Photo credit: @Athletics

by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland Athletics announced today that Matt Williams, former All-Star third baseman and former manager of the Washington Nationals, is joining the A’s as the new third base coach, replacing Chip Hale.

Williams was an excellent fielder who won four Gold Gloves as a player. The A’s defense was not very good last year as they led the Major Leagues in errors. The A’s defense improved in the second half of the season, but they gave away too many games due to their crummy defense. Matt was the leading home-run hitter in the National League in 1994 and was on pace to break Roger Maris’ record of 61. Unfortunately for Williams, the players went on strike on August 12th and for the rest of the season, along with the World Series, was wiped out.

Williams’ bio follows below:
Williams spent five seasons on the Arizona Diamondbacks coaching staff as a first base coach (2010) and a third base coach (2011-13, 16). He also managed the Washington Nationals for two seasons.  He was named National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) in his first season as a manager in 2014, guiding the Nationals to a 96-66 record and an NL East title.  He went 83-79 in 2015 for a 179-145 (.552) record in two seasons as a manager.

Williams played 17 seasons in the majors with San Francisco (1987-96), Cleveland (1997) and Arizona (1998-2003).  He was a .268 career hitter with 378 home runs and 1,218 RBI in 1,866 games.  Williams was a five-time All-Star and won four Gold Gloves as a third baseman.