Matt Williams (third Baseman)

Matthew Derrick Williams (born November 28, 1965), nicknamed "Matt the Bat" and "the Big Marine", is an American professional baseball manager and former third baseman who is the third base coach for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). A right-handed batter, Williams played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He managed the Washington Nationals from 2014 to 2015, and was the third base coach for the San Diego Padres from 2022 to 2023.

Williams played in a World Series for each of the teams he played for ( with the Giants, with the Indians, and with the Diamondbacks in which he won over the New York Yankees). During these years, Williams became the only player to hit at least one World Series home run for three different Major League baseball teams. During his career, Williams had an overall batting average of .268, with 378 home runs and 1,218 runs batted in (RBI). He scored 997 Major League runs, and he accumulated 1,878 hits, 338 doubles, and 35 triples, while playing in 1,866 regular-season games.

Early life

Williams originally was selected by the New York Mets in the 27th round (664th overall) of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft from Carson High School in Carson City, Nevada, but he did not sign with the Mets. Williams was the starting quarterback on the Carson Senators football team in high school. Two of his teammates who played baseball in high school, Bob Ayrault and Charlie Kerfeld, also played baseball in the major leagues. During his senior year, Williams was named Nevada's high school player of the year.

College career

Williams accepted a scholarship to play college baseball for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Williams played for the UNLV Rebels for three seasons between 1984 and 1986. In that time, he hit 58 home runs, tallied 217 RBI and had a batting average of .327. He was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame in 1997.

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

Williams was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (third overall) of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft. He made his professional debut that season, batting .240 with 14 doubles, four triples, eight home runs and 39 RBI in 72 games with the Low-A Everett Giants and Single-A Clinton Giants.

San Francisco Giants (1987–1996)

Williams was recalled to the majors for the first time on April 11, 1987, serving as an injury replacement for José Uribe. That day, he appeared in his first MLB game, going 1-for-3 in a 5–1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Williams' first major league hit was an eighth-inning single off Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser. He finished the season batting .188 with eight home runs and 21 RBI in 84 games. In the field, he primarily played shortstop while also playing some games at third base.

Prior to the 1989 season, Williams was named as the starting third baseman for the Giants. However, he struggled to begin the season with a .130 batting average, and was optioned to the Triple-A Phoenix Firebirds after the Giants' game on May 1. Williams considered this demotion as a turning point in his career, as he batted .320 with 26 home runs and 61 RBI in 76 games before returning to San Francisco in July. In 84 games with the Giants, Williams hit .202, but managed to record 18 home runs and 50 RBI.

Williams enjoyed a breakout season in 1990, finishing with a .277 average, 33 home runs and a National League-leading 122 RBI en route to making the National League All-Star team.

Despite suffering from several leg injuries and some lower-back ailments, Williams was an excellent fielder at third base, and a dangerous and productive hitter. As a third baseman, Williams had good reflexes and excellent hands, with a quick release and strong, accurate arm. During his career, he earned four Gold Glove Awards, all between 1991 and 1997.

A hitter with exceptional power, Williams hit at least 30 home runs and recorded at least 90 RBI in four of his seasons with the Giants. His best season was 1994 when he hit a National League-best 43 home runs and had 96 RBI in only 112 games as the Major League Baseball season was shortened by nearly one-third because of a season-ending strike by Major League baseball players. He was on pace to challenge the single season home run record of 61, at the time held by Roger Maris, with his 43 home runs in 115 games, projecting to 60.6 home runs at season's end. Williams finished second in the voting for the National League Most Valuable Player Award that year behind first baseman Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros.

Cleveland Indians (1997)

On November 13, 1996, Williams was traded to the Cleveland Indians along with a player to be named later ( Trenidad Hubbard) in exchange for future NL MVP Jeff Kent, Julián Tavárez, José Vizcaíno and another player to be named later (Joe Roa).

In 1997, while Williams' streak of three straight All-Star selections ended, he still managed to hit .263 with 32 home runs and 105 RBI in 151 games. He also won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award for the first time since 1994. In the 1997 postseason, Williams hit .288 with three doubles, two home runs, 8 RBI and 13 walks, helping lead Cleveland to its second American League pennant in three years. The Indians ultimately lost the World Series in seven games to the Florida Marlins.

