Williams was one of three eyebrow-raising coaching staff hires that offseason. Along with Williams, the Phillies added Davey Lopes and Art Howe all of whom had prior managerial experience. Howe never suited up, subsequently taking a position with the Rangers instead. Those hirings were considered a clear shot across Manuel's bow as Manuel was an inherited mager (hired by Wade), was regarded as a managerial lightweight by both fans and many inside the organization, his chief advocate in Thome was gone and the fanbase's frustration was growing considerably as the then-postseason drought reached thirteen years. But, Manuel survived and thrived and both Williams and Lopes ultimately moved on over money. Both, however, proved to be valuable coaches during their time here. I agree that Williams may have been the "bad cop" to Manuel's "good cop". My most enduring memory of him was when that sudden violent thunderstorm came over Coors Field in 2007 and the Phillies players all rushed out of the dugout to assist the field crew in distress (a number of them ended up under the tarp) and Williams was out there directing the effort, barking instructions at everyone while the Phillies players helped to straighten things out with the tarp.
I didn't realize just how successful a manager he was (910-790), taking two Red Sox teams to the Postseason. He was definitely one of those old school types, however, and the 2004 Astros players found him too much to take and pretty much rolled over and played dead on him (like the Phillies players were finding Bowa too much to take that same season and were likewise rolling over on Bowa). After the Astros fired him at the All-Star break, they exploded going 48-26 the rest of the way--including two sweeps of the Phillies which deepened the Fightin's season-killing slide which probably ended the Bowa era--and went all the way to the NLCS and lost to the Cardinals in seven games. As a manager, the game and the next generation of players had passed him by but he had a good last act with the Phillies. Thank you and R.I.P..
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