Nationals’ Manager Williams fits right in
WASHINGTON — Managing was not something former UNLV standout Matt Williams had ever considered during his 17-season major league career that saw him hit 378 home runs for three different clubs.
After joining the Arizona Diamondbacks’ coaching staff when Kirk Gibson took over as manager in 2010, suddenly, becoming a team’s skipper seemed like a logical new challenge.
“When you play, you don’t think about it,” said Williams, 48, who is in his rookie season as manager of the Washington Nationals. “So I started coaching, and I thought, ‘That would be fun to do all the things a manager does.’ I just never envisioned it would happen so quickly.”
Williams was named Nationals manager after the 2013 season when former field boss Davey Johnson retired. A season earlier, Williams interviewed for an opening as manager with another team. His past relationship with Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, who worked for the Diamondbacks, played a part in Williams’ hiring.
He inherited a team that won the National League East in 2012, challenged for the crown last year and was a preseason favorite to contend in 2014, even picked by some to reach the World Series.
“There’s pressure to go along with that, but who wouldn’t want that pressure?” Williams said in the Nationals’ dugout before Sunday’s 6-3 win over the visiting New York Mets. Entering today’s games, the Nationals are 1½ games behind first-place Atlanta in the National League East.
“You could be in a rebuilding phase potentially,” he said. “So I’m lucky, in that respect, to be part of a team that has some expectations. It also has a lot of talent, but also has the ability and the chance to contend.”
Williams played third base for the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Diamondbacks during his major league career. He won a World Series crown with Arizona in 2001. His best season was in strike-shortened 1994 when he hit 43 homers for the Giants.
Williams began his career as a shortstop, a position he played at UNLV where he is still the Rebels’ all-time home run leader with 58. His No. 15 was retired in 1997 when he was inducted into the UNLV Hall of Fame. Williams grew up in Carson City, where he was a high school football and basketball star.
He still follows UNLV baseball and was aware the team had clinched a tie for first place in the Mountain West.
“It’s hard to compete with some of the large schools in California, but it’s a great place to play,” Williams said. “It’s a fantastic place to hit.”
Playing shortstop, he said, may have helped to shape him as a manager. The up-the-middle guys — catcher, pitcher, shortstop and center fielder — are involved in most plays.
“That’s why catchers make such good managers, because they see the game from a different perspective than everybody else,” Williams said. “I enjoy the strategic part being in the National League. Do you hit for your pitcher? Do you pinch hit? All the numbers these days could make paralysis by analysis sometimes. It’s fun to try and figure it all out.
Williams said his managing style comes from everyone he played for, including some tenacity from Gibson. He called former Giants manager Dusty Baker his mentor, because he was his first hitting instructor.
“We have a special relationship,” Williams said.
His job with the Nationals connects him with another Las Vegas baseball standout, outfielder Bryce Harper.
In April, Williams benched Harper “for lack of hustle” during a loss to St. Louis.
Harper, who is on the disabled list with a thumb injury, said Sunday he respects Williams as a manager and former player.
“He just wants guys to play hard for him and work hard for him,” Harper said. “You have to respect that.”
Harper was close to Johnson, a long-time major league infielder and manager. He said Williams has some of Johnson’s character traits.
“Both are very fiery managers,” Harper said. “He (Williams) just wants what is best for the team. He’s always got the back of a guy on the team. We respect that he went about his business when he played and that’s how he does it now.”
For his part, Williams said he sees a little of himself in Harper as a player who “desperately wants to win.” He added that Harper, who was the first overall pick in the 2010 major league draft and has been hyped as one of baseball’s best prospects since his Las Vegas High School days, had “an immense amount of pressure” thrust upon him.
“I think he has the ability and talent to overcome all of that,” Williams said. “I want to help him along his way and be proud to be associated with him when he makes his Hall of Fame speech one day. It’s going to be fun to watch his career because he has incredible talent.”
Williams wants to help all his players in the same fashion. He said he’ll earn respect from what he teaches his players, as well as how well he can react and relate to them.
“I’m not so far removed from the game that I don’t understand guys today,” Williams said.
Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
