Dick Williams, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #486

Last night the Orioles won 3-1, giving Buck Showalter his 250th victory as the team's manager. He had previously won 313 games with the Yankees, an even 250 with the Diamondbacks, and 319 with the Rangers. So now Buck can say that he is one of only four skippers in big league history to win at least 250 games for each of four different teams. The others were Joe Torre, Gene Mauch, and former O's utility player Dick Williams. Torre actually reached 250 wins with five different teams, but that's a record that I'd prefer Showalter not chase. I'd feel better with him chasing several hundred more wins in orange and black, if it's all the same.

Vintage Fridays: Dick Williams, 1957 Topps #59

I've had a lot of fun with mutilated old cards on this blog, whether they be coated in Con-Tac paper or missing half a back or scribbled on or just plain worn out. It is in this tradition that I present to you a custom-made 1957 Topps mini card. At some point in this card's 54-year odyssey from a 5-cent pack to my hands, a (presumably) young mad scientist trimmed off the white borders surrounding Dick Williams, leaving behind the sort of full-bleed photo that would become all the rage in the 1990s with Topps' Stadium Club and similar sets. What tickles me is that the 1957 set was the first to feature the now-standard card size of 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, a reduction from the 2.625" by 3.75" cards that Topps had manufactured since 1952. I guess they still weren't small enough for somebody.

Vintage Fridays: Dick Williams, 1962 Topps #382

Considering the circuitous route of Dick Williams' playing career, I'm sure he never imagined that he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. Before becoming the manager of the Athletics dynasty of the early 1970s, the gruff St. Louis native was a baseball vagabond, a man without a team or a position. He switched teams seven times in an eight-year span from 1956-1963, including three separate stints with the Orioles. He passed through the Houston organization during the 1962-63 offseason, never playing a single game for the then-Colt .45s. The list of players he was traded with and for includes Gene Woodling, Dick Hall, and Larry Doby.

When Williams did get on the field, he had to fill in wherever he was needed. He logged over 100 career games at four different positions: third base, left field, first base, and center field. He hunkered down in right field for 52 games and at second base for another 20. On three occasions he played all six of these positions in a single season. Considering all of this movement, Dick would have been forgiven for being a bit distracted when he came to bat. However, he hit a solid .260 overall with good power: three double-digit home run seasons and two straight years of 30-plus doubles.

Today, no one thinks of Dick Williams as a player. His 1,571 managerial wins dwarf his on-field exploits. But he did plenty of things well with the bat and the glove, which helped him stick around for 13 years. He certainly paid his dues over sixty years in baseball to earn his bronze plaque.