Jimy Williams has only managed three major league teams, and all three of those teams have gone to the World Series just a few years after firing him. Toronto fired him in 1989 and won the 92 and 93 WS. The Red Sox fired him in 2001 and they won in 2004. Now the Astros are in WS after firing him last year.
I never played for the team, but Jimy Williams was the worst Astros manager in my lifetime. And why the hell does he spell his name with one "M"? You spell "grimy" with one "M"; not "Jimmy." So, that's how I've always referred to him: J(eye)my
Jimy was too predictable and never let his pitchers go longer than 6 innings. even if they had thrown like 80 pitches, they were gone. then he'd throw in some bum like powell who'd proceed to give up jacks....ahhh...don't even get me started on jimy williams. let's say i'm glad his stint is over in an astros uniform.
If he had played Morgan Ensberg more and Geoff Blum less, the Astros could have saved the Cubs fans the Bartman fiasco by winning the NL Central in 2003.
that's just one of many idiotic moves by jimy. blum was a decent player but ensberg was so dominant at the minor league level, he should have just given him so damn playing time and see what he could offer on an everyday basis. i watched him in round rock crush opposing pitchers thinking...DAMN...why the hell is he here? get him to houston. and he wasn't in round rock too long but yeah he sat too much under jimy...
Jimy had to be the most stubborn manager I've ever seen. Every time I saw the camera go on him in the dugout I always thought about how clueless he looked. Even though it's a different sport, Van Gundy has shown that you have to be able to adapt as a coach to be successful. You can't stay content and you can't get too routine...I have no doubt that the Rockets are going to go all the way with Van Gundy, just like the Astros are with Garner.
Jimy's yanking pitchers early is overrated. He yanked pitchers early because he had a bunch of sucky pitchers like Tim Redding, Dave Mlicki, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Ron Villone and Jeriome Robertson. Roy, the only pitcher still from the Jimy era, averaged virtually he same number of innings under Jimy as under Garner except during his injury year in 2003. It's easy to let your starters go longer when they don't suck - Lima, Hampton, Reynolds, Johnson, etc under Dierker, and now Pettite, Clemens, Oswalt, etc under Garner are a hell of a lot better than the guys Jimy got to work with. That's not to say Jimy didn't have his faults, but yanking pitchers early (at least in Houston) was not one of them, I don't think.
There's only so much that a manager can do to help a team, but Jimy always seemed to play his cards wrong. His lineup and moves frustrated me on an almost daily basis. I seem to remember him starting Viz at 1st and 3rd dozens of times, which must have cost at least a few games on its own. Dierker's run of playoff appearances before him and Garner's success after him indicate just what a tremendous failure he was.
No. That was when Larry was still managing. It was after the last dome year that we traded Hampton/Carl I believe.
