Kenneth Royal Williams (born April 6, 1964) is a former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

and the current

Executive Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Playing career

Selected by the White Sox in the third round of the amateur draft, Williams made his debut in and spent three years in Chicago, primarily as a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

, before being traded to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in . The Tigers waived him during the season, and he was claimed by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. Williams remained a bit player with the Blue Jays, usually coming on as a pinch-runner due to his speed. He was the starting center fielder when

Dave Stieb Dave Andrew Stieb (; born July 22, 1957) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. A seven-time All-Star, he also won ''The Sporting News'' Pitcher of the Year Award in 1982. Stieb won 140 games i ...

threw his only

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

, the first no-hitter in Toronto history. He is best remembered as a player for a bizarre incident during the 1990 season, where a series of wild throwing errors resulted in him (on base as a pinch-runner) rounding third base and mauling over third base coach John McLaren, knocking him out in the process (Williams himself was winded, but eventually ended up scoring the run). This humorous clip would be played over and over in blooper reels for years to come. The Blue Jays then put him on waivers during the season, with Canada's other major league team, the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, picking him up. Williams decided to retire from baseball after being released by Montreal following the 1991 season.

Administrative career

In November , Williams rejoined the White Sox organization as a scout. Named special assistant to Sox chairman

Jerry Reinsdorf Jerry Michael Reinsdorf (born February 25, 1936) is the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the owner of the White So ...

in , he spent some time as a studio analyst for Sox games on

SportsChannel Chicago Fox Sports Net Chicago (often branded as FSN Chicago) was an American regional sports network that was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and was owned by Cablevision for most of its history (from 1987 to 2005). News Corporation acquired a minori ...

before becoming the team's director of minor league operations in . In , he was named vice-president of player development, a position in which he remained until .

General manager

In October 2000, Williams replaced

Ron Schueler Ronald Richard Schueler (born April 18, 1948) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, pitching coach, executive and scout. Over the course of his eight-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Schueler played for the Atl ...

as the general manager of the White Sox. Williams inherited

Jerry Manuel Jerry Lorenzo Manuel Sr. (born December 23, 1953), nicknamed "The Sage," is a former major league manager. He previously managed the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2003 and the New York Mets from the middle of 2008 to 2010 and played in the major ...

as his first manager, who had just led them to 95 wins and a division title prior to Williams being promoted to GM. At the conclusion of the 2003 season Manuel was fired despite a winning record of 86–76. Williams then hired popular former Chicago shortstop

Ozzie Guillén Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios (; born January 20, 1964) is a former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for 16 seasons, primarily with the Chicago White Sox, from 1985 to 2000. During tha ...

as the team's manager in . Since becoming the White Sox GM, Williams has become known for his aggressive moves to bolster the Sox lineup. This reputation was strengthened following the season, when Williams completely made over the White Sox team by switching its on-field focus from home runs to pitching, defense, and speed. Accordingly, he acquired players which excelled in those areas, through free agent signings (

Orlando Hernández Orlando Hernández Pedroso (born October 11, 1965), nicknamed "El Duque" (Spanish for "The Duke"), is a Cuban-born right-handed former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Industriales of the Cuban National Series, the New York Yan ...

Dustin Hermanson Dustin Michael Hermanson (born December 21, 1972) is an American former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hermanson pitched for several MLB teams between 1995 and 2006. He had his best season with the 2005 Chicago White S ...

Jermaine Dye Jermaine Trevell Dye (born January 28, 1974) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. Dye grew up in Northern California and was a multi-sport star at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville. Dye attended Cosumnes River College in ...

A. J. Pierzynski Anthony John Pierzynski (; born December 30, 1976) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Minnesota Twins (1998–2003), San Francisco Giants (2004), Chicago White Sox (2005–2012) ...

Tadahito Iguchi , nicknamed "Gucci", is a Japanese served professional baseball second baseman and from manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). As a member of the Chicago White Sox in 2005, Iguchi became the first Japanese-bor ...

), trades (

Scott Podsednik Scott Eric Podsednik (; born March 18, 1976) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Best known for his baserunning, Podsednik led the major leagues in stolen bases in with 70, in times caught steal ...

José Contreras José Ariel Contreras Camejo (born December 6, 1971), is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher, who played in the Cuban National Series (CNS), Major League Baseball (MLB), and internationally for the Cuban national baseball team. Contr ...

Freddy García Freddy Antonio García (born October 6, 1976), is a former Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher. He is best known for his many seasons with seven Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises, including the Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, and ...

) and the farm system (

Joe Crede Joseph Taylor Crede (pronounced CREE-dee, born April 26, 1978) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (2000–2008) and the Minnesota Twins (2009). Crede was drafted ...

Aaron Rowand Aaron Ryan Rowand (born August 29, 1977) is an American former professional baseball center fielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and the San Francisco Giants and won two World Series cham ...

