Baseball Hall of Fame Manager Dick Williams Dies

William dead at 82 from a ruptured aortic aneurysm
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 8, 2011 9:46 AM CDT
Dick Williams, Baseball Hall of Fame Manager Dies at 82
In this Oct. 7, 1984, file photo, San Diego Padres manager Dick Williams holds the National League trophy in San Diego.   ((AP Photo/File))

By taking over a ninth-place team and leading it to the pennant in his first year as a big-league manager in Boston, Dick Williams earned the reputation of being a turnaround artist that he built on later in Montreal and San Diego. By taking over an emerging powerhouse in Oakland and leading the Athletics to back-to-back World Series titles to start a dynasty in the 1970s, Williams became a Hall of Famer. Williams, one of only two managers ever to lead three teams to the World Series, died yesterday from a ruptured aortic aneurysm at a hospital near his home in Henderson, Nev. He was 82.

“He came to us at a very good time in our development and certainly for me as a young player full of talent,” Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said. “We were young and needed to understand how to go about winning … He demanded excellence.” There was a moment of silence with Williams' picture on the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium and Dodger Stadium before last night's games. (More Dick Williams stories.)

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