Former baseball manager Jimy Williams, who led the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, and Houston Astros during parts of 12 seasons, passed away at the age of 80. After a brief stint as a player in the majors, Williams spent most of the 1970s managing in the minor leagues. In the early 1980s, he became the third base coach for the Toronto Blue Jays under Bobby Cox and took over as the manager in 1986 when Cox left for the Atlanta Braves. Although the Blue Jays had successful seasons under Cox, Williams was fired in 1989 after a slow start. He was replaced by Cito Gaston, who went on to lead the team to multiple division titles and two World Series championships.
Williams later joined Cox as the third base coach for the Atlanta Braves in 1991, experiencing both defeat and victory in the World Series against his former Blue Jays team. In 1997, Williams became the manager of the Boston Red Sox, guiding them to the playoffs as a Wild Card team in 1998 and 1999. However, he was dismissed midway through the 2001 season and replaced by Joe Kerrigan, and eventually by Grady Little for the 2002 season, when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. Williams then took over as the manager of the Houston Astros in 2002, but was let go during the All-Star Break in 2004. His successor, Phil Garner, led the Astros to the NLCS in 2004 and the World Series in 2005. Williams concluded his career as the bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, retiring after the latter year.
