, when the "Oakland Dynasty" began; though he would not be there to manage the end of the dynasty in 1974.[47][48]
Off the field, the A's players brawled with each other and defied baseball's tonsorial code. Because long hair,mustaches and beards were now the rage in the "civilian" world, Finley decided on a mid-season promotion encouraging his men to wear their hair long and grow facial hair. Fingers adopted his trademark handlebar mustache (which he still has to this day); Williams himself grew a mustache.
Of course, talent, not hairstyle, truly defined the Oakland Dynasty of the early 1970s. The 1972 A's won their division by 5½ games over the White Sox[49] and led the league in home runs (134), team shutouts (23) andsaves (43).[50] They defeated the Tigers in a bitterly foughtALCS (winning the deciding game 5 2–1),[51] and found themselves facing theCincinnati Reds in theWorld Series. With the A's leading power hitter, Jackson, out with an injury,[48] Cincinnati'sBig Red Machine was favored to win, but the home run heroics of Oakland catcherGene Tenace and the managerial maneuvering of Williams resulted in a seven-game World Series victory for the A's,[48][52] their first championship since1930, when they played inPhiladelphia.[42]
In 1973, with Williams back for an unprecedented (for the Finley era) third straight campaign, theA's again coasted to a division title behind three twenty game winners (Ken Holtzman, Blue and Hunter[17]), then defeatedBaltimore in theALCS and the NL championNew York Mets in theWorld Series – each hard-fought series going the limit.[53][54][55] With their World Series win, Oakland became baseball's first repeat champion since the1961–62New York Yankees.[56]
But Williams had a surprise for Finley[citation needed]; though Finley expressed a notion that Williams would want to leave the team after winning Game 7.[17] Tired of his owner's meddling, and upset by Finley's public humiliation of second basemanMike Andrews for his fielding miscues during the World Series, Williams resigned.[17] Williams was the first manager in A's franchise history to leave the team with a winning record after running it for two full seasons.[42]
The Yankees expressed their desire to sign Williams. In October 1973, Finley refused to release Williams from the last year of his contract to sign with the Yankees, unless he was compensated.[57]George Steinbrenner, then finishing hisfirst season as owner of the Yankees, signed Williams as his manager anyway, on December 13, 1973.[58][59][60] (It has also been stated that Steinbrenner signed Williams in October.[61]) As the contract needed league approval, American League president Joe Cronin held hearings on the dispute, and ruled in Finley's favor, rejecting Williams contract with the Yankees, on December 20, 1973.[62] Steinbrenner hiredBill Virdon instead.[63][17]
In June 1976, when Finley tried to sell Blue's rights to Steinbrenner and the Yankees for $1 million (as well as Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers for the same sum each to the Red Sox), in anticipation of losing them to free agency, baseball commissionerBowie Kuhn blocked all three deals.[64]
Seemingly at the peak of his career, Williams began the1974 season out of baseball. But when theAngels struggled under managerBobby Winkles, team ownerGene Autry and general managerHarry Dalton asked for and received Finley's permission to negotiate with Williams, and in mid-season Williams was back in a big-league dugout. Future Hall of Fame managerWhitey Herzog replaced Winkles for four games before Williams arrived.[17][65][66] The change in management, though, did not alter the fortunes of the Angels, as they finished in last place, 22 games behind theA's, who would win their third straight World Championship under Williams' replacement, Alvin Dark.[67][68]
Overall, Williams' Anaheim tenure turned out to be a miserable one. He did not have nearly as much talent as he'd had to work with in Boston and Oakland, and the Angels did not respond to Williams' somewhat authoritarian managing style. They finished last in the AL West again in1975.[69] During the 1975 season,Boston Red Sox pitcherBill Lee stated that the Angels' hitters were "so weak, they could hold batting practice in the Boston Sheraton hotel lobby and not hit the chandelier". Williams responded by having his team actually do so before the game (using Wiffle balls and bats) with the Red Sox until hotel security put a stop to it.[70] The Angels were 18 games below .500 (and in the midst of a player revolt) in1976 when Williams was fired July 23.[71][72]
In1977, he returned to Montreal as manager of the Expos where he remained for 5 years (Williams' longest stint as manager), who had just come off 107 losses and a last-place finish in theNL East.[73] Team presidentJohn McHale had been impressed with Williams' efforts in Boston and Oakland, and thought he was what the Expos needed to finally become a winner.[citation needed]
After cajoling the Expos into improved, but below .500, performances in his first two seasons,[74] Williams turned the1979–80 Expos into pennant contenders. The team won over 90 games both years—the first winning seasons in franchise history. The 1979 unit won 95 games, the most that the franchise would win in Montreal.[74][75][76] However, they finished second each time to the eventual World Champion (thePittsburgh Pirates in 1979 and thePhiladelphia Phillies in 1980).[77][78] Williams was never afraid to give young players a chance to play, and his Expos teams were flush with young talent, including All-Stars such as future Hall of Famers outfielderAndre Dawson and catcherGary Carter.[79][80] With a solid core of young players[81] and a fruitful farm system, the Expos seemed a lock to contend for a long time to come.