Arizona Diamondbacks (1998–2003)

After his divorce from his first wife Tracie, Williams requested and was granted a trade to the Arizona Diamondbacks to be closer to his children. The trade sent Williams to Arizona in exchange for Travis Fryman, Tom Martin and cash considerations. Williams signed a five-year, $45 million extension with the Diamondbacks after the acquisition was completed. He was a member of the first Diamondbacks team during the club's inaugural season in 1998. He shares the Diamondbacks record for the most RBI in one season with a total of 142 during 1999; the record was tied by Luis Gonzalez in 2001, but has never been exceeded.

Williams was a partial owner of the Diamondbacks, and carried the title of "Special Assistant to the General Partner". Williams occasionally also served as color commentator during Diamondbacks radio and television broadcasts, and also assisted in coaching and with player personnel matters.

Managerial career

Washington Nationals (2014–2015)

On October 31, 2013, the Washington Nationals announced that they had hired Williams to replace Davey Johnson as their manager for the 2014 season. Prior to the 2015 season, the Nationals exercised an option to extend Williams through the 2016 season.
Williams managed the Nationals to a 96–66 record and an NL East division title in his first season, but the team lost the NLDS to the San Francisco Giants. Williams was named the 2014 National League Manager of the Year.

On October 5, 2015, the Nationals fired Williams after a disappointing season where they were World Series favorites and failed to make the postseason. He finished with a record of 179 wins and 145 losses.

Kia Tigers (2020–2021)

Williams joined the Kia Tigers of the KBO League, becoming their first American-born manager before the 2020 season. On November 5, 2021, it was announced that Williams would not be returning to the team in 2022 after the club finished in ninth place with a 58–75 record in 2021.

Managerial record

Coaching career

On November 11, 2009, Williams was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks to be the first base coach for 2010. Williams moved from first base coach to third base coach for the 2011 season, while working under first-year manager Kirk Gibson. Williams coached for the Diamondbacks from 2010 through 2013, and again in 2016 when he was fired from the Nationals.

Williams was hired as the Oakland Athletics' third base coach in November 2017, staying with them through the 2019 season.

On December 17, 2021, Williams was hired by the San Diego Padres to serve as the team's third base coach for the 2022 season.

Following the hiring of Bob Melvin as the manager of the San Francisco Giants and his departure from the Padres, on November 10, 2023, it was announced that Williams would be replacing Mark Hallberg as third base coach for the Giants for the 2024 season.

Other work

Williams joined NBC Sports Bay Area in 2017 as a studio analyst, appearing before and after San Francisco Giants telecasts.

Steroid use

On November 6, 2007, the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' reported that Williams purchased $11,600 worth of human growth hormone (HGH), steroids and other drugs from a Palm Beach clinic in 2002. Williams later told the ''Chronicle'' he used HGH on the advice of a doctor to treat an ankle injury he suffered during spring training in 2002.

On December 13, 2007, he was named among the dozens of players alleged to have used steroids in the ''Mitchell Report'', commissioned by Major League Baseball and written by former Senator George J. Mitchell.

Accomplishments

Hall of Fame candidacy

Williams became eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He received just 1.3% of the votes, and was dropped from the ballot.

Personal life

Williams has been married three times. He and his first wife, Tracie, had three children. He was selected for the 1989 Triple-A All-Star Game but withdrew from the contest in order to get married. He married his second wife, film actress Michelle Johnson, in 1999. They divorced in 2002, and did not have children together. In 2003, Williams married Phoenix news anchor Erika Monroe. In 2007 the couple co-hosted the weekend pre-game shows for the Arizona Diamondbacks called "DBacks on Deck".

In March 2023, Williams took a leave of absence from the Padres organization after he underwent surgery following a diagnosis of colon cancer.

In September 2023, Erika Monroe filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences. They share one child, an adult daughter.

Williams is the grandson of former major league outfielder Bert Griffith.

See also

* List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
* List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
* List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
* List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
* List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report

References

External links

Retrosheet

Matt Williams
at SABR Bio Project

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Matt
1965 births
Living people
All-American college baseball players
Arizona Diamondbacks announcers
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