JIM WILLIAMS

Complete Baseball Man

 
Williams as Manager of the Southern League Champion 1970 Columbus Astros. . . . . .And As Manager of the 1973 Denver Bears

From the 1973 Denver Bears Game Program

Jim Williams takes over the job of managing the 1973 Denver Bears with the finest possible background.

-- He spent 18 years as a player in the Dodgers organization, which means he knows how baseball should be played.

-- He's managed two of the previous four years in the American Association, which means he knows the league.
-- He's managed the last three years in the farm system of the Houston Astros, both at the high and low level[s], which means he knows nearly all of the personnel in the system.

In 1971 his Oklahoma City club chased Denver to the wire before losing the Western Division championship to the Bears by just two games.
In 1970, his Columbus, Ga., club, Houston's class AA affiliate won the Southern League pennant.
"I've known Jim for ten years," General Manager Jim Burris says. "He's a complete baseball man, knowledgeable, confident, and a guy who's not afraid to take chances His Oklahoma City and Iowa teams in the American Association were disciplined and very hard to beat.
"I like a manager who has come up through the Dodger
organization , where fundamentals receive heavy emphasis."
During his 10 years as a field skipper, Williams brought in two pennant winners and two second place finishers. Last year he handled the Houston Astros' young talent at Cocoa in the Florida State League.
The 45-year-old native of Toronto, Canada, played both the outfield and infield in his pro career spanning the years 1947- 1964. He began his managerial careeer in 1963. In addition to baseball, Williams played in the American Hockey League in 1947 and 1948.
Williams never played a game of major league ball, other than
in spring exhibitions, his several tryouts with the Dodgers. But cracking the Dodger roster was no easy task in the days when Williams was at the peak of his performance. The Dodgers were loaded with top talent in those years and went pretty much with a set lineup.
Jim met Lorraine Elliott in 1949 when he was playing with Pueblo in the Western League and married the native Pueblan the following year. They have made their home in Pueblo ever since. They have three children--Chris, 20, a junior at the Air Force Academy; Kirk, 15; and Julie, 11.

 

Jim Williams' Record in the Astros' Organization
Year Team League Record Placed
1970 Columbus Astros Southern 78 - 59 FIRST
1971 Oklahoma City '89ers American Assoc. 71 - 69 Second
1972 Cocoa Astros Florida State 56 - 72 Fifth
1973 Denver Bears American Assoc. 61 - 75 Fourth and Last
1974 Columbus Astros Southern 65 - 73 Fourth and Last