1997-2001

Jimy Williams is the former manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros.

The Red Sox hired Williams to replace Kevin Kennedy as manager after the 1996 season, bypassing more famous options like Whitey Herzog and Jim Leyland.  When Williams was hired to manage the Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette, the move was heavily criticized based on his unsuccessful tenure in Toronto. Many speculated that he had been hired because Duquette perceived that he was easily controllable.

However, Williams did have good success with the Red Sox.  In his first year, he led Boston to a 78-84 record, 20 games off the pace in an ultra-competitive AL East. In September 1997, he gave oft-injured Steve Avery a start so that the left-hander could exercise a $4 million contract option for the 1998 season.

In each of the next three seasons, he took the Sox to the playoffs, garnering "Manager of the Year" honors in 1999. He won praise for using his entire roster and his manage-from-the-gut style. On August 14, 1999, Pedro Martinez arrived at the stadium 30 minutes before a scheduled start and Williams refused to let him pitch. Martinez was unhappy, but other Red Sox players sided with their manager. He also successfully replaced injured closer Tom Gordon with the unconventional duo of Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield.

However, by 2001 Williams had worn out his welcome and the team turned against him. On May 5th, in a closed-door clubhouse meeting in Oakland, several Red Sox yelled profanities at him. The complaints generally related to his tendency to shuffle lineups without offering any explanations to the players. It also became clear that Duquette had lost confidence in him. He often had trouble getting along with hands-on Duquette, and was eventually fired in August 2001, even though the Red Sox were five games behind the Yankees in the AL East and just two games out of wild-card contention. He was replaced by pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.

Jimy Williams died on January 26, 2024 at at AdventHealth North Pinellas Hospital in Tarpon Springs, Florida, after a brief illness. He was 80 years old.