But Williams' hard edge alienated his players—especially his pitchers—and ultimately wore out his welcome.[17] He labeled pitcherSteve Rogers a fraud with "king of the mountain syndrome" – meaning that Rogers had been a good pitcher on a bad team for so long that he was unable to "step up" when the team became good.[citation needed] Williams also lost confidence incloserJeff Reardon, whom the Montreal front office had acquired in a much publicized trade with the Mets forEllis Valentine; and McHale believed Williams was underutilizing Reardon.[61]
When the1981 Expos performed below expectations, Williams was fired during the pennant drive on September 8.[17] McHale also believed that Williams had lost control over some of his players on road trips, and also that Williams might jump to the Yankees the next season, and that was part of his decision making in firing Williams (and Steinbrenner did express an interest in Williams after he was fired).[61] With the arrival of his easy-going successorJim Fanning,[61] who restored Reardon to the closer's role, the inspired Expos made the playoffs for the only time in their 36-year history in Montreal.[82] However, they fell in heartbreaking fashion to the eventual World ChampionLos Angeles Dodgers in the deciding fifth game of theNLCS; losing 2–1, whenRick Monday hit a home run off Rogers in the ninth inning with two outs.[83][84][85]
Williams had a won–loss record of 380–352 with the Expos, and achieved his 1,000th victory as a major league manager August 5, 1980.[61]
Williams was not unemployed for long, however. In1982, he took over theSan Diego Padres.[86] By 1984, he had guided the Padres to their firstNL West Division championship.[87] In theNLCS, the NL East championChicago Cubs – making their first postseason appearance since1945 – won Games 1 and 2, but Williams' Padres took the next three games in a miraculous comeback to win the pennant.[88]
In theWorld Series, however, San Diego was no match forSparky Anderson'sDetroit Tigers, a team that had won 104 games during the regular season.[89] Although the Tigers won the Series in five games,[90] both Williams and Anderson joined Dark,Joe McCarthy, andYogi Berra as managers who had won pennants in both major leagues (Tony La Russa joined this group in 2004,Jim Leyland followed suit in 2006, followed byJoe Maddon in 2016,Dusty Baker in 2021 andBruce Bochy—a backup catcher on that Padres team—in 2023.)[citation needed]
The Padres fell to third in1985,[91] and Williams was let go, or resigned, as manager just before1986 spring training; after the Padres had rejected Williams request for a contract extension beyond 1986.[92] It is also said the breaking point between Williams and the team's executive was their request that Williams change his hand picked coaching staff.[93] His record with the Padres was 337–311 over four seasons.[94] As of 2025, among Padres managers with two or more years heading the team, he andBob Melvin are the only managers in the team's history without a losing season.[93][95] (Going into the 2025 season,Mike Shildt has one winning season with the Padres, 93–69.[96])
His difficulties with the Padres stemmed from a power struggle with team presidentBallard Smith and general managerJack McKeon.[93] Williams was a hire of team owner (andMcDonald's restaurant magnate)Ray Kroc, whose health was failing. McKeon and Smith (who also happened to be Kroc's son-in-law) were posturing to buy the team and viewed Williams as a threat to their plans.[citation needed] With his San Diego tenure at an end, it appeared that Williams' managerial career was finished.
Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who played for Williams from 1982 to 1985, stated, "'I owe Dick a lot.... The city and the Padres owe him a lot. I think a lot of fans bought right into it like the players did, like in ’82, when he first took over, then ’84 when we went to the World Series.'"[97][98][99]
When another perennial loser, theSeattle Mariners, lost 19 of their first 28 games in1986 underChuck Cottier, Williams came back to the American League West on May 9 for the first time in almost a decade.[100][101][102] The Mariners showed some life that season and almost reached .500 thefollowing season. However, Williams' autocratic managing style no longer resonated with the new generation of ballplayers. He tried to play injury-plaguedGorman Thomas in the outfield, but was rebuked by the Mariners' front office because of Thomas' medical history, namely his rotator cuff. Also, Williams had trouble relating to the devoutly religious Mariners' players, namelyAlvin Davis.[103][104] Williams was fired on June 8, 1988,[105] withSeattle 23–33 and in sixth place.[106][107] It would be his last major-league managing job.