). Both Crede and Rowand were drafted by Schueler. Williams' off-season maneuvers were reflected in an extremely successful campaign for the South Siders, one in which they held the best record in all of baseball for most of the year, and finished with the best record in the AL to clinch their first AL Central Division title since

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, their first

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pennant since

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, and their first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

since 1917. In the off-season prior to the 2006 season, Williams set out to improve his world championship team further by acquiring pitcher Javier Vázquez from the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

and slugger

Jim Thome James Howard Thome (; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball corner infielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). He played for six different teams during th ...

from the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. In addition, Williams was cognizant of the large role that the bench played under Ozzie Guillén and solidified it by trading for

Rob Mackowiak Robert William Mackowiak (; born June 20, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player. During his Major League Baseball career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, and Washington Nationals. Per ...

and

Alex Cintrón Alexander Cintrón (born December 17, 1978) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball infielder and current hitting coach for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White ...

. Because of these maneuvers, the White Sox were once again favored to win the 2006 American League Central. At the All-Star break, the White Sox were tied with the Detroit Tigers for first place and held a 6-game lead over the New York Yankees for the wild card. The lead evaporated in the second half of the season and despite winning 90 games, they fell short and finished in third place in their Division behind the

and

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, thereby not making the playoffs. In the offseason before the season, Williams traded away

to the Phillies and acquired prospects,

Gavin Floyd Gavin Christopher Floyd (born January 27, 1983), is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, and Toronto Blue ...

and

Gio González Giovany Aramis González (born September 19, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox. A two-ti ...

, in return. He also signed veteran free agent

Darin Erstad Darin Charles Erstad (; born June 4, 1974) is an American former professional baseball player and the former head coach of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball team. Erstad spent most of his playing career with the Los Angeles Angels o ...

to a one-year, $1 million contract. Williams has also stated that the team needs to get younger and improve its scouting. In early January 2008, he traded

, Fautino de los Santos, and Ryan Sweeney for

Nick Swisher Nicholas Thompson Swisher (born November 25, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a switch hitter who threw left-handed, and played for the Oakland Athletics, Chica ...

. With pitcher

Jake Peavy Jacob Edward Peavy (born May 31, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants. He batted and threw right- ...

being acquired at the trade deadline for the 2009 season, Williams was referred to by Gordon Edes of Yahoo Sports as a "

stealth bomber Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of technologies that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, collectively known as stealth technology. The F-117 Nig ...

" for his under the radar moves. On August 10, , Williams made another under-the-radar move, by claiming OF

Alex Ríos Alexis Israel Ríos (born February 18, 1981) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, and Kansas City Royals. A World Seri ...

off the waivers from the

. On September 29, 2011, Ozzie Guillén was traded to the Miami Marlins, along with minor league pitcher Ricardo Andres. The Marlins assumed the last year on Guillen's contract, in exchange for minor league pitchers Jhan Marinez and Osvaldo Martinez. On October 6, 2011, Kenny Williams hired Robin Ventura as the new manager of the Chicago White Sox. On October 26, 2012, Williams was promoted to Executive Vice President of the Chicago White Sox while Assistant GM

Rick Hahn Rick Hahn (born March 20, 1971) is an American baseball executive who serves as the Senior Vice President/General Manager of the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball. Following the 2020 season, in which the White Sox made their first post-s ...

was promoted to General Manager. On December 6, 2016, Williams oversaw the trade in which he sent Chris Sale to Boston Red Sox for Michael Kopech, Yoan Moncada and Luis Basabe.

Personal life

Kenny resides in

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

. He has 5 children: entrepreneur TeMeka C. Williams, former Professional Scout for the White Sox Dedrick Q. Williams, former

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

baseball player Kenny Williams, Jr. (a 2008 draftee of the White Sox) and now scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks, former

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

wide receiver Kyle Williams (also a 2006 draftee of the White Sox), and Tyler Williams, who attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona (the same High school as White Sox first baseman

Paul Konerko Paul Henry Konerko (; born March 5, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1997 to 2014, most prominently as a member of the Chicago White Sox, where he was a si ...

). Tyler is currently playing in the Chicago White Sox Farm System as a first baseman for the class A affiliate

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...

. Kenny also has one granddaughter. Kenny Williams is currently remarried. Williams wed television journalist

Zoraida Sambolin Zoraida Senoba Sambolin (born July 10, 1965) is an American television journalist. Biography Sambolin is of Puerto Rican descent. Most recently, Sambolin was the host of ''Early Start'' on CNN. Sambolin is a native of Chicago and anchored new ...

in July 2014. Williams has two new stepchildren, Sambolin's son Nicolas and daughter Sofia.

References

External links

Kenny Williams
at Baseball Gauge
Venezuelan Professional Baseball LeagueAnalysis from RealGMB.com
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Kenny 1964 births Living people African-American baseball players African-American sports executives and administrators American expatriate baseball players in Canada American sports executives and administrators Appleton Foxes players Baseball players from Berkeley, California Baseball players from Chicago Baseball players from San Jose, California Birmingham Barons players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago White Sox executives Chicago White Sox players Chicago White Sox scouts Denver Zephyrs players Detroit Tigers players Glens Falls White Sox players Gulf Coast White Sox players Hawaii Islanders players Indianapolis Indians players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Expos players Stanford Cardinal football players Stanford Cardinal baseball players Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players Vancouver Canadians players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople