Today is a sad day for The Casual Fan. Dick Williams passed away today at the age of 82 in Las Vegas. He won the World Series with the A's in 1972-1973 and quit the A's after the World Series due to Charlie Finley's public ridicule of Mike Andrews. He managed several clubs, but I remember him the most from his tenure here in San Diego. He taught the Padres to play as a team. Alan Wiggins stole 70 bases and Tony Gwynn stole 51. With vets like Garvey, Nettles, and Templeton, combined with youth like McReynolds, Martinez and Kennedy, the Padres could hit and play solid defense and fundamentally sound baseball. They had good pitching, and a closer in Goose Gossage. He led the Padres to their first World Series against what was one of the greatest teams that ever got to the show in the Detroit Tigers. Managing the 1985 All-Star team, he led the National League to a 6-1 win and Lamaar Hoyt was the All-Star MVP (the only Padre to ever win the award). He was let go in the spring of 1986 due to differences with Ballard Smith and Jack McKeon.
I tip my hat to my favorite all-time manager. Baseball has truly lost a legend.
