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Jimy Williams — who was Charlie Manuel’s right-hand man with the Philadelphia Phillies during the final two seasons of his professional coaching career — passed away last Friday. He was 80 years old.
The Phillies released a statement on the passing of Williams, who was the bench coach for the Phillies during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, retiring after the team won the World Series in the second of those seasons.
“The Phillies are saddened to learn of the passing of former bench coach and 2008 World Series Champion, Jimy Williams,” the team said. “We send our thoughts and condolences during this difficult time to his family, including his son, Shawn, who manages in the Phillies player development system.”
Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Williams had a brief MLB career as a middle infielder, appearing in 14 games with the St. Louis Cardinals between 1966 and 1967. He would go on to manage three different franchises, the Toronto Blue Jays (1986-1989), Boston Red Sox (1997-2001) and Houston Astros (2002-2004), posting a 910-790 record and winning the 1999 American League Manager of the Year Award. In between managerial gigs, Williams was also was a mainstay on the Atlanta Braves coaching staff under manager Bobby Cox, serving as the third base coach from 1991-1996. The “team of the 90’s” won a World Series in 1995 with Williams as the third base coach.
As noted in the statement from the Phillies, his son Shawn is the current coach of the Phillies Florida Complex League team, following three years as the skipper of the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils.
Everyone at Phillies Nation sends their condolences to the Williams family.
