Dick Williams

Richard Hirschfeld "Dick" Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1969 and from 1971 to 1988, he led teams to three American League pennants, one National League pennant, and two World Series triumphs. He is one of seven managers to win pennants in both major leagues, and joined Bill McKechnie in becoming only the second manager to lead three franchises to the Series. He and Lou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins. Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008 following his election by the Veterans Committee.

Biography

Playing career

Williams was born on May 7, 1929 in St. Louis, Missouri. After growing up in St. Louis, and Pasadena, California, Williams signed his first professional contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, and played his first major league game with Brooklyn in 1951. Initially an outfielder, he separated a shoulder making a diving catch early in his career, weakening his throwing arm. As a result, he learned to play several positions (he was frequently a first baseman and third baseman) and became a notorious "bench jockey" in order to keep his major league job. He appeared in 1,023 games over 13 seasons with the Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Athletics and Boston Red Sox. A right-handed batter and thrower, Williams had a career batting average of .260 with 70 home runs.

Richard Williams

Richard, Richie, or Dick Williams may refer to:

Entertainment industry members

Military commanders

Music personalities

Political figures

R. Norris Williams

Richard "Dick" Norris Williams II (January 29, 1891 – June 2, 1968), generally known as R. Norris Williams, was an American tennis player.

Biography

Williams was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the son of Philadelphia parents Charles Duane Williams, a direct descendant from Benjamin Franklin, and Lydia Biddle White. He was tutored privately at a Swiss boarding school and spoke fluent French and German. He starting playing tennis at age 12, mainly under the guidance of his father.

Tennis career

In 1911 Williams won the Swiss Championship. A year later he entered Harvard and became the intercollegiate tennis champion in singles (1913, 1915) and doubles (1914, 1915).

He is best known for his two men's singles titles at the U.S. Championships in 1914 and 1916. He was also on the victorious American Davis Cup team twice: in 1925 and 1926 and was considered a fine doubles player. He also had a reputation in singles of always hitting as hard as possible and always trying to hit winners near the lines. This made him an extremely erratic player, but when his game was sporadically "on", he was considered unbeatable.

Dick Williams (singer)

Dick Williams (born 1926) was an American singer. He was the older brother of Andy Williams and had started out like Andy in The Williams Brothers Quartet.

Discography

Albums: "Love is Nothin' But Blues Singles:

References

Dick Williams (footballer)

Richard "Dick" Williams (15 December 1905 – 27 May 1983) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Reading and Stoke City.

Career

Williams played for Jarrow before being spotted by scouts from Stoke City in 1926. It took him until the 1928–29 season before he could displace Bob Dixon. He played in 36 matches that season and then 24 in 1929–30 but he lost his place to Norman Lewis. He then spent a season at Reading and Chester.

Career statistics

Honours

References

Dick Williams (executive)

Dick Williams (born ca. 1971) is an American professional baseball executive and the senior vice president and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball. Before his promotion, announced on November 4, 2015, he was the Reds' vice-president and assistant general manager, working under Walt Jocketty, president of baseball operations.

Williams is a graduate of the University of Virginia and worked as an investment banker and from 2003–04 for the George W. Bush presidential re-election campaign. He joined the Reds in 2006, upon their purchase by a group led by majority owner Robert Castellini, as director of baseball business operations. He later became vice president of baseball operations and then was named vp/assistant GM in November 2014.

The Williams family's official connection with the Reds dates back almost 50 years. Dick Williams' grandfather, William J. Sr., and great-uncle James were key members of a 13-party ownership group headed by Francis L. Dale, publisher of the Cincinnati Enquirer, that acquired the team from Bill DeWitt Sr. in December 1966, initially holding 15 percent of club stock. Under this ownership, and led by general manager Bob Howsam, the Reds became a baseball dynasty during the early 1970s as "The Big Red Machine." William and James Williams served as the majority owners of the Reds from 1980–84; they sold controlling interest in the franchise to Marge Schott in December 1984. Dick Williams' father, Joe, and an uncle, Thomas, are minority shareholders in Castellini's ownership group. Joe Williams is the club's incumbent board chairman and Tom is vice-chairman and treasurer.

Dick Williams (magician)

Dick Williams is a former television and radio presenter and magician who holds the record for hosting the longest-running television magic show in the world. Under the name "Mr Magic" he presented the show Magicland on WMC-TV in Tennessee from 1966 until his retirement in 1989. Dick performed tricks and illusions, juggled clubs and scarves, and is often remembered for his signature magician's finger aerobics.

Life and career

Williams was born in 1927. He spent his early life in Kansas and began learning magic at the age of seven from a "Gilbert" magic set, which he had received as a Christmas present. He remained so keen on magic and became so proficient that his local magic club, the "Wizards of Wichita", later made an exception to its minimum age rule and allowed him to join when he was 13 rather than the usual lower limit of 18. During the second world war he performed with the club at military bases. He joined the US Navy in 1945 and served on the battleship USS West Virginia.