Published: May 08, 2008 11:15 am         

Dick Williams will stay a while this time

By ERIC AHLQVIST Cooperstown Crier Dick Williams managed over 3,000 major league games during his career, and had a winning percentage just slightly over .500.

That’s because his gift as a manager was taking over perennially losing ball clubs and transforming them into winners, sometimes even World Series champions. Williams was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee last February, along with four others who will be inducted on July 27 along with BBWAA electee Rich ``Goose’’ Gossage.

He made his orientation visit to the museum last Thursday, which included a tour of the Hall, and spoke with reporters afterward in the plaque gallery.

``I’m absolutely blown away,’’ Williams said of his tour, which was the first time he visited the museum despite playing in five Hall of Fame Games over the years. ``It’s unbelievable. This is the pinnacle of your profession, and I’m just tickled.’’

After an uneventful 13- year major league career, Williams’ first managerial job was with the Boston Red Sox in 1967, a season now known as the ``Impossible Dream.’’

The Red Sox were a dismal franchise when Williams took over, but he led them to an improbable pennant, the franchise’s first since 1946, and lost a tight, seven-game World Series to Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals. ``The only thing I said when I took over was that we were going to win more games than we would lose, and people laughed,’’ Williams recalled. ``But everything went right that year, and that was the beginning of what is now known as Red Sox Nation.’’

After that season, Boston leftfielder Carl Yastrzemski, who hit for the Triple Crown, was named MVP, pitcher Jim Lonborg won the Cy Young and Williams was named Manager of the Year. While that season put him on the map as a manager, it was his next stop in Oakland that he said was the highlight of his career.

Williams was fired by the Red Sox late in the 1969 season, and took over the A’s in 1971.

Like he had in Boston with Yastrzemski, Williams had other future Hall of Famers with the A’s, including outfielder Reggie Jackson and pitchers Jim ``Catfish’’ Hunter and Rollie Fingers.

They won back-to-back World Series titles in 1972 and 1973.

``Players make the manager, managers don’t make players,’’ Williams said.

``Winning the World Series is the thing I cherish the most. The ’67 season in Boston was very special, and ‘Yaz’ had the best year of anyone I’ve ever seen even to this day, but winning the World Series is why you play and why you manage.’’

Williams described his style as ``My way or the highway’’ and insisted his team play hard and play sound fundamental baseball. While his strict style was effective for a couple of seasons, it usually wore thin with players after that.

``I was usually three seasons and done,’’ Williams said. ``I learned how to play baseball the right way and I expected my players to do the same.’’

Williams went on to manage the Montreal Expos to back-to-back 90 win seasons, although they did not even win their division, and led the Padres to the 1984 National League pennant, where they lost the World Series to the Detroit Tigers. Rich ``Goose’’ Gossage was the closer on that team, and will join Williams on the podium this summer. Gossage is the lone inductee from the baseball writers vote.

``The first thing Goose said to me after he heard I was elected was ‘I shouldn’t have pitched to (Kirk) Gibson,’” Williams said with a laugh.

Gossage famously talked Williams out of walking Gibson in Game Six of the Series, and Gibson promptly homered on the first pitch to all but seal the Series win for the Tigers.

As the July Induction draws near, Williams said he is constantly tinkering with his speech.

``I’m not going to give it all away, but my wife and children come first,’’ he said.

``I’ve learned a lot of things about the game from a lot of different people, and I want to make sure I mention them all.’’

Note: Williams was one of five inducted by the Veterans Committee in February. Also to be honored July 27 are Barney Dreyfuss, Bowie Kuhn, Walter O’Malley and Billy Southworth.