Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Manager, Major League Baseball Player. Known as a hard-nosed tactician, often involved in heated arguments with umpires, he will perhaps be best remembered for his guiding of the Oakland Athletics' dynasty teams of the 1970s to two of their three championships (1972 and 1973). Born Richard Hirschfeld Williams, he was raised in Pasadena, California and signed as an amateur free agent by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951. He marked his Major League debut on June 10th, 1951 and appeared in 23 games that year, recording 12 hits. For thirteen seasons (1951 to 1954, 1956 to 1964), he played at the outfielder, third-base and first-base positions with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Athletics and Boston Red Sox. In 1,023 regular season games, he compiled 768 hits with a .260 lifetime batting average. He experienced the World Series as a member of the 1953 National League Pennant-winning Dodgers' squad and recorded one hit with a .500 batting average during that Fall Classic. In 1965 Williams initiated his lengthy managerial career with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League (1965 to 1966), and returned to the Major League level as manager of the Boston Red Sox (1967 to 1969). While with Boston, he found instant success as he guided the Red Sox to the American League Pennant in 1967, during the season referred to as "The Impossible Dream", and earned The Sporting News Manager of the Year honors. In 1970 he served as a coach on the Montreal Expos' staff, before beginning his second assignment as manager with the Oakland Athletics (1971 to 1973); he led them to two consecutive World Series titles (1972 to 1973). From 1974 to 1976, he skippered the California Angels and Montreal Expos (1977 to 1982), guiding the latter to two consecutive second-place finishes (1979 and 1980). Williams enjoyed his final appearance in World Series competition while with San Diego (1982 to 1985), as he led the Padres to their first pennant in franchise history (1984). During the 1984 Fall Classic, his squad would be defeated by the Detroit Tigers which was led by another legendary manager Sparky Anderson. Williams final field assignment was as manager of the Seattle Mariners (1986 to 1988), before retiring with a 1,571 win 1,451 loss regular season record. He was elected by the Veterans Committee and enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. He died from a brain aneurysm.