Remembering Jimy Williams (1943-2024)

In 1999, Jimy Williams was the American League Manager of the Year. He beat out Art Howe of the Oakland A’s and Joe Torre of the New York Yankees to win the award. Williams, who was 55 years old at the time, was in his third season as manager of the Boston Red Sox.

Jimy Williams was a big league manager for 12 seasons. He spent four seasons with Toronto (1986-1989), five seasons with Boston (1997-2001) and three seasons with Houston (2002-2004), winning a total of 910 games.

Williams’ baseball career began as a player, when the Boston Red Sox signed him in 1964. He had just gotten done playing at Fresno State, where he was an infielder for two seasons (1963-1964). In 1963, Jimy Williams tied for the team lead in home runs (3). The next season, 1964, he led the Bulldogs in RBI with 22.

Jimy Williams was a two-time all-conference player at Fresno State, and his number (22) is retired by the university.

A 1988 inductee into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame, Jimy Williams passed away on January 26th, 2024 at the age of 80.

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