Kenny Williams (baseball)

Infobox MLB retired
name = Kenny Williams
bgcolor1 = silver
bgcolor2 = black
textcolor1 = black
textcolor2 = silver


width =
caption =
position = Center field
birthdate = birth date and age|1964|4|6
deathdate =
bats = Right
throws = Right
debutdate = September 2
debutyear = by|1986
debutteam = Chicago White Sox
finaldate = October 4
finalyear = by|1991
finalteam = Montreal Expos
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.218
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=252
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=119
teams = As Player
*Chicago White Sox (by|1986–by|1989)
*Detroit Tigers (by|1989-by|1990)
*Toronto Blue Jays (by|1990–by|1991)
*Montreal Expos (by|1991)As General Manager
*Chicago White Sox (by|2000–present)
highlights =
* 2005 World Series

Kenneth Royal Williams (born April 6 1964 in Berkeley, California) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball and the current general manager of the Chicago White Sox.

Williams graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in East San Jose, California in 1982; while in high school, he excelled in football. He also played football at Stanford University before leaving to become a professional baseball player. He was on the field for The Play, the infamous final play of the 1982 Cal–Stanford game.

Playing career

Selected by the White Sox in the 3rd round of the by|1982 amateur draft, Williams made his debut in by|1986 and spent three years in Chicago, primarily as a center fielder, before being traded to the Detroit Tigers in by|1989. The Tigers waived him during the by|1990 season, and he was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays. Williams remained a bit player with the Blue Jays, usually coming on as a pinch-runner due to his speed. He is best remembered as a player in a bizarre incident in 1990 season, where series of wild throwing errors resulted him (on base as a pinch-runner) in 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 the blooper reels for years to come. The Blue Jays then put him on waivers during the by|1991 season, with Canada's other major league team, the Montreal Expos, picking him up. Williams decided to retire from baseball after being released by Montreal following the 1991 season.

Administrative career

In November by|1992, Williams rejoined the White Sox organization as a scout. Named special assistant to Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf in by|1994, he spent some time as a studio analyst for Sox games on SportsChannel Chicago before becoming the team's director of minor league operations in by|1995. In by|1997, he was named vice-president of player development, a position in which he remained until by|2000.

General Manager

In November 2000, Williams replaced Ron Schueler as the general manager of the White Sox; he hired popular former Chicago shortstop Ozzie Guillén as the team's manager in by|2003. 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 by|2004 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 these areas, through free agent signings (Orlando Hernández, Dustin Hermanson, Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, Tadahito Iguchi), trades (Scott Podsednik, José Contreras, Freddy Garcia) and the farm system (Joe Crede, Aaron Rowand). Williams' off-season maneuvers were reflected in an extremely successful by|2005 campaign for the South Siders, one in which they held the best record in all of baseball for most of the year, finished with the best record in the AL to clinch their first AL Central Division title since 2000, their first American League pennant since 1959, and their first World Series since 1917.

On February 27, by|2006, Williams lashed out at former White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas in an interview with a Chicago television media outlet, in response to statements Thomas made about the White Sox organization. He referred to Thomas as "an idiot" and "selfish" and said no one in the White Sox organization would miss him.

In the offseason prior to the 2006 season, Williams set out to improve his world championship team further by acquiring pitcher Javier Vazquez from the Arizona Diamondbacks and slugger Jim Thome from the Philadelphia Phillies. In addition, Williams was cognizant of the large role that the bench played under Ozzie Guillén and solidified it by trading for Rob Mackowiak and Alex Cintron. Despite these aggressive maneuvers, the White Sox were once again favored to win the 2006 World Series. However, they fell well short and finished in third place in the AL Central Division behind the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, thereby not making the playoffs.

In the offseason before the by|2007 season, Williams traded away Freddy Garcia to the Phillies and acquired prospects, Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez, in return. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2689303 ESPN - White Sox trade Garcia to Phillies for Floyd - MLB ] ] He also signed veteran free agent Darin Erstad to a one-year $1 million contract. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2742793 ESPN - ChiSox, Erstad agree to $1M, one-year contract - MLB ] ] Williams has also stated that the team needs to get younger and improve its scouting. In early January 2008, he traded Gio Gonzalez, Fautino de los Santos, and Ryan Sweeney for Nick Swisher.

Personal

Kenny and his wife, Jessica, reside in Blaine, Minnesota. The family of 7 includes Arizona State University football player Kyle Williams, a 2007 draftee of the White Soxand Wichita State University baseball player Kenny Williams Jr., a 2008 draftee of the White Sox.

ee also

* Chicago White Sox all-time roster

References

External links

*
* [http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/team/exe_bios/williams_ken.html White Sox official biography]
* [http://www.realgmbaseball.com/src_extrabases/44/20060708/ Analysis from RealGM]