In 1989, Williams was named manager of theWest Palm Beach Tropics of theSenior Professional Baseball Association, a league featuring mostly former major league players 35 years of age and older.[108] The Tropics went 52–20 in the regular season and ran away with the Southern Division title. Despite their regular season dominance, the Tropics lost 12–4 to theSt. Petersburg Pelicans in the league's championship game. The Tropics folded at the end of the season, and the rest of the league folded a year later.[17]
He remained in the game, however, as a special consultant toGeorge Steinbrenner and theNew York Yankees.[109]
Williams waselected to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame by theVeterans Committee in December 2007, and was inducted on July 27, 2008.[110] He was inducted into theSan Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 2009.[111][112] In 2024, Williams was posthumously inducted into theOakland Athletics Hall of Fame.[113][114]
In 1990, Williams published his autobiography,No More Mister Nice Guy. His acrimonious departure in 1969 distanced Williams from the Red Sox for the remainder of the Yawkey ownership period (through 2001), but after the change in ownership and management that followed, he was selected to theBoston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006.[115]
Williams' career won-loss totals were 1,571 wins and 1,451 losses over 21 seasons. He was ejected by umpires 57 times. His teams won three pennants in the American League and one in the National League, and were 2–2 in World Series play.[94] Along withBruce Bochy andBill McKechnie, Williams is one of three managers to lead three different teams to the World Series.[116]
Williams' number was retired by theFort Worth Cats. The Cats were a popular minor league team in Fort Worth and Williams played there during 1948, 1949 and 1950, while he was working his way through the Dodgers' system. Moreover, Williams—in his Hall of Fame speech—citedBobby Bragan, his Fort Worth manager, as a significant influence on his own career. After theTexas League Cats finally disbanded in 1964, they returned as anindependent league team in 2001. These "New" Cats retired Williams' number.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| BOS | 1967 | 162 | 92 | 70 | .568 | 1st in AL | 3 | 4 | .429 | LostWorld Series (STL) |
| BOS | 1968 | 162 | 86 | 76 | .531 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| BOS | 1969 | 153 | 82 | 71 | .536 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| BOS total | 477 | 260 | 217 | .545 | 3 | 4 | .429 | |||
| OAK | 1971 | 161 | 101 | 60 | .627 | 1st in AL West | 0 | 3 | .000 | LostALCS (BAL) |
| OAK | 1972 | 155 | 93 | 62 | .600 | 1st in AL West | 7 | 5 | .583 | WonWorld Series (CIN) |
| OAK | 1973 | 162 | 94 | 68 | .580 | 1st in AL West | 7 | 5 | .583 | WonWorld Series (NYM) |
| OAK total | 478 | 288 | 190 | .603 | 14 | 13 | .519 | |||
| CAL | 1974 | 84 | 36 | 48 | .429 | 6th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| CAL | 1975 | 161 | 72 | 89 | .447 | 6th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| CAL | 1976 | 96 | 39 | 57 | .406 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| CAL total | 341 | 147 | 194 | .431 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| MON | 1977 | 162 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 5th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MON | 1978 | 162 | 76 | 86 | .469 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MON | 1979 | 160 | 95 | 65 | .594 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MON | 1980 | 162 | 92 | 70 | .568 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MON | 1981 | 55 | 30 | 25 | .545 | 3rd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| 26 | 14 | 12 | – | fired | ||||||
| MON total | 727 | 380 | 347 | .523 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| SD | 1982 | 162 | 81 | 81 | .500 | 4th in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| SD | 1983 | 162 | 81 | 81 | .500 | 4th in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| SD | 1984 | 162 | 92 | 70 | .568 | 1st in NL West | 4 | 6 | .400 | LostWorld Series (DET) |
| SD | 1985 | 162 | 83 | 79 | .512 | 3rd in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| SD total | 648 | 337 | 311 | .520 | 4 | 6 | .400 | |||
| SEA | 1986 | 133 | 58 | 75 | .436 | 7th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| SEA | 1987 | 162 | 78 | 84 | .481 | 4th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| SEA | 1988 | 56 | 23 | 33 | .411 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| SEA total | 351 | 159 | 192 | .453 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Total[117] | 3022 | 1571 | 1451 | .520 | 21 | 23 | .477 | |||
Williams was anextra in the 1950 movieThe Jackie Robinson Story.[118][119] Before Williams became a major league manager in 1967, he appeared on the television quiz showsMatch Game and the originalHollywood Squares. According toPeter Marshall'sBackstage with the Original Hollywood Squares, Williams won $50,000 as a contestant on the latter show.
Williams married Norma Mussato,[120][121] with whom he had three children, Marc, Rick, and Kathi.[122][123] His son,Rick Williams, a former minor league pitcher and major league pitching coach, became a professional scout for theAtlanta Braves.
Dick Williams died of a ruptured aorticaneurysm at a hospital near his home inHenderson, Nevada, on July 7, 2011.[124] Norma Williams died on August 4, 2011, at the age of 79.[123]
In January 2000, Williams pleaded no contest toindecent exposure charges in Florida.[125][126] The complaint against him alleged that he was "walking naked and masturbating" on the balcony outside his hotel room.[127] Williams subsequently stated that he was not aware of the details of the complaint when he pleaded no contest, and that although he was standing naked at the balcony door, he was not on the balcony and was not masturbating.[127]
This occurred just weeks before Baseball Hall of Fame balloting by theVeterans Committee.[127] Williams' arrest appeared to impact consideration by the committee,[128] and he would not be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame until 2008. "What happened to me down inFort Myers when I was arrested evidently hurt me quite a bit", Williams toldThe New York Times.[128][126]
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| Preceded by | Montreal Exposthird-base coach 1970 | Succeeded by |